TripAdvisor has released its list of San Francisco’s 20 most frequently visited restaurants this year by travelers and locals alike — and it’s an eclectic mix of city classics, longtime hotspots and casual joints.
These restaurants are based on TripAdvisor app users’ decisions on where to dine, independent of reviews on the site. “To glean this information,” a spokeswoman said, “TripAdvisor studied recordings via smartphone GPS and motion sensors to predict when and where anonymous users are visiting a location or if they are just passing through. “
At #1, The Grove’s Yerba Buena location, a family-friendly comfort food specialist with four locations across the city. Diners loved the brunch – especially the benedicts and rosemary hash browns – and the pastrami sandwich.
Number 2 was Town Hall, the popular Howard Street restaurant with a regional American menu that leans heavily toward Southern classics, including fried chicken, jambalaya, ribs and chili cheese.
The most visited No. 3 was Slanted Door, the award-winning James Beard Vietnamese restaurant of chef-owner Charles Phan. Naturally, visitors who left reviews on TripAdvisor found their way to the trembling beef on the menu.
Ranking at #4 and #5 on the list was the fallback choice for all American travelers: burgers. The Bay Area’s much-loved Super Duper Burgers came in fourth and In-N-Out Burger fifth. (Leave it to the tourists to find an In-N-Out in a town we were sure didn’t have one! Alas, it’s in the Fisherman’s Wharf area at 333 Jefferson St. But we’ll give a pass outside staters who have never tried this Californian classic.)
No. 6 on the list was a San Francisco icon, the Cliff House. Another legend, the House of Prime Rib, came in 12th.
Between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m., the trendy Cal-Med menu at the Foreign Cinema; Waterbar, with its Embarcadero view; dim sum specialist Yank Sing; upscale Greek at Kokkari Estiatorio; and North Beach love Tony’s Pizza Napoletana.
Here is the full list:
The 20 most visited restaurants by travelers and locals in San Francisco in 2017:
1) The grove
2) Town hall
3) Angled door
4) Super duper burgers
5) In-N-Out Burger
6) Cliff House
7) Foreign cinema
8) Water bar
9) Yank Sing – Stevenson Street.
10) Kokkari Estiatorio
11) Tony’s Pizza Napoletana
12) Beef Rib House
13) R&G Lounge
14) Blue Bottle Coffee
15) Mar Cebicheria Peruana
16) 21st Amendment
17) Scomas
18) Bakery Toast
19) RN74
20) Soft Maple
