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Price Guide: $ = less than $15, $$ = $15 - $35, $$$ = $36-$50, $$$$ = over $50
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French-born chef Alain Rondelli presides over this elegantly understated restaurant featuring contemporary French food. Rondelli's highly intelligent approach to innovation is the kitchen's guiding principle.
Chef Michael Mina's seafood-oriented menu features intricate preparations such as citrus-roasted Atlantic salmon with Dungeness crab stuffing. The high-ceilinged dining room (a former bank) is decorated in restful tones of bone and bisque and punctuated with mirrors and massive bouquets in giant urns.
Chef Daniel Patterson's contemporary French cuisine is of astonishing quality. His wife, Elizabeth Ramsey, presides over two lush, formal dining rooms with grace and flair. Inexpensive fare is offered in the casual wine bar. More than 30 wines are poured by the half-glass, glass, and bottle.
Classic French-Continental describes the fare at this established location, where reliable classics like beef Wellington and frog legs take center stage. The Bay Area's breadth of fresh fish choices is reflected in the daily specials.--Diablo
If you ever have a longing for those French menus from before the revolution (the food revolution, that is), head for Chez Maurice in the shadow of the colorful Rheem Theater. Nary a nod to the '90s here, where classic items such as escargots, hearts of palm salad, and canard à l'orange tell the story. For the non-Francophile in your group there's always filet or a New York steak.--Diablo
This restored Victorian house is a popular destination for special occasions, especially romantic ones. The French food is showcased in prix-fixe dinners, including a seven-course menu gastronomique.
French is the watchword, byword, and subtext here, from the chanteuses on the stereo to the frog legs on the menu and the digestifs at the bar. Owners Claude and Dominique are experienced hands at creating a thoroughly French dining experience, with a warm welcome, menu items both classic and nouvelle, and a long list of lighter daily specials. When was the last time you had frog legs sauté?--Diablo
For decades, our vote for romantic atmosphere has gone to this intimate, paisley-tented dining spot, where the brilliant contemporary French cooking of chef-partner Hubert Keller puts Fleur de Lys at the pinnacle of San Francisco's haute dining.
The out-of-this-world plates of chef Albert Tordjman are guaranteed to impress, especially his superb foie gras and his duck confit. This offbeat Mission District restaurant has become so popular that it has expanded into an adjacent storefront.
L.A. chef Thomas Keller bought this Napa landmark in 1994 and transformed it into an idyllic setting for his inventive cuisine. Keller's prix-fixe tasting menus offer a sampling of his stylized dishes featuring unexpected juxtapositions and flavors.
Gerald Hirigoyen's casual French restaurant is a neighborhood favorite. Bistro classics include duck confit, steamed mussels, crab salad, and for dessert, goat cheese soufflé.
The charming L'Amie Donia serves the cuisine bourgeoise of chef Donia Bijan. The menu changes seasonally, and the autumn fare includes crispy potato and leek galette and gigot boulangère: lamb stew with parsley, and papardelle tossed with sweet peas.
It's hard to believe you're not in the old country when you step into the cozy interior of La Cigale. The welcome is warm, the service sweet, the food comforting and ample. Traditional favorites such as coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon share the menu with classic (but these days seldom seen) sweetbreads or calf's brains.--Diablo
Classic Continental-French cooking survives and thrives in this Victorian restaurant in tiny Clayton. The place and the menu are both romantic and removed, and the carte is full of the French dishes we all remember from the time before the Provençal food wave rolled over us. Whether it's escargots or pâté maison, veal dijonaise or beef stroganoff, you can revel in French cuisine as it used to be. A well-put-together wine list includes fairly priced French selections.--Diablo
Roland and Jamie Passot's lovely, delightfully French restaurant on Russian Hill continues to win applause for its artful plates and cozy provençal decor. Highlights include Passot's signature dish of roti of quail and squab.
The classically trained proprietors of this charming bistro offer a small menu of well-executed bistro standards, including an oven roasted chicken served with a mound of garlic-laced mashed potatoes and a terrific duck confit with glazed turnips.
An attractive and expansive terrace has added atmosphere to this Lafayette mainstay of 20 years. A new wall of windows along the bright garden makes the main dining room that much more welcoming. And new chef Ron Ottobre has spiced up the classic French menu with dashes of California and nouvelle. The wine list, while not overlong, presents some good French bottles.--Diablo
A mural of gardens graces the interior of this welcoming restaurant on Pleasanton's Main Street. The changing French-inspired menu covers lots of additional culinary territory: Italian-style pastas, the occasional curry, and seldom-seen dishes like rabbit niçoise. Look for farmers' market specials on Saturdays when the weather permits farm-to-table shopping, and give a thought to the chef's four-course degustation menu.--Diablo
The exterior of Le Virage is painted to look like a French village street, with brickwork, windows, and flower boxes. Inside, that hint of small-town charm is matched by a courtesy and formality that have all but disappeared from the contemporary food scene. The staff will spoil you with attention while you dine on French classics, from Dover sole almandine to canard aux fruits.--Diablo
San Francisco readers have rated Masa's best in the Bay Area since it opened. Chef Julian Serrano prepares French cuisine with stylized refinement. Appearance is paramount here, as are the service and the meticulous wine list.
The early-morning crowd at Pascal sits outside, sipping their first cup of java with house-baked pastries, Belgian waffles, or omelettes. At lunch the shift is to soup, salads, and sandwiches. Order at the counter, and the friendly staff will bring your meal to the table you've scouted out, inside or out on the porch.--Diablo
Gerald Hirigoyen's long-awaited casual French restaurant features a sunny interior with a yellow-tinted cement bar and lots of blond wood. Happily, the prices are on a par with those of his Fringale.
New chef Sylvain Portay, formerly of Le Cirque in New York, has created a new menu; highlights include a lobster salad with haricots verts, tomatoes, and caviar cream, and roast duck with Mission fig port sauce and polenta gratin.
This South Park outpost is the sort of place where you can imagine French statesmen dining on grilled boudin noir with sautéed apples, steak frites, or roasted duck breast. A stack of French publications and the occasional French-speaking waiter add to the Gallic charm.
Chef Derek Burns's architectural East-West creations are perfectly suited to the setting: San Francisco's much-loved Transamerica Pyramid.
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