Insider's Guide to San Francisco

Mosto and Tacolicious
Side-by-side taco joint and Tequila bar under the same ownership attracts progressive eaters and scenesters. 

The Abbot’s Cellar
Craft beers wash down savories like gnocchi and calamari. 

Elixir Saloon
There’s supposedly been a bar at this old location since the 1800s. Now, it’s Elixir, one of the best cocktail joints in town.  

Mission Bowling Club
The tattoo-and-Panama hat crowd comes to bowl and enjoy a fried-chicken sandwich and gin fizz. 

HiLo BBQ 
One of the newest stops in town, serving up ‘cue all day long, along with cheap beer. 

Mission Street Oyster Bar
A new, bare-bones joint heavily accented toward seafood. Throwback bar stools evoke the 1950s. 

The Armory Club
This bordello-meets-tech geek bar offers small-batch spirits and a decent wine list to a party crowd. 

—Steve Heimoff

M.Y. China
Cooks pull noodles while the crowd watches at celebrity chef Martin Yan’s upscale new resto at mid-Market’s Westfield Center.

Betelnut
After some tinkering, this classic contemporary restaurant is back. Check out the egg noodles with five-spice wild boar.

Hakkasan 
The specialty is Hakka-style noodles, paired with sake, beer, cocktails or wine.

Nombe 
Newish Mission Street resto may have the best ramen in town.

Soup Junkie
Offers great Vietnamese pho, and the crab-and-tomato noodle soup has ‘em lining up at this FiDi [Financial District] lunch stop.

Lers Ros
Pricey, but the noodle soups, especially the Kuay Jub, are crazy good, and the Pad Thai may be even better.

Waraku 
Wheat-based tonkotsu noodles define the style at this Japantown restaurant. Locals love the no-waiting service.

Mandalay
Arguably the top Burmese place in town, with a spicy, savory ong no kaw soi soup.

—Steve Heimoff

Bluxome Street Winery 
Taste Russian River Pinot Noir and Chardonnay by the glass, flight and bottle, with edibles, including The Meet Market farmers’ market on monthly Saturdays. 

Tank 18
A 6,000-square-foot winery and tasting room with regular food trucks, it also hosts Sustainable Bottling nights for rinses and refills of wine. 

Treasure Island Wines
A collective winery with breathtaking views of San Francisco; the popular Cork-n-Pork tasting takes place in May. 

A.P. Vin
Gorgeous small-lot Pinot Noirs are made in this working winery, open to thirsty travelers by appointment. 

The Winery SF
A gigantic space that brings California wine to an airplane hangar on Treasure Island. 

—Virginie Boone

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