The best group dinners in San Francisco happen where the format is built for sharing. Yank Sing's dim sum carts move around the room, Cotogna's Italian spread lands on the table at once, Kokkari's Greek mezze works the same way. Foreign Cinema adds an outdoor courtyard the size of a city block. Nopa and Wayfare Tavern handle the crowds and the noise the way only institutions can.
Mission · 2534 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110
An open-air courtyard behind a blank Mission facade where films project on whitewashed brick at dusk. Foreign Cinema has been running this since 1999, and the room still fills without coasting on nostalgia. The Californ…
Financial District · 201 Pine St, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA
Marble floors, tufted leather booths, and a gold leaf Barbary Coast mural. This place looks like old San Francisco without trying too hard. The famous Petaluma Farms deviled eggs are non-negotiable, and the California f…
Financial District · 490 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA
An Italian restaurant in Jackson Square built around a wood-burning oven, where the menu rewrites daily. Housemade pastas, whole fish, spit-roasted meats, and wood-fired pizzas all shaped by whatever's coming in from Ba…
NoPa · 560 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA
A high-ceilinged wood-fired restaurant running organic, farm-sourced California cuisine through a menu that changes daily around what's freshest. The pork chop (brined and wood-grilled, arriving with a rotating seasonal…
Mission · 2234 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA
Sichuan-accented Chinese that plays loose with Western ingredients: kung pao pastrami (deli beef tossed with chili peppers, peanuts, and scallions) is the anchor dish that put this restaurant on the national map. The ti…
SoMa · 49 Stevenson St, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA
The pushcart still rules at Yank Sing, the same family, three generations in, has been running this SoMa dim sum hall since 1958, with over 100 rotating dishes that circle the room rather than sit on a menu. Paper-thin …
Hayes Valley · 1658 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94102, USA
A triangular bi-level room on Market Street with a copper bar, art-covered walls, and windows that pull in the afternoon light. The wood-fired roasted chicken arrives whole for two. Brined for days and crisped in a bric…
Financial District · 200 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA
Named after a fishing village on the Greek island of Samos, with a giant wood-burning fireplace at the center of the dining room that smells of olive wood smoke. Lamb chops off the rotisserie are the reason regulars ret…