San Francisco runs on counter seats, copper bars, and izakaya stools. These are the spots where a table for one is actually the better seat.
Nob Hill + Chinatown · 1517 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA
Twenty stools at a marble counter, cash only, no reservations, a San Francisco institution that's been serving seafood the same way since 1912. The menu stays deliberately simple: raw oysters, clam chowder, shrimp cockt…
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…
Mission · 3174 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA
A long, serious bar on 16th Street that stays open until 2am every night, which is the first signal that this isn't a place built for a quick round. The cocktail menu is organized by spirit (classic to inventive) and th…
North Beach · 56 Gold St, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA
A two-story supper club in Jackson Square. Fluted columns, mahogany paneling, plush banquettes, white-jacketed bartenders, and live jazz every evening. The cocktail list runs classic, the menu modern American, and most …
Financial District · 101 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA
A Japanese izakaya inside a Financial District tower, with wooden partitions, polished concrete floors, and a glowing red neon bird above the back bar. The menu runs from raw (sashimi, hand rolls, omakase counter) to ro…
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…
Japantown + Pacific Heights · 3131 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94123, USA
A cocktail bar on Fillmore dressed in 1930s Paris. Low light, velvet, and a menu that spans the Blush (rhubarb, grapefruit, rose, gin, champagne) on the floral end to the Rio (mandarin olive oil, eucalyptus, mezcal) on …
Castro · 579 Castro St, San Francisco, CA 94114, USA
Anchor Oyster Bar has kept the same marble-topped counter, the same linoleum floors, and the same cioppino recipe since 1977, which is how you wind up atop the city's Legacy Business list. The cioppino is the draw: a Si…