This was, on a whole, a quiet year for San Francisco restaurants, both in terms of openings, and, if you talk to many restaurant owners, in terms of people actually going out to eat. If the city's usually vibrant dining scene was lacking in the vibrancy department, it was largely because San Franciscans themselves have continued retreating to their meal kits and DoorDash, and forcing some restaurateurs into existential crisis mode.

Still, many of us were still going out to eat, and a few buzz-worthy spots had locals doing their usual line-standing or jockeying for tables online. And, as cost sensitivity has become the central concern for both restaurants and people dining out, we saw some high-profile chefs opting for casual or counter-service concepts, cutting down on their staffing needs.

And since the pandemic, we have continued to see creativity thrive and ambition take root at a number of new spots around town.

Below are SFist's picks for the best new restaurants of the year.

Best New Restaurant Overall: Prelude
Once in a long while, a restaurant comes along that feels as if it's the product of years of notebook ideas, dreams, dish iterations, and a personal point of view. Chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones stepped into his own kitchen as executive chef in 2024 with Prelude, with the backing of Omakase Restaurant Group and a handsome, den-like dining room and open kitchen by AvroKO Design, and it arrives as just that sort of fully realized place. The menu takes its cues from Southern cooking, with each component thoughtfully layered on the next. Take one dish of smoked catfish dumplings, like barely firm gnocchi with an umami-rich, crayfish etouffee gravy; or a humble fried chicken wing stuffed with dirty rice — a boldly casual choice for a high-end tasting menu, but it works. A multi-hour, eight-course meal needs to have a sense of humor, in addition to a point of you, to keep one guessing and entertained, and Prelude pulls this off in spades. I look forward to seeing what spring and summer look like at this place. (PS: This gorgeous restaurant in the newly renovated The Jay hotel next to Embarcadero Center also has the coziest, coolest new bar oasis in all of downtown.)
333 Battery Street

Best New Vibe: Four Kings
It's both the best thing to happen in Chinatown in a long while, and the most buzzed-about new restaurant of the year — in a year when SF could use a bright spot like this on the national radar. Chefs Franky Ho and Mike Long, who met while working in the kitchen at the Michelin-starred Mister Jiu's nearby (and Ho grew up in the neighborhood), brought a new and youthful vibe to their cozy izakaya-inspired spot on Commercial Street. The soundtrack is 90s Cantopop, the food comes very fast and pairs well with sake and beer, and the flavors are all punchy and delicious. But it's the ideas behind the dishes, like ma po spaghetti, escargot in XO sauce, and Hong Kong black pepper steak with au poivre sauce, that are the most exciting part. And even if you're not a squab fan, do not sleep on the low-key star of the show, the beautifully spiced, marinated fried squab.
710 Commercial Street

Best New Restaurant Masquerading as a Wine Bar: Bar Jabroni
One-time Top Chef contestant chef Robert Hernandez (Season 19, Houston) debuted this restaurant in the Lower Haight this year, adding to that neighborhood's new status as the one most punching above its weight for food. Since opening in March, the menu has already shifted with the seasons and added new delights. The whipped feta appetizer has stayed consistent, and makes for a perfect snack with wine. But any of Hernandez's intricate salads or well conceived, balanced entrees — like the lovely duck ragu pappardelle with salsa verde pictured above — will convince you that this is a place for food first, wine second. The wine selection, nonetheless, is forever interesting, ranging from the funky and natural to the refined, and includes glasses and bottles from around the globe.
698 Haight Street

AB Steak
Chef Akira Back, who's been around the planet with his food but is only now bestowing it on San Francisco, has brought newfound style and elegance to the Korean steakhouse, and to Union Square itself, with AB Steak. The restaurant had a quiet opening this fall, in a massive former nightclub space at 124 Ellis Street. The tables have their own mini-grills, like a Korean steakhouse, and you can order Korean soups like chadol dwen jang jjigae (fermented soybean stew with Wagyu beef), but the similarities end there. There is a Wagyu carpaccio pizza that shouldn't be missed, but the crux of this place lies in the luxury cuts of meat, like Australian Wagyu beef tongue, and 45-day dry-aged ribeye that you can order for your barbecue platters. And, it should be mentioned, the banchan are on point.
124 Ellis Street

Hamburger Project
Some of the best new additions to our dining scene are the simplest. And after gifting us with Handroll Project two years ago, Ju Ni chef Geoffrey Lee brings us this new smashburger outpost on Divisadero that is as simple as they come. The menu consists of three burger options — a classic smashburger with American cheese, an "Oklahoma" version with griddled sweet onions and Peppadew peppers, and a "Wisconsin" version with American cheese, sauteed onions, and whipped butter. Each can be ordered as a single or a double, they're all excellently flavorful and gooey — and the prices, basically unheard of in 2024, start at $6.89. There are also fries, loaded or plain. And because this is 2024 and we have Instagram, there is a $35 caviar add-on, as if that were necessary, but hey, why not if that's your thing?
808 Divisadero Street

