Best Restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area, Summer 2022

Afghan Awasana Kabob House

37012 Towers Way, Fremont

A catering business that blossomed into a restaurant beloved in the Bay Area’s Afghan community.

In a small restaurant in Fremont, the Arsala family, led by chef and matriarch Wazhma Arsala, produces Afghan culinary classics for diners from far-flung areas of the Bay Area seeking a taste of home. The restaurant, decked out in chandeliers and vibrant Afghan artwork, has the feel of someone’s classy living room, though the food is all about comfort. There are mantoo, deeply satisfying beef dumplings ($15.99) wrapped in delicate skins and draped in a thick meat ragu and garlicky yogurt sauce; and juicy chapli kebabs ($16.99), minced beef patties flavored with chiles, coriander and onion and paired with savory spiced rice. Wazhma Arsala also is a master of the country’s famous dimpled flatbreads, sold by the slab and perfect for sopping up stews.

Credit cards accepted • Soft drinks

Phone: 510-494-8043

Order online

Chronicle coverage of this restaurant

Afghan

Animo

18976 Sonoma Hwy., Sonoma

The cuisine is a little bit Basque, a little bit everything else at Sonoma’s buzzy new restaurant.

Back in New York City, fine dining veterans Heidy He and Joshua Smookler were stars of the restaurant scene, thanks to their acclaimed but now-closed ramen shop in Queens. Animo, their new restaurant located in a former taqueria in Sonoma, serves Basque Txakolina wine alongside Korean soju, and tucks fatty hunks of pastrami from New York’s Katz’s Delicatessen into bowls of kimchi fried rice ($24). In the cozy dining room outfitted with mismatched chairs and wall shelves full of apples, the pair and their team deliver a flurry of singular dishes from the wood-fired oven: platters of crisp-skinned turbot ($145) flown in from Galicia, Spain, its spines charred and crunchy; and dry-aged Flannery Beef ribeye ($75), served with year-old black garlic puree, or “A1 on steroids,” as described by Smookler.

Credit cards accepted • Wine and beer

Phone: 707-721-1160

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Global

Bo Ne Phu Yen

1818 Tully Rd., San Jose

A popular food court stall serves phenomenal lunch sets on sizzling platters.

San Jose natives know that the mall food courts of Little Saigon are rife with excellent options, including beef specialist Bo Ne Phu Yen. The luxurious Franco-Vietnamese fusion dish that it’s known for is a far cry from your typical American diner’s steak and eggs: filet mignon ($20) is served on a hot cow-shape cast iron plate (complete with horns) with two sunny-side up eggs, a juicy pork meatball, pate and onions. A small loaf of crusty French bread and salad come on the side, along with a tiny cup of chile sauce. Build your perfect breakfast bites on the bread, then follow with gulps of hot jasmine tea in the food court’s shared seating area.

Cash only • Soft drinks

Phone: 408-528-8817

Vietnamese

Breadbelly

1408 Clement St., San Francisco

Creative and nostalgic pastries by a team of former fine-dining chefs.

You’ll find loaves of spongy, yet chewy milk bread, buns filled with coconut-pandan kaya cream and Korean cheesy cornbread stuffed with eggs at this bakery, a San Francisco take on Chinese and Filipino pastry traditions. Opened by Atelier Crenn alums Katherine Campecino-Wong, Clement Hsu and James Wong in 2018, Breadbelly is known for its indulgent seasonal Viennoiserie and Mt. Tam cheesecakes ($13), but the strong and seasonal savory menu, led by Wong, is nothing to scoff at, either. During blustery seasons, the bakery serves hot mushroom broth infused with the roasty flavors of barley and filled with noodle-like enoki mushrooms and bok choy. Another dreamy option is a sandwich made with creamy egg salad ($14.50) and a crisp tempura of shredded vegetables, stuffed into a squishy milk bread bun.

Credit cards accepted • Soft drinks

Phone: 415-349-0969

Website: www.breadbellysf.com

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Pan-Asian

Chungdam

3180 El Camino Real, Santa Clara

The definitive high-end Korean barbecue spot in Santa Clara.

Chungdam is an outright gorgeous restaurant, full of artistic touches like geometric, cloud-like light fixtures and subtly designed decorative ceramics. Even the outdoor seating area, an enclosed section of the parking lot, is decked out with potted plants and billowing sunshades. The restaurant specializes in short ribs, or galbi, grilled at the table and served with a diverse array of side dishes, like marinated raw crab, acorn jelly and macaroni salad. Try the suwon galbi ($95), seasoned with brown sugar and a touch of salt, which has just the right balance of sweet and savory. And don’t miss the galbijjim ($77), a monster-size meal of spicy braised short ribs topped with blistered cheese. It’s tender, rich and big enough for several people to share.

Credit cards accepted • Beer and wine

Phone: 669-306-4642

Website: http://chungdamsv.com

Order online

Korean

Chuy’s Fiestas

2341 Folsom St., San Francisco

Find bubbling seafood molcajetes and micheladas crowned with shrimp at this Mission District cantina.

The aguachile verde ($17.50) is a highlight of any dinner at Chuy's Fiestas, a seafood-rich Mexican restaurant and taqueria owned by brothers Luis, Raul and Jesus Licea. Raw shrimp is bathed in a blended mixture of lemon juice, serrano chiles and cilantro; the citric acid "cooks" the shrimp as the dish sits, lending the meat a supple, slightly snappy texture. It's rare to find a raw shrimp dish in the U.S., or even outside of coastal Mexico, so savor it. The aguachile is best eaten fresh, so try it in the restaurant's enclosed backyard patio. Other specialties include succulent birria ($14.75) and hot stone molcajetes, bubbling spectacles similar to Korean dolsots filled with seafood, salsa and avocado ($25.99).

Credit cards accepted • Beer

Phone: 415-872-9222

Website: https://chuysfiestas.com

Mexican

Top 25Restaurants

Where to eat in the Bay Area

Top 25 Restaurants

Afghan Awasana Kabob House

Animo

Bo Ne Phu Yen

Breadbelly

Chungdam

Chuy’s Fiestas

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