Noe Valley, San Francisco · restaurant
A warmly lit Noe Valley institution that has been rotating its seasonal menu since the early '90s without ever removing the fried heritage chicken — served with mashed potatoes, gravy, horseradish slaw, and a buttermilk biscuit the menu unapologetically calls "damn fine." Everything else turns with the seasons: rockfish and scallop Moqueca Baiana, furikake-crusted trout with tahini-miso glass noodles, and nearly every dish adapts gluten-free or vegan via what the kitchen calls "witchy magic."