Where to eat at Paleo & gluten-free restaurants in San Francisco
When I travel, I use the hashtag #PracticalPaleoTravel, but I also have hashtags with the city added to the end, for example: #PracticalPaleoTravelSF. While I call my beloved San Francisco home, I know many folks come in from out of town to visit…so here are some restaurants and food I love in this city! If you need more travel tips, check on this blog post: Practical Paleo Travel Tips.
Listed alphabetically. Quick links to read more below for some but not all. I may not have great photos from all of them, so they may not have details but if they're starred, they're favorites nonetheless:
- 15 Romolo (North Beach)
- Bar Tartine*^ (Mission)
- Belcampo (Polk Street)
- Blue Barn* (Polk Street / Russian Hill & Chestnut Street / Marina)
- Crisp Bake Shop (Sonoma – outside of SF)
- Heirloom Cafe*^ (Folsom Street)
- Ichi Sushi*^ (Mission)
- Jane on Fillmore* (Fillmore Street)
- La Mar*^ (Embarcadero/Downtown)
- La Méditerranée (Fillmore Street / Pacific Heights)
- Little Gem Restaurant* (Gough Street / Hayes Valley)
- Mamacita* – Mexican (Chestnut Street, Marina)
- Mission Heirloom – AIP & low FODMAP friendly – (Berkeley – outside of SF)
- Park Tavern^ (North Beach)
- The Plant Cafe (Embarcadero / Downtown & Steiner Street / Marina)
- Roam Artisan Burgers* (Fillmore Street / Pacific Heights & Union Street / Cow Hollow)
- Royal Ground – coffee shop – (Polk Street / Russian Hill & other locations)
- San Francisco Airport (SFO)
- Souvla * (Hayes Valley)
- Tataki * – sushi – (California Street / Lower Pacific Heights)
*My favorites – the ones we dine at most often and are casual.
^Favorites that are nicer for a sit-down dinner – reservations recommended or required.
15 Romolo
- Charcuterie board at 15 Romolo. Good thing this was on the bar menu when I met @zestforlifetoday – it was yummy!
Check out 15 Romolo's menu here.
Belcampo
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Date night steak dinners at Belcampo on Polk. Yum! The vino and fries were for Scott. I also had a salad to start.
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A great picnic lunch from Belcampo – roast beef, Bologna, cabbage & kale salad, Jackson's honest chips and some spicy mustard. Enjoyed this outside in a parklet with @grassfedgirl.
Check out Belcampo's menu here.
Blue Barn
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A lunch date for Scott and I! For me: the arugula salad with chopped Mary's chicken for protein (double order, I gave some to him from my bowl) and that's Manchego cheese shaved on top of mine. For him: the “beets & greens” salad with curried chicken salad for protein. Plus, grape kombucha for me and water for him. We shared the chocolate PB Krispy treat. It's a definite treat!
Check out Blue Barn's Menu here.
Crisp Bake Shop
- I had a quick business meeting at Crisp Bake Shop in Sonoma which meant a gluten-free blueberry scone with some unsweetened iced tea. One thing I've definitely noticed since developing nut allergies is that while Paleo-friendly treats are more nutrient dense than gluten-free ones, I can't enjoy them at all anymore, so I appreciate the nut-free and gluten-free goodies that are available in so many places now.
Check out Crisp Bake Shop menu here.
Heirloom Cafe
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We ate at this dinner was perfect – highly recommend! This was halibut with English peas over cauliflower.
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Strauss vanilla bean ice cream + Ritual espresso = a perfect affogato.
Check out Heirloom Cafe's menu here.
Ichi Sushi SF
- Get the omikase if you're game – their sushi is amazing… just don't ask for soy sauce because if you're getting the chef's tasting menu, it won't come with any. And don't bring the coconut aminos here, either, you won't need them!
Check out Ichi Sushi's menu here.
Jane on Fillmore
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A breakfast date with Scott. I ordered the avocado toast with an extra egg (because duh), he had sausage & egg sandwich – both on gluten-free bread. Their gluten-free bread is ridic!
Check out Jane on Fillmore's Menu here.
La Mar
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Tiradito (Peruvian sashimi with sauce like a ceviche). People ask me all the time what my favorite food is and, until now, I've been all “I don't like to play favorites because I love so many foods.” I lied. THIS is my favorite food! This one is salmon and I enjoyed it atop their house-made sweet potato chips. SO GOOD.
La Méditerranée
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Movers came this day so we ordered delivery for dinner. This is Mediterranean food from La Méditerranée (I called to check that it is all gluten free before ordering delivery): chicken kebabs, saffron chicken, babagannoush and salads. Scott will eat the majority of the delicious saffron rice that came with all of this, and I'll only have the bits that stuck to my half of the saffron chicken. Don't order the rice for strict Paleo!
Check out La Mediterranee's Menu here.
Little Gem Restaurant
Lunch date with my honey, Scott at Little Gem Restuarant. Loved what we had, but both felt like our flatbreads could have used a bit more acid and maybe some fresh herbs – the bread is their NON which is gluten and nut-free! Everything here is gluten, dairy, and refined sugar-free. Lovely casual new spot.
Check out Little Gem's menu here.
Mamacita
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Tacos. Ceviche. Locally sourced and high quality meat & veggies – need I say more? Oh, happy hour specials. GO HERE.
Mission Heirloom
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One of my last bites of pate from Mission Heirloom in Berkeley on their yucan crunch cracker with some (gasp!) wild rice on top. I legitimately had not had wild rice in years and I remembered loving it. It was lovely and the nuttiness and texture were great.
