The nature of the food journalist’s gig is that we, The Chronicle Food + Wine staff, are constantly trying new restaurants all over the Bay Area. That means even when we find a restaurant we think is fantastic, we sometimes don’t end up going back.
But every year, there are a few restaurants that emerge as reliable standbys: places that feed us affordable lunches; that nourish us with much-needed veggies; that manage to consistently surprise and delight us.
So yes, please check out our recommendations for 2022’s best new restaurants, best new bars and best new wine tasting rooms. But this list might be the most useful of all: Here are 15 restaurants the Food + Wine staff kept going back to off the clock. — J.B.
Champa Garden
When picking dinner becomes too complicated, I know Champa Garden in Oakland has my back. I could probably eat the Southeast Asian restaurant’s nam kaow (fried rice salad) every day: The dish combines snappy fried rice, cilantro, chiles and diced sausages into a colorful confetti that crackles in your mouth like Rice Krispies. For extra freshness, and more crunch, it comes with a side of crisp lettuce, cilantro and mint, to use for lettuce cups.What keeps me coming back to Champa are the snacks, my other regular order being the Champa sampler, which features crisp Lao sausages, the aforementioned fried rice salad and fried spring rolls. The dishes are perfect for when I want a lazy dinner — it travels well if you choose takeout or delivery — but with strong, energetic flavors. — C.H.
2102 Eighth Ave., Oakland. champagardenoakland.com
Chef Kwan’s (nee Su Hong)
When I visit my childhood home on the Peninsula, I rarely want to eat at the hip newcomers. Instead, I seek comfort in the arms of Chef Kwan’s, a decades-old takeout Chinese restaurant in Menlo Park. But no one in the know calls it Chef Kwan’s; it will forever be Su Hong in our hearts (and phone address books). Owner Jason Kwan purchased the beloved, longtime restaurant in 2015 and changed the name, but thankfully kept everything else the same, thus avoiding an uprising among Su Hong’s legion of fans. Takeout boxes of crispy General’s chicken, silky eggplant and plump pot stickers have long been the framework for countless family dinners, friend reunions and birthdays. It’s not that this is the most exciting Chinese restaurant in the Bay Area, but I return here over and over again for the taste of nostalgia. — E.K.
630 Menlo Ave., Menlo Park. chefkwans.com/home
Daytrip
Whether it was date night, an excuse to catch up with an old friend or a family birthday dinner, I often landed at Daytrip this year. I’m always curious about what chef Finn Stern and his team are experimenting with next, as the menu changes frequently beyond some important staples like the celery salad. It’s not just the disco ball that makes for a delightful atmosphere (though that doesn’t hurt). It’s rare to feel so much surprise, whimsy and fun in food on repeat visits to the same restaurant. Think sourdough noodles bathed in black garlic tamari and spicy leek miso butter for an umami-bomb version of garlic noodles, or smoked black cod swiped in briny phytoplankton aioli with turnips pickled in fish sauce. (I’m sure many of the Bay Area’s top fine-dining restaurants would offer the same, but they’re so expensive that I’ll never find out.) — J.B.
4316 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. thisisdaytrip.com
Deli Board
I’m a sucker for a great breakfast sandwich, and my favorite place to score one in the Bay Area is Deli Board in San Francisco. The BK is loaded with sausage, bacon, gooey American cheese and a special sauce on a crusty Dutch crunch roll. This porcine powerhouse has the indulgence of a long, stellar guitar solo. My other go-to is called Spesh, a fortified combination of pastrami, corned beef and brisket with thick pickles in the sandwich and on the side that work to cut through the tornado of meats. It’s a beefy force of nature. — C.H.
