San Francisco's best sips and bites of 2025
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A few of the many standout dishes I tried this year. Photos: Nadia Lopez/Axios
San Francisco's food scene delivers, whether you're splurging or just grabbing a burrito.
- We're lucky to live in a city with some of the best food in the country.
Here are a few of the best bites (plus five cocktails) I had in 2025:
🦞 Sorella's lobster lasagna.
🍞 Palm City's au poivre hoagie.
🍝 Bar Bibi's vongole pasta. (The bucatini all'Amatriciana is also a hit).
🥢 Manna's kal bi and seafood pancake.
🍕 Piccino's margherita pizza.
🍜 Yuanbao Jiaozi's dan dan noodles.
🦆 Bar Jabroni's duck ragu pappardelle.
🍅 Caché's tomato salad.
🥪 Studio Aurora's tomato soup and grilled cheese.
🌽 Tahona Mercado's purple corn "gordita."
🥡 House of Nanking's sesame chicken.
🍑 Dalida's stone fruit lamb kebab.
🥗 Sofiya's qurutob, a Tajik dish layered with lamb, yogurt, vegetables and herbs.
🌮 Taqueria Vallarta's carne asada tacos.
What's next: I'm looking forward to trying Four Kings, Super Mensch and Sam Wo in the new year.
If you agree that a good cocktail completes a meal, take notes.
These five drinks were standouts this year:
🥃 Petite Lil's never disappoints with the negroni sbagliato.
🍸 Tosca Cafe makes an excellent 50/50 martini.
🥬 ABV's gin and celery is an unmatched favorite.
✨ Starlite's tulip martini with strawberry infused gin and sherry is perfectly balanced.
☕ Firenze By Night deserves a shoutout for serving up the best espresso martinis I had all year.
💭 My thought bubble: This is by no means a ranking of the best restaurants in the city, just a taste of some sips and snacks that I'd recommend to a friend.