Hed11
I've written previously about restaurateur Billie Wannajaro's ambitious Thai tasting menu spot in Japantown, which opened earlier this year. It followed shortly after the debut of Wannajaro's more casual Hed Very Thai in the FiDi, and it features the seasonally inspired cooking of Chef Piriya “Saint” Boonprasan, who previously worked at the Michelin-starred Saawaan in Bangkok. The prix fixe menu ($185) features 11 dishes, served generally in about five courses, with one course I experienced being a khao gaeng course, or "curry over rice," featuring one bowl of several different rices and an array of small dishes to be eaten with it. The food is at turns delicate and thought-provoking and mind-blowingly spicy, but in that delectable, slow-burn way of some Thai cooking. And the wine selections are terrific and well-paired with the food, with a mix of natural and traditional wines.
1800 Sutter Street, inside the Kimpton Hotel Enzo

Little Original Joe's - Marina
The Marina got its long-awaited outpost of the Original Joe's empire this year, and it's a big, bustling, good-time place that's meant to remind us what fun going to eat can be. The restaurant was immediately filled after its late-May debut with gatherings of friends, birthday dinners, and couples on dates, and the vibe is decidedly not mellow. Little Original Joe's features pizza, unlike the original Original Joe's, including the revelation that is the fresh-tomato-and-burrata-topped bruschetta pizza pictured above. There are fun starters like zucchini fries and garlic-parmesan knots. And the menu also features highlights from the Original Joe's repertoire, like chicken parm with prosciutto and vodka sauce (or traditional marinara, your choice), and meat ravioli. And for cocktail lovers, this place has a fine selection of house signatures, and as at the other Joe's restaurants, classic Martinis and Manhattans are properly made, and well chilled.
2301 Chestnut Street

Minnie Bell's Soul Movement
Chef Fernay McPherson brought her ode to grandmotherly Southern cooking to her home neighborhood The Fillmore this year, after several years at the Emeryville Public Market, and we can only hope she stays a long, long while. What the serviceable dining room and bar lack in frills, the kitchen makes up for in excellent, rosemary-scented fried chicken, mac and cheese, house pickles, and cornbread. And locals have already caught on to specials like fried catfish (on Fridays), gumbo, and braised oxtails. Hot sauce fans should not miss out on the house-made hot sauce, which comes with a $3 upcharge but is well worth it.
1375 Fillmore Street

Tartine Pizza
The post-pandemic pivot for Tartine Manufactory lands on this list because it is essentially a new restaurant, after the space went dark in the evenings for four years following the short run of its initial, Cal-Mediterranean iteration under chef Sam Goinsalvos. The new evening menu is focused around sourdough pizza with delicious toppings that put new twists on classic combinations — a white pie leans on the flavors of cacio e pepe pasta, for instance, and the pineapple pizza features a black-garlic tomato sauce and pepperoni. While the pizza is divine, what makes this place shine is the overall vibe, in that lovely, high-ceilinged, industrial space, the cocktails, and starter options like seasonal salads, some terrific meatballs, and some truly amazing black garlic bread topped with caciocavallo and fontal cheeses.
595 Alabama Street

Taste of Old Street
One of the most under-the-radar openings of this year was Taste of Old Street, which arrived in the Richmond back around last new year's. I paid a visit in January and especially loved the Taiwanese beef-stuffed pancake. But this small, humble spot is a gem for its entire Chinese street-food-focused menu, featuring Chengdu-style barbecue skewers ($5-$6) and slow-braised meat soups. There is also a section devoted to $3-$4 skewers that come with Old Chengdu Spicy Pot — a hot pot of spicy broth that, if you like spice, you may want to order spicier, as the owner has been lowering the spice level to cater to more American palates. Just know that the secret is out about this place, it only has a handful of tables, and you need to get there early or wait your turn. (They take limited reservations by phone.)
5336 Geary Boulevard

Honorable mention (because it was a reopening): Merchant Roots
I've raved before about Chef Ryan Shelton and his team and the sheer artistry and theater that's being created nightly at Merchant Roots. But the move this year into much, much bigger digs in SoMa marks a rebirth for this restaurant, which is arguably the most original in concept of any other in San Francisco. The new space will let Shelton his deputies, including talented Chef de Cuisine Christopher King, push the dining experience further into new and whimsical realms — they already converted a small alcove into a recreated "Bubble Room" from an early Willy Wonka-themed menu, in which a machine dispenses edible strawberry-flavored bubbles that you are meant to catch with your mouth. The current winter menu theme is "Humpty Dumpty," featuring eggs and other "broken" things.

Top image: Little Original Joe's/Facebook