The best restaurants in California rival those in any other state in the United States. San Francisco is undoubtedly one of the top cities in the world for cuisine, and no city has seen its culinary reputation rise more than Los Angeles in the last decade. Whether you’re looking for Michelin-starred restaurants or fantastic affordable food, you can’t go wrong in California.
“California cuisine” may be seen on menus around the country, elevating vegetables and healthier cooking. At the same time, the modern food truck movement, which started on the streets of Los Angeles, has been adopted by cities, villages, and even fast-food firms. Californians also enjoy the best tacos, Thai food, and other cuisines in the country, thanks to years of different immigrants.
So, if you’re searching for classic things to do in California, we recommend a lot of dining. What’s the issue? Choosing where to eat in California might be a difficult task.
But we’re here to help with our recommendations for the best restaurants in California, where you can savor the flavor and wealth of the Golden State with a memorable dinner.
1. French Laundry
According to Bourdain, this rare Napa Valley institution is the best restaurant in California and world; French Laundry’s organic garden is probably more remarkable than your favorite park. Getting into Stanford business school is simpler than getting a reservation at French Laundry. In the early twentieth century, the old stone structure was used as a French laundry.
It serves as an inspiring backdrop for chef-owner Thomas Keller’s carefully thought, three Michelin-starred tasting menu designed to deliver the perfect bite—artfully displayed portions of Alaskan King Crab with crispy garden cauliflower; charcoal-grilled Japanese wagyu with cèpe mushrooms—while leaving you desiring another, until the next course arrives and the sensation repeats.
2. Mister Jiu’s
Chef/owner Brandon Jew accomplished a culinary marvel when he transformed a decrepit landmark restaurant into a stunning Michelin-starred hot spot entered by a concealed entrance on an evocative lane, bringing San Francisco foodies back to renowned popular Chinatown. Jew threw out the Kikkoman bottles to make everything from scratch, from the soy sauce to the lick-the-bowl-clean hoisin.
Reservations are difficult, as are walk-up seats at the 15-seat bar, featuring meals like wagyu fried rice with cured tuna heart and full roasted duck with all the accouterments. Fortunately, Mister Jiu’s previous banquet hall upstairs has lately been renovated as a chic, dim sum-fueled cocktail club.
3. State Bird Provisions
The revolutionary, dim sum-style San Francisco restaurant, which currently has queues around the block and hackers stealing all available bookings, was unintended. Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, a husband-and-wife chef duo, decided to create a temporary eatery in an adjacent storefront while waiting for their first restaurant to be built. They prepared meals ahead of time and served them dim sum-style through a cart that roved the compact dining area because there wasn’t enough room for a full kitchen.
It was soon crowned Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurant of the Year, and the rest, as they say, is history. The novelty is evident, but it’s Brioza and Krasinski’s wonderful, innovative dishes—often incorporate seemingly contradictory ingredients like miso caesar asparagus with seaweed breadcrumb and sourdough pancakes sauerkraut, pecorino, and ricotta—that make it a success.
4. Chez Panisse
This modest Berkeley restaurant (established by Alice Waters in 1971) introduced the world to California cuisine—highlighting peak-of-season products with basic preparation—and gave rise to its neighboring community, The Gourmet Ghetto. Despite encouraging Portlandia-Esque remarks, Chez Panisse’s prix fixe menus still read like a list of local food producers, like the hand-cut linguine with Hog Island clams, pancetta, and sweet peas or Grilled Wolfe Ranch fowl with sage, braised green garlic, and porcini mushrooms.
Monday nights, which feature a simpler, more rustic tasting menu—and a lower price tag—and a supplementary upstairs eatery, are ideal for frugal diners. The Café has a casual atmosphere and reasonably priced a la carte alternatives.
5. Ironside Fish & Oyster
This buzzy cafe in San Diego’s fashionable Little Italy offers an Instagram-ready décor with a wall of piranha skeletons and a lavatory hallway illuminated by a large marquee sign saying “Shit Happens,” far from the shabby seafood shack that its name might imply. Aside from the glitz and glam, the seafood here is not missed.
An endless stream of beautifully fresh oysters, creamy uni toast, and flavorful Spanish-style octopus will zoom by your table to feed the raucous dining room. Because Ironside is owned by Consortium Holdings, the excellent Craft & Commerce across the street, you may combine your lobster roll with great tiki drinks.
Also Read, 10 Best Indian Restaurants in New York to Have the Desi Taste
6. Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch
Do you want to have the traditional Wine Country experience without giving up your next month’s rent? Farmstead is located in the picturesque Napa Valley town of St. Helena. Dining al fresco among the vineyards? Check. Tasting of wine and olive oil? Check. Organic farm market, flowering food garden, and live music on the event lawn? Check, check, and check again.
The extensive, crowd-pleasing menu combines Wine Country cuisine with downhome BBQ, including grass-fed steak tartare with farm egg and smoked ribs with green apple slaw. Furthermore, the property is likely to be within walking distance from your in-town hotel, allowing you to enjoy an extra glass of wine or two.
7. Gjusta
No one does brunch better than Los Angeles, and this posh Venice deli and bakery is proof. The white-washed, warehouse-style café is lit by brilliant skylights and diners who appear fresh-faced for a Saturday morning. Gjusta could be mistaken for a modern Jewish deli, with handcrafted bialys, a cabinet full of pickles and flavored smears, and some of the best house-cured and smoked fish in town.
Nonetheless, the wooden counter that spans the length of the restaurant serves a delightful selection of pastries, elegant toasts, and sandwiches like a tasso ham-spiked Croque madame and a rotisserie chicken bánh m. Order at the counter, grab a latte and wait for your food to be served.
8. The Marshall Store
Few restaurants on this list convey a feeling of location like the Marshall Store, a small waterfront seafood shop located above Tomales Bay’s soft lapping waves and filled with oysters from their adjacent farm. You can order them raw with mignonette or grilled with a selection of toppings such as house BBQ sauce and garlic butter or crumbled chorizo with chorizo butter. A smoker outside produces delicious salmon and outstanding crostinis topped with smoked oysters and a pile of Fromage blanc.
Grab a bottle of rosé from the refrigerated case and enjoy your meal on the wrap-around wooden terrace that overlooks the lake, or join the party at the communal tables that line the rugged beach.
9. Guerrilla Tacos
Both classic launchers and the new school hipster variety, Taco trucks are iconic in Los Angeles. Wesley Avila, who was weaned on his mother’s Mexican soul cuisine and classically trained in high-end kitchens like Le Comptoir, has taken street food to the next level with his Guerrilla Tacos truck. We’re talking char siu pig tacos with avocado, hamachi tuna tostadas with gooseberries, and their best-selling sweet potato tacos with fried corn, feta, and almond chile. The truck is frequently parked in front of LA’s chic coffee shops, but check their website for a weekly menu and schedule to see what’s cooking and where.
10. Big Sur Bakery
The lovely café, housed in a romantic 1936 ranch home surrounded by lush flora, has a line out the door every morning for a counter full of freshly baked pastries, shelves of wood-fired bread loaves, and an apothecary-like array of teas. Gather your belongings and loiter on the sun-drenched garden terrace, overlooking the gorgeous Santa Lucia Mountains. Dinners are especially lovely because of the enchanting candlelit ambiance with a warming fireplace and rustic, wood-fired meals like blistered sourdough pizzas and a superb roast chicken with rich garlic gravy.
