Elegant Empress is a historic banquet hall that has offered city views above the lanterns of Chinatown since the 1960s. But when it reopened after a seven-year shutdown in 2021, design studio Atelier LLYS unveiled an ocean of blues, intricate lattices, and screens, all while preserving the original wooden pergola. Acclaimed chef Ho Chee Boon now serves an upscale tasting menu, still staying true to the restaurant’s Cantonese heritage, but with nods to his native Malaysia.

Elena’s wows with high ceilings, tall mirrored arches, and a trio of live ficus trees that sway in the dining room. Co-owner Elena Duggan, who runs the atmospheric Mexican American restaurant with her brother, John Duggan, layered lots of neutrals, natural woods, and Calacatta Oro marble with gold veins. Don’t skip the crab enchilada combo plate, and while you wait for your food, try to spot the carved wooden angel wings, sourced from an abandoned tequila hacienda in Jalisco, Mexico.

Welcome to the sushi show. AKIKOS is the omakase authority in San Francisco and moved into a dazzling new home—a highrise in the East Cut—in 2023. The new digs are sleek and modern, complete with a “chef’s stage” bathed in golden light. Here, the sushi pros drop jewel-like bites such as soy-cured bluefin tuna nigiri, directly on the bar. Rest assured that even AKIKOS tables have a clear view of the action at the counter.

Che Fico is an old auto body shop turned Cali Italian star. Designed by Jon de la Cruz, the dining room is decked with exposed concrete, wood and steel beams, and red accents tricking out the tiled floors and leather booths. Diners can’t get enough of the plant-patterned wallpaper or the climate-controlled salumi room—an enticing preview of the Italian feast to come, which could include antipasti platters, fresh pasta, and Neapolitan pies topped with pineapple and fermented chiles.

Everything about this MICHELIN-starred steakhouse is luxe, from its giant golden door to its dark wooden walls and plush leather chairs. A kappo-style counter complete with double grills is responsible for a top-notch Japanese American menu that includes Wagyu imperial tomahawks, pickled market vegetables, and Parker House rolls. If you’re considering a nightcap, choose from a wall of backlit whiskey bottles.

This cocktail lounge is the brainchild of Top Chef alum Nelson German, who dipped into his Dominican roots to create an Afro Caribbean hotspot that dishes up anchovy tostones and steak empanadas. Sobre Mesa is splashed in jungle-green paint and decorated with a tangle of live plants, plus a glowy leaf mural by local artist David Cho, along with other neon-electric accents that scream “party.”

The centerpiece at this ultra-modern trattoria is a big, beautiful bar that curves around its black-and-white tiled floors. The slate blue and walnut wood interiors, decked with brass hardware, are tributes to chic Milanese cafes. It’s a stylish backdrop for La Connessa’s flawless Italian classics, like swirls of lemon spaghetti and crispy chicken smashed under a brick.

Leo’s was into maximalist wallpaper and lush plants before they became ubiquitous in restaurants around the country. Ace designers Ken Fulk and Jon de la Cruz had fun designing this retro oyster bar, adorning it with playful accents like wallpaper splattered with palm leaves, a pink onyx bar, black-and-white floors, and frilly ferns. It’s an over-the-top aesthetic that can only be matched by the restaurant’s larger-than-life seafood tower—and the lobster roll, one of the city’s best.

Boulevard is a fabulous Belle Epoque-style dining room on the ground floor of the century-old Audiffred Building. The Californian restaurant, known for seasonal hits like a popular heritage pork chop and baked Pacific oysters, is yet another vision by Ken Fulk. The design whiz treated the historic space to a 2021 renovation and added peacock blues, soft velvets, and feather patterns. Luckily, he kept some of the most striking vintage touches, including iron lamps and hand-blown glass fixtures.

This super glam steakhouse by celeb chef Tyler Florence sits behind the spaceship-like Chase Center. Its two-floor, 7,000-square-foot interiors are a tribute to all things mid-century modern with extravagantly deep booths, twelve-sided columns, and hickory arches. Old-school carts roll though the dining room, serving dry-aged steak, Dover sole, and Caesar salad—tossed tableside, of course.