The Most Fun Dinner Spots In San Francisco

Even on a Monday night at 9pm, Elena’s in West Portal is packed. That’s because this upscale Mexican restaurant, filled with live trees, all-ages groups clad in their shiniest outfits, and menus the size of a placemat, is the neighborhood’s designated night-out spot. Frozen margaritas flow out of the slushie machine like tap water, platters arrive piled with carnitas or chile colorado, and birthday sparklers get carried through the space almost as often as tortilla refills. And if you’re not in a great mood, the warm, salt-kissed (and most importantly, free) chips will quickly get you there.

Prubechu is one of the few SF restaurants that can make a parking lot feel like a party. The Chamorro spot in the Mission (the only one in the city) transformed a plot of asphalt into a bumping patio with picnic-style seating, sangria, and live music. Focus on the shareable dishes, like crisp-edged ko’ko’ wings with tangy fina’denne’ and coconut-braised beef so good we’d enjoy it even in a stalled BART car. And keep an eye on their Instagram for the next whole pig roast, a full-blown production that revolves around crackly pork with more live entertainment. 

At Thanh Long, the 50-year-old institution in the Sunset, you’ll spend a memorable night with a whole roast crab. Crack open the pepper-coated legs, dig out the perfectly cooked meat, and drizzle it with even more butter before licking it all off with your fingers. Of course, you’ll want to complete your dinner with a pile of Genius Grant-worthy garlic noodles—the buttery, umami-packed dish is still made in a top-secret kitchen within the main kitchen. This Vietnamese restaurant has been going strong for decades, and will probably still be when self-driving cars take over.

When you need a healthy dose of Cape Cod escapism, Little Shucker is the answer. The Pacific Heights oyster bar is seafood central—especially if you go all in on the Big Shucker, a seafood tower of oysters, mussels, lobster, and crudo so iconic it should be added to the city skyline. It’s the ideal shellfish centerpiece to pick from while you get tastefully wine-drunk off spritzes or a bottle of riesling in the breezy dining room. Also know that adding one of their tremendous lobster rolls (cold, always) to your order is a requirement. 

The Laundromat is where to get tipsy off natural wine, bob to records, and roll up your sleeves to dive into saucy Sicilian pizzas. The Richmond spot is the Avenues’ hottest destination for anyone who enjoys broccoli rabe-topped pies and a space filled with eclectic Elmer Fudd water glasses and vintage-y art you’ll be tempted to buy. It’s extra packed on Wednesdays thanks to weekly smashburger nights, which you should mark on your calendar and circle three times in red ink—these drippy, double-patty burgers are fantastic. 

Sure, Key Klub is technically a wine bar, but you’d be doing a night here all wrong if you skipped the food. A full meal at the perpetually magenta-lit spot should involve their mini chicken tenders, squash and mushroom tacos, and the double patty burger—plus some fries for good measure. On top of excellent food, you’re also here to chase dinner with Key Bumps (shots of vermouth with the staff, obviously), chat up a stranger after leaning over the bar to ask for another bottle of chilled red, or to throw back a pint of beer as a pregame for a Big Night Out in Nob Hill. 

The lack of a Koreatown in SF doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t find banchan or mandu worth planning your week around. Case in point: San Ho Won. Every dish at the contemporary Korean restaurant in the Mission is a masterpiece, from the housemade tteok in a sweet maple soy glaze to the melt-in-your-mouth galbi that will make you seriously question everything you thought you knew about beef. Going big here means opting for the house menu ($118), which will fill your table up with a huge, family-style spread of eight dishes, each one more delicious than the next.

Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack has been a fun-machine since it opened in 2001. The Bernal Heights red sauce joint is packed nightly and louder than a helicopter landing pad—it’s a revolving door of 10-person birthday groups doing Fireball shots with staff, families with kids shoveling cheesy garlic bread, and regulars sipping bootfuls of margaritas at the bar. Once you’re done clearing a mountain of spaghetti (complete with a $2 “parm blizzard” add-on), head to the back to peruse the pinball machines and stray photo booth strips that line the walls. 

A meal at this modern Chinese spot from some Mister Jiu’s alums is one of the hottest tables in town. Seasonal shōchū cocktails and imported beers flow while ’90s Canto-Pop blasts through the speakers. Cantonese film and music posters line the walls of this wooden oasis. And the menu is packed with creative twists on Cantonese classics, like a seven-day dry-aged squab with intensely crispy skin and an XO escargot dish with a side of fluffy milk bread for sopping up the extra sauce. You’ll have to constantly check Opentable for a primetime reservation, but they’re open until 11pm with walk-ins accepted all night at the bar.

This Chinatown spot serves arguably the best Peking duck in the city, but that’s not the only reason you’re here. The Z&Y spin-off is the hottest place in the neighborhood for big group dinners that end up lasting hours longer than expected. The two dining rooms are controlled chaos, complete with a spotlit duck carving station, entrées overflowing with Szechuan chilis, and tables packed with so many dishes you can’t see the surface. Round up your cohort of coworkers, extended family, or whatever quadruple date you can scrape together to get here (and make sure to reserve a duck ahead of time). 

The DJ booth might be empty at this Excelsior spot, but the speakers still pump live-recorded EDM sets—perfect background noise to fuel up on crispy Korean fried chicken and creamy rosé tteokbokki before hitting the mini-dance floor. Just be sure to note Korner Store is only open on Fridays and Saturdays from 6pm to midnight.

Dinner at Muukata6395 in the Richmond is a chaotic, smoke-filled charcoal Thai barbecue event. The space is constantly shrouded in a gray haze from the pork belly, shrimp, and bacon sizzling away on the domed charcoal grill surrounded by a broth moat. Come with people who are willing to yell across the table and don’t mind putting in the work to get this grill-it-yourself situation going. Prepare to finish off the meal by slurping up the soup flavored with the meat juice drippings, a.k.a. the best way to prevent a hangover.

After closing in 2020, Leopold’s reopened in May of 2023 to bring back the alpine German-Austrian party vibes to Russian Hill. No matter how your day is going before heading in, you’ll always leave having consumed way more beer and schnitzel than you thought possible—so will everyone else. It’s always a constant shouting match here—because of the heavy pours and giant two-liter boots, this place is always at a decibel level that your doctor would find concerning. The food here can vary from dry and tad underwhelming (looking at you, weiner schnitzel) to fun and comforting (kasespatzle). Either way, all of the food is appreciated, especially after the boot-chugging contest you’ll likely have with the next table down.