For eight years, Eat Drink SF has brought together the city’s hottest restaurants under the umbrella of one weekend-long event just before summer turns into fall. More than 8,500 attendees flock to this denizen of drink and food, eager to taste bites from over 160 participating restaurants and drinks from over 70 bars, breweries, and distilleries. Held this year at Fort Mason Center, events kicked off on Thursday, August 25 and ran throughout the weekend with Grand Tastings on Friday evening, Saturday and evening, culminating in a final tasting, Sundaymorning.
In 2015, San Franciscans spent the most money eating out, playing second only to Dallas, according to real estate website, Curbed. According to the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, San Francisco has currently issued more than foodservice licenses— residents could eat out every night for several years and still not darken the doors of all the eateries in this booming city. The diversity of today’s food and beverage offerings represents the variety of multicultural expressions as San Francisco’s food scene continues to evolve. This makes Eat Drink SF a stand-out event for foodies around the Bay area and beyond. See if your favorite spot made the cut.
Annelies Zijderveld’s first cookbook, Steeped: Recipes Infused with Tea, is available now. She has been published in Curator magazine, Arthouse America, and Sated Magazine. Follow her teatime antics and cooking with tea journey on Instagram.
1 of 33
![]()
The welcome sign to Eat Drink SF read like a California still life painted in fruits and vegetables. CUESA, operates farmer's markets at Ferry Plaza in San Francisco and at Jack London Square in Oakland. Through cooking demos and programming around the Bay area, this non-profit's focuses on sustainable food system education.
2 of 33
![]()
Located on the Bay with sparkling views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Mason Center is an idyllic spot in San Francisco. The 50,000 square foot Festival Pavilion hosted Eat Drink SF in 2016.
3 of 33
![]()
More than 8,500 people attended Eat Drink SF in 2016. Festival attendee Juan Rosales stops by the Market table for a sample of shrimp escabeche with charred habanero, coconut, shallots, cilantro and celery. This gourmet grocery-store-meets-food-hall is located in the ground floor of the Twitter building.
4 of 33
![]()
Decked out in astroturf with picnic tables and lawn chairs, guests took breaks from eating and drinking to play Jenga or take down their adversary in a friendly game of bean bag toss before moving onto find their next favorite bite.
5 of 33
![]()
Haight Street eatery Alembic served up open-faced ham and cheese sandwiches. This popular spot for cocktails and beer stays open late with small dishes crafted to pair with their diverse drinks.
6 of 33
![]()
Chef David Lawrence's newest restaurant on Fillmore, Black Bark BBQ, elevates smoked meat. Slider sandwiches of smoked fried chicken represented therestaurant in snack-bite size. An employee donned a t-shirt emblazoned with Sir-Mix-a-Lot's lyric, DzWe like big butts,dz giving it a bit of barbecue-laced humor.
7 of 33
![]()
Buena Vista Café introduced the Irish coffee in the United States in 1952. Partnering with Tullamore D.E.W., Buena Vista Café gave out hot cups of their signature Irish coffee, a popular drink on foggy mornings where the ding of the cable car serves as soundtrack outside this Fisherman's Wharf café.
8 of 33
![]()
Caramelized kadota figs with duck rillettes, fromage blanc and brandied duck jus started the party over at Café Claude table shared with sister restaurant Gitane. The French restaurant and its Southern Spanish sister eatery neighbor each other, tucked into an alley close to Union Square.
9 of 33
![]()
New chefs are expanding the boundaries of eaters' expectations. One notable restaurant to enter the scene includes fine dining Chinese eatery, Mister Jiu's, brainchild of chef Brandon Jew who describes the menu inspiration as past (taste memories), present (seasonal, bio-dynamic, organic focus) and future-oriented (what is going to make the food better?). At the main stage, Jew gave a cooking demo to a full crowd, showing how to make his salt-baked trout in lotus leaves.
10 of 33
![]()
Known for their handmade pasta, Chef/owner Alessandro Campitelli wrapped tender pasta sheets into sample bites of ragu bianco cannelloni. Influenced by flavors from his childhood, Campitelli's Jackson Square restaurant, Chiaroscuro is infused with a Roman approach to Italian cooking.