This column is a part of the Off Menu newsletter, our Wednesday dispatch of restaurant news, gossip, tips, and hot takes. To sign up, visit The Standard’s newsletter page.
In this time of strife, instead of seeking wellness in a sound bath, cold plunge, or sauna, try making a lunch reservation.
This is my radical counterproposal to the self-care advice that floods our algorithms. Cacao ceremonies, reiki sessions, silent retreats — the pressure to recenter is enough to rile a vagus nerve. But being served beautiful food between noon and 2 p.m.? That is my kind of coping strategy.
To be clear, I don’t mean lunch as we’ve come to know it — a poke bowl eaten al desko. I mean the full-service version: where you are seated, the food isn’t served in plastic, and time is allowed to pass.
Kokkari’s grilled fish. | Source: Sara Deseran/The Standard
This idea occurred to me a couple of weeks ago at Kokkari. On a Wednesday afternoon, the venerable Greek restaurant in Jackson Square was full. Two smiling hosts greeted me at the door. In the dining room, a whole lamb turned on a spit over a crackling fire. Diners sat in cushy chairs meant for lingering, deep in conversation, their elbows resting.
It felt delightfully transgressive. While the AI kids were pulling 996 shifts at their computers, I was about to sink into a booth for two hours like a slacker. Once I stopped looking over my shoulder for the work police, I gave a deep exhale.
It is no secret that work-from-home culture and cafeteria-ized offices, along with the rise of UberEats and DoorDash, were the nail in the coffin of the ceremonial, full-service restaurant lunch. The ’90s were the zeitgeist of midday dining in SF — back when people still drank.
Gerald Hirigoyen, who was chef and owner of the long-closed Fringale, a ’90s French bistro staple in SoMa, recalls the good ole days. “People used to go crazy for lunch, which was great for restaurant owners. They’d have a drink, sometimes a bottle of wine. They weren’t as health-conscious or as worried about how they’d behave,” he said. “There was Aqua, Lulu, and later Boulevard. And then, during the first dot-com boom, in the late ’90s, you had kids with expense accounts, and they didn’t give a shit how much money they spent.”
While dedicated modern-day lunchers are rarities, there are a few holdouts. For two years, restaurant designer Hannah Collins Tate of Roy Hospitality and her husband have had a standing Friday lunch date at Zuni. “It’s been a game changer,” she says. “It gives us time to check in at the end of the week’s chaos.” They always split a Caesar to start, a pasta or fish for a main, and, if they have room, the rich chocolate gâteau Victoire. “It’s one of my favorite desserts in the city,” she says.
Zuni’s famous wood-fired chicken, which takes 45 minutes to prepare, is a perfect entree for a leisurely lunch. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard
Michael Tusk opened his three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Quince, for lunch after it was redesigned in 2023. He romanticizes the “magical” lunches he’s had in Europe. “Too few fine-dining restaurants in the city serve lunch,” he laments. He also knows that a marathon tasting menu requires time to digest. “It’s nice to be able to take a long walk after instead of going straight to bed.”
At Kokkari, my friend and I relished a pretty salad of citrus and candied walnuts and a whole grilled fish deboned theatrically tableside. We spooned up a frozen pomegranate granita with yogurt sorbet. (However, being that it’s 2026 and not 1990, we responsibly paired it all with iced tea.) We talked about our families and bantered with the server, a consummate professional. For two hours, lunch did the work that restorative practices are always promising: It grounded my senses, forged some community, and reminded me that we don’t need to flee civilization to come back to the center. Lunch is here for us. We just have to take it.
Where to have a proper lunch in SF
Akikos, 430 Folsom St. (East Cut)
The city’s most celebrated omakase restaurant offers a $150 menu at lunch. Not cheap, but well worth the quiet luxury and gorgeous space.
Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Angler, 132 The Embarcadero (Embarcadero)
If you’re looking to save at Saison’s little sister, the pro tip at the one-Michelin-star Angler is the $50, three-course “Quick Catch” menu.
Tuesday through Saturday, 12 to 2:30 p.m.
Caché, 1235 9th Ave. (Inner Sunset)
Lunch is served every day this bistro is open, but the $30, three-course French menu — available Monday, Thursday, and Friday — is the reason to go.
Weekdays except Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Kokkari Estiatorio, 200 Jackson St. (Jackson Square)
Dine on gorgeous Cal-Greek fare at this perennial favorite.
Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Quince, 470 Pacific Ave. (Jackson Square)
Two days a week, the three-Michelin-star restaurant serves a four-course lunch, starting at $220, in the salon and main dining room.
Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Superprime, 545 Mission St. (East Cut)
This Wagyu-focused steak house by chef Marc Zimmerman just opened for lunch and promises to have you out in 45 minutes (but we suggest lingering).
Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Zuni Cafe, 1658 Market St. (Upper Market)
Yes, your favorite roast chicken for two is available for lunch.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.