1058 Folsom St., San Francisco. deliboardsf.com
Ham & Cheese
This Richmond District deli makes my favorite sandwiches in the city. It’s a small, counter-service spot attached to a fancy plant store, with a couple of vintage arcade games (Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac Man) to entertain you while you wait for your food. I went back over and over again for the Shrooms over My Hammy, which is bursting with wild mushrooms, rosemary-scented onions and goat cheese (available with or without French ham). The Pickle-ous Cage is another hit, with a big smear of Tajin-spiked ricotta and a melange of tangy pickled vegetables. I like to wash it all down with one of the shop’s mango iced teas. — E.M.
5501 California St., San Francisco. 415-592-9782 or hamandcheesesf.com
Joodooboo
I don’t live in the East Bay, but I happily drove over the bridge many times this year solely for the fresh tofu at Joodooboo in Oakland. You haven’t had tofu like this — wobbly, delicate and otherworldly — and I always buy extra to eat at home. You can also now get your fresh dooboo fix at the three Berkeley farmers’ markets (South Berkeley on Tuesday, North Berkeley on Thursday and downtown Berkeley on Saturday). But it’s best enjoyed at Joodooboo with whatever seasonal banchan owner Steve Joo has come up with. This summer, that was a delightful charred corn moochim and green tomato kimchi; more recently, persimmons and kabocha squash got the kimchi treatment. I spent many happy weekend lunches with Joodooboo’s acorn noodle bowl: chilled noodles topped with spicy gochujang, greens and a perfectly soft-boiled egg. When Joo posts weekend specials on Instagram, I watch with envy and dream of the day when I live close enough to make spontaneous visits for kimchi-brined fried chicken and swordfish bossam. Note: Joodooboo has limited hours until January; check Instagram for the latest. — E.K.
4201 Market St., Oakland. joodooboo.com
Ocean Ale House
Ocean Ale House became part of my regular rotation this year, and it’s a great place to be a regular. The place has a very good craft beer selection, and its fries are otherworldly — thick wedges of potatoes that manage to be shatteringly crunchy on the outside and melty on the inside. Owner Miles Escobedo knows the names of most of his customers, who range from elementary-age kids to senior citizens. There’s live music most days of the week. What more could you ask from a neighborhood beer bar? — E.M.
1314 Ocean Ave., San Francisco. 415-988-7521 or oceanalehouse.com
The Oxbow Public Market
I’ve long frequented Napa’s Oxbow Public Market, but two changes — the addition of Meadowood chef Christopher Kostow’s Jewish deli, Loveski, and the expansion of C Casa’s taqueria — drew me there more than usual this year. My top picks: a latte from Ritual Coffee; Loveski’s pastrami sandwich; Hog Island clam chowder and oysters; Kara’s s’mores cupcake; and a fancy, open-faced taco (like duck confit) from C Casa. If you have time, I recommend dining in at C Casa’s beautiful, newly expanded restaurant and snagging a cozy patio cabana. The mesquite-roasted wings are a dark horse on the menu. — J.L.
610 First St., Napa. oxbowpublicmarket.com
Rose Pizzeria
After my husband and I first went to Rose Pizzeria shortly after it opened late last year, we vowed to try every pizza on the menu. It didn’t take us long. (Our favorites: Reed Sauce, with smoked mozzarella and pickled jalapeños; She Wolf, with salty bombs of capers and olives mellowed by burrata; Classic Pep, self-explanatory, plus extra pep from pickled jalapeños!) So many restaurants opened in the Bay Area this year with the combo of pizza and natural wine, and a lot of them do it well. But two important bonuses gave this Berkeley spot an edge: a fantastic miso-spiked Caesar salad and a rose-lined back patio, which was lovely in the summer and crucially well-heated during my COVID-cautious months. — J.B.
1960 University Ave., Berkeley. rosepizzeria.com
The Station
Whenever I’m inching through St. Helena’s ever-present traffic, I give in to the pull of the Station, one of the few affordable, healthy-ish, grab-and-go options in Napa Valley. The owner of local burger chain Gott’s Roadside renovated this old gas station convenience store right at the center of St. Helena’s tourist action, but the place feels like it belongs to locals. (I run into someone I know in the wine industry every time I go.) My go-to order: an iced chai with the ham and cheese quiche — it’s the perfect lunch portion — though I occasionally opt for the seasonal fruit ricotta toast. — J.L.