Check out Mission Heirloom's menu here.
Park Tavern
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This delicious dinner tonight at Park Tavern on Washington Square with our good friends @victoryflair and @stickdogg. Halibut (mine), pork chop (Scott's), and veal carpaccio with cracklings (shared – this was my favorite dish!) So good!
Check out Park Tavern's menu here.
The Plant Cafe
- Lunch today at The Plant Cafe – green curry with chicken and extra veggies, no rice. So yummy, bright, and super fresh tasting.
Check out The Plant Cafe menu here.
Roam
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This meal was shared post-workout with two badass athletes ~ @jensinkler and her radass (like badass, but radder) rugby friend Pam after a fun training session together.
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A lunch date with Scott! I'm eating elk burgers on a lettuce wrap with a few sweet potato fries and also had some of the salad. He had the big Market Salad with 2 skewers of beef burgers and the bulk of the sweet potato fries.
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Here is a great big salad from Roam. The protein is grass fed beef mini burgers. The drink is a coconut kombucha.
Royal Ground
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His and hers at Royal Ground on Polk St. His is regularly drip with almond milk. Mine is decaf Americano with butter.
Check out Royal Ground's website here.
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- This meal was from the Tyler Florence spot in Terminal 2 – rotisserie chicken with beets/carrots and greens.
- I grabbed the GT Synergy Mystic Mango kombucha from the Napa Farms Market on the way out of SFO. Note: the kale chips were a purchase at Whole Foods but they do sell kale chips and other similar items at Napa Farms Market.
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Terminal 3 – DogPatch: 3 salads plus chicken. Kale, beets, squash… I squeezed lemon over it or I add some salt because I always think it needs some acid or salt… But it's pretty legit!
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A breakfast in Terminal 3 from DogPatch – butternut squash and kale salad topped with chicken that @grassfedgirl sent with me for my flight. I added EVOO and splurged on a kombucha.
Souvla
- Huge salads that sneak some kale in there but dress and mix it so well with other ingredients you'll hardly notice the dark leafy green goodness. Get the fries. We haven't asked about their cooking oils yet, and are almost afraid to, but they are worth it!
Tataki
- Lunch with friends. I forgot to snap a pic of the whole platter so this was all that was left when I thought of it. It's Arctic char and avocado. Tataki on California Street serves sustainable and wild fish – super legit. Super yummy. I brought my own coconut aminos 🙂
- Sushi date with my big sister, @LisaYogaLondon, who visited me in San Fran in May 2016. It was DELISH. You can order rolls with cucumber and no rice, too.
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Comments 25
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Hi Dianne,
Thank you so much for this list – I’m definitely looking forward to trying some of your recommendations when I’m in San Francisco for work early next week. I’m also looking for somewhere I can stock up on some gf/aip/paleo eats to stash in the hotel fridge that’s easily accessible from the Union square area. Do you have an recommendations? Thank you!!
I spelled your name wrong and I can’t seem to edit it. Sorry!
Author
No worries 🙂
Author
I can’t think of too much near Union Square as it’s very touristy there, but you can easily Uber to Whole Foods on Franklin & California.
Love this list of restaurants! I have a party coming up that I want to get catered. Do you know of any paleo friendly caterers in San Francisco?
Author
Zenbelly!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!
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Hi Diane! This is a fantastic list and as someone in SF I have referenced it frequently! I also have recently been loving a place called Beautifull (two “Ls”), specifically their proteins and butternut squash/cauliflower sides. They have mixed reviews but I’ve always had good meals for grab-and-go. Just thought I would pass it along in case you haven’t tried. Thanks as always for the useful hashtags!
Author
Funny story about that place… they began as a meal delivery business back maybe in 2010 when I had my business running, Balanced Bites, making and delivering organic gluten-free meals! I remember when they popped on the scene! But I haven’t tried their food ever. Thanks for the note!
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Great list! Have you tried Kitava on Mission St? Owner is a Bauman grad.
Author
I haven’t tried it! It’s pretty far from us and we don’t get down there too often! I haven’t seen anything on the menu that got me super excited to dine out versus at home yet!
I appreciate this list so much! Thank you for taking the time to compile your favorites. I am from the Bay Area but it’s always nice to get tips from an SF local. My Mom and I will be referencing this when we come up in a few weeks for a day in the city. I am looking forward to your new Keto book!
Author
Glad you enjoyed!!
I’ll be visiting from out of town and am looking for paleo friendly places near Alameda, San Bruno, and/or AT&T Park. Are any of the places listed near one of those areas? Thanks!
Author
I don’t have a list for that but you can probably do some googling for other bloggers’ posts for paleo or gluten-free in the area!!
Thanks for the list! I feel very prepared and even excited for the food during my business trip. One note – it looks like Mamacita is no more. Bummer too because I need a place with a good happy hour!!
Author
I know, it’s such a major bummer!!
Kavita was really food and has generous portions. Similar philosophy to Little Gem.
Meant Kitava!
Also Burma Superstar!!!
Author
YES!
Hi Diane!
Thanks so much for this awesome list! My husband and I are visiting San Fran, so this will come in super handy! Bummed to hear about Mamacita… any other Mexican joints you really love? Also… have you heard of Plow and have you been there? Thanks for your help!
PS – I met you and Cassy Joy at her book signing at the Ferry Building with my husband… it was so nice meeting you both even if it was short and quick! 🙂 I just graduated from the NTA last weekend, and you ladies really revved me up and have me so excited for this profession. Now to find my own voice in the land of many these days. Excited for your ladies’ business podcast to roll out soon too! Thanks for creating such wonderful content and making this world a healthier place.