9 Best Restaurants in Pacific Heights, San Francisco

Regardless of the time of year, Melissa Perello’s upscale restaurant is a perennial favorite for diners seeking out what California cuisine really tastes like. The warm, immaculate dining room is a perfect setting for edgier dishes like the chilled squid-ink noodles starter, along with more comforting produce-driven small plates and entrées. Imaginative desserts and a top-tier wine program round out what is one of San Francisco's definitive dining experiences.

This modern Italian favorite continues to be a special destination for chef Matthew Accarrino's inventive seasonal cooking. The five-course tasting menu includes tempting antipasti, superlative pastas like mustard capellini with guinea hen ragù, and a few hearty secondi; save space for the fantastic desserts. The Italian wine list is also full of gems and divided by region, providing a great education with your bottle. The polished yet relaxed atmosphere, with travel posters on the wall, attracts a dedicated neighborhood following of all ages. Singles and walk-in couples can sit at the two counters (one looks into the galley kitchen). Accarrino's fried chicken on Sundays is worth planning your day around. And doughnuts and coffee are served during the daytime for Fillmore's steady stream of weekend power shoppers and walkers.

At this sleek Presidio Heights daytime café, the wellness-centric menu manages to be so delicious that guests often don't notice how virtuous the dishes are. Bread for the open-faced sandwiches is gluten-free and baked in-house; several items are vegetarian and/or vegan; and even the pappardelle is made of zucchini ribbons instead of wheat. The white-tiled and white-painted interior looks more like a luxury Beverly Hills boutique than an eatery.

Your search for the perfect kouign-amann (a traditional glazed, butter-enriched Breton pastry made of croissant dough) ends in this buzzy café from baking wizard Belinda Leong.

Stop into this bright spot for their famous avocado mash, homemade baked goods and cookies, and coffee from beans roasted in-house. Look for other Janes around the city, including on Larkin Street in the Tenderloin, on Grant Avenue in Chinatown, and Jane the Bakery on Geary Street in Japantown.

All the burgers at this laid-back spot, part of a popular Bay Area mini-chain, are responsibly sourced, and the beef is 100% grass-fed. Choose a patty (beef, bison, vegetarian, elk, or turkey), then select a preset "style" or invent your own from the many creative toppings. The homemade quinoa-, brown rice-, and black bean-based vegetarian burger might be the finest of that increasingly competitive genre in San Francisco. A market salad rotates frequently as a solid option for the burger-averse. Kombucha, shakes, house-made sodas, and beer and wine are also available, as is a kids' menu.

The COVID-19 pandemic's outdoor dining requirement led San Franciscans to discover the city's premier patios—like the one at this Presidio Heights stalwart. Whether you're dining on that patio or in the elegant dining room, Italian and seasonal Californian cooking mingle together on the menu. Each night's selections mix staple dishes—game hen cooked under a brick, pici (a long, thick pasta) Bolognese—and new creations like Dungeness crab with tarragon oil and dragon fruit. The wine list showcases several excellent choices from across California and Italy, but the real strength comes from its collection of northern Italian bottles.

This elegant restaurant caters to an older crowd who sink happily into its oversized faux-ostrich leather chairs. The tasting menu is equally refined, with ingredients often sourced from the restaurant's farm south of the city and charcuterie made in-house; celeriac velouté with brandied-chestnut mousseline and salmon with horseradish soubise reflect the contemporary Californian menu's elegant French leanings. Excellent, artistic desserts are some of the most spectacular ways to end a meal in the city. The adjacent takeaway counter serves cookies, a popular English-muffin burger, and coffee drinks.