1153 Main St., St. Helena. stationsh.com
Southside Cafe
The locally beloved Southside Cafe infuses veggie-forward California cuisine with a Latin twist — like biscuits with chorizo gravy or avocado toast with pepitas and ancho chile — yet I find myself constantly craving the simpler smoked chicken salad (always paired with an iced horchata latte). Recently, I was dying to try the seasonal squash soup, but it’s so popular, it was sold out. Southside was one of the only Napa Valley-owned eateries with three locations until this month, when it was unable to renew its lease in Yountville and had to close that shop. The remaining two Napa spots are a bit off the beaten path, but well worth the short trip outside of downtown. — J.L.
2770 Old Sonoma Road and 135 Gasser Drive, Napa. southsidenapa.com
Torta Ahogadas Mi Barrio
Some of my most cherished memories as a teenager were visiting my mom’s hometown, Guadalajara, Jalisco, where I regularly gorged on the area’s famously “drowned” saucy sandwiches. Tortas Ahogadas Mi Barrio in Oakland always satisfies that nostalgic craving with crusty birote salado (sourdough roll), smeared with beans, stuffed with carnitas and swimming in a mild tomato salsa. At Mi Barrio, the tortas are extra crunchy, as each birote is tossed in the oven, the better to withstand the saucy bath. On weekends, the joint is packed with families sharing the Tapatio (people from Jalisco) delicacy, pairing their tortas ahogadas with crisp tacos dorados, which are also drowned in a tomato sauce. Two crucial additions ensure best results: squeeze plenty of lime juice on your tortas, and add some hellish, earthy salsa (a little goes a long way). After you’re done with your torta, grab a spoon to scoop up the saucy leftovers — my favorite part. — C.H.
4749 International Blvd.,Oakland. 510-434-9454
Vik’s Chaat
I have a lot of loved ones who are gluten-free, vegetarian and/or extra careful about COVID, so it can be hard to find a restaurant that fulfills all those needs. The spot that so often came to the rescue this year was Vik’s, the classic Indian cafeteria and market in West Berkeley that’s been going strong for three decades. During the pandemic, two good things happened there: The restaurant set up a great outdoor patio on its parking lot, and Amod Chopra, the second-generation owner, re-entered the kitchen. As my colleague Soleil Ho wrote a few months ago, the food only improved, from abundant thalis to aromatic biryani to, yes, the big puffy thing (cholle bhature). — J.B.
2390 Fourth St., Berkeley. vikschaat.com
Yo También Cantina
At this Inner Sunset gem, owners Kenzie Benesh and Isabella Bertorelli are constantly dreaming up the best treatments of peak-season vegetables for their imaginative rice bowls. The format — rice plus vegetables plus protein — is simple, born of the limitations of a tiny kitchen with no hood, but the execution is always creative and exemplary. One week this came in the form of a crunchy celery and fennel salad, studded with buttery Castelvetrano olives and layered over tender, marinated butter beans. Another time: marinated feta with preserved Meyer lemons and sweet Jimmy Nardello peppers. I always add a fan of perfectly ripe avocado on top, plus anchovies if you’re in the mood. I’ll never get over the week they offered bowls crowned with shards of Manchego crisp — a lacey web of crunchy cheese, like the enticingly crisp edge of a Detroit-style pizza. Seasonal vegetarian tamales also get the bowl treatment, topped with brothy beans, house-made chile oil and a magenta-tinged pickled egg. Pull up at Yo También Cantina’s colorful parklet for a tamal and a michelada, and leave feeling both nourished and enlivened. — E.K.
205 Hugo St., San Francisco. Ytc2go.com
Janelle Bitker is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior editor of Food & Wine. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com
