The Best Bar Food in San Francisco

San Francisco bars serve food that rivals even that at restaurants with a month-long waitlist. From pickled quail eggs at the Alembic to a kale salad (healthy!) at Trick Dog, these dishes will satisfy all drinkers.

306 Broderick St, San Francisco, CA 94117, USA
Nopalito’s fried garbanzo beans are simply addictive. After frying them in oil, the kitchen spices them with chili dust that’s been roasted and ground in house.

From the same people that brought Nopa to the Divisadero community comes Nopalito, serving up traditional Mexican cuisine with a commitment to using local, organic, and sustainable ingredients.

Serving lunch and dinner two days a week, Nopalito has two San Francisco locations: the original on Broderick Street at the Panhandle and a second on 9th Avenue in the Inner Sunset (grab a table on their back garden patio).

All menu items are available in the restaurant or from the adjoining takeout window; make sure to get an order of totopos con chile: fresh tortilla chips with salsa, cotija cheese, onions, cilantro, crema, and lime. All seating is first come, first served; call up to two hours ahead of time to place your name on the wait list.
242 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA
If you’re in North Beach and in need of a drink, what better place is there to get it than the same watering hole that’s been frequented by the likes of Sean Penn to Christopher Hitchens, the members of Metallica to the Beats?

The cafe has been a neighborhood staple for over 100 years (it opened in 1919). In 2019, Tosca Cafe switched owners and under went a period of renovation, but it kept the iconic name. Now, guests can expect an updated, classier grunge look in the historic bar and restaurant—think red leather booths, backlit liquor bottles, and old jukeboxes—designed by Ken Fulk.

Co-owned by restaurateur Ken Friedman and Chef April Bloomfield, Tosca is serving some of the best food you’ll find in the neighborhood, if not all of San Francisco. Go for the atmosphere and local lore, stay for the Tuscan fried chicken and truffle gnoochi—like many places at this historic Italian neighborhood, the food on the menu is Italian in flavor.
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