San Mateo.
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35 places
Rooms you can walk into, ranked the way I would send you.
Key: what the badges mean
★ Michelin star · Bib Bib Gourmand · Green ★ Michelin Green Star · Michelin in the Michelin guide, no distinction · J Jeff's own note · Jeff ★★★★☆ 2019 his own rating out of five, and the year he gave it · new the venue itself opened recently · just added recently added to Jeff's list, whatever its age · 2◆ independent chef/industry recommendations · ! hygiene caution in force · ? no current public hygiene record, not a caution · keep walking Jeff has been and would walk past it · the line under a name says when to go: Destination (plan around it) / Solid (the dependable send) / Listed (on the radar). Under it, where the entry states one: how the room takes bookings, and the date I last checked the entry.
Go here first.
Where I'd actually send you first: the rooms I'd put a visitor in on night one, in town rather than an hour down the highway, spread so six cards are six different answers. Producers, markets and the rest of the city are below.
Wakuriya★just added
Destination · Japanese, kaiseki · De Anza Boulevard · $$$$
booking essential
Katsuhiro Yamasaki's black cod takes whatever shape the month wants: steamed under fluffy grated turnip for the MICHELIN inspector, under a sake lees broth with taro and coins of mochi for Michael Bauer.
Sushi Yoshizumi★
Destination · San Mateo
booking essential
Akira Yoshizumi made rice for two years in New York before he was trusted with fish. He seasons his own with akazu, an aged red vinegar, and sea salt.
PausaBib
Solid · San Mateo
book ahead
Steve Ugur learned to butcher in France. He came home to San Mateo, rebuilt his father's Italian restaurant, and got it certified by the state to cure its own meat.
KajikenMichelin
Solid · Japanese, abura soba · Downtown San Mateo · $
walk-in
Abura soba, which is ramen with the broth taken out and the sauce turned up.
Backhaus | San Mateojust added
Solid · German-Californian baking · Downtown San Mateo · $$
walk-in
Anne Moser taught herself to bake from a Tartine book because Daly City had no corner bakery. She raised $54,570 and gutted a travel agency to open this one in June 2019.
Somewhere tonight.
One tap hides everything shut today and everything that needs a booking, then sorts the rest by how close it is to you. I don’t publish opening hours, because they go stale faster than anyone can check them. Check the door before you go.
The dependable sends
Good cooking needs no occasion, and these are the ones I hand out on a normal Tuesday. 4 here.
Taishoken
San Mateo
walk-in
Yoshihiro Sakaguchi's grandfather opened the first Taishoken in a plywood shack in Nakano, Tokyo, in 1951. This is the family's first American shop.
Sushi Edomata
San Mateo
booking essential
Koichi Ito orders the fish by text off a direct line to Toyosu, and it mostly lands on a Sunday, which is why the counter is dark that day.
All Spice★just added
Californian, Indian-inflected · South El Camino Real · $$$$
booking essential
Sachin Chopra and Shoshana Wolff have cooked in a 1906 gatehouse since 2010, three, four or five courses that move with the season. A developer bought the land under it in 2018.
Ox 9
San Mateo
walk-in
Behind a glass window at the front, a cook rolls dough into cylinders and stretches it into noodles. David Liu learned the trick in Lanzhou and opened a shop there in 2012.
On my list
These are on my list; I haven't been yet. 26 here.
Ramen Dojojust added
Japanese, ramen · South B Street · $
walk-in
Kazunori Kobayashi opened this in 2010, in the room where his own Santa Ramen started. Whole cloves of garlic go into the bowl slow-roasted.
Himawarijust added
Japanese, ramen · Downtown San Mateo · $$
walk-in
The karaage comes on a plate bigger than the ramen bowl. Vinyl record covers hang on the walls, and The Six Fifty's ramen guide said in 2018 that the room looks more like a jazz bar.
Izakaya Ginjijust added
Japanese, izakaya · Downtown San Mateo · $$
walk-in
Ginjiro Nishimoto opened this yakitori counter on East 4th in a storefront a carpet shop had left. Whole surume squid comes in from Japan and goes on the grill.
Santa Ramen
San Mateo
walk-in
Kazunori Kobayashi built this shop, then put Ramen Dojo in the room it outgrew and Ramen Parlor after that.
Suruki Supermarket
Provisions · San Mateo · $$
walk-in
A small, well-chosen fish counter with sushi-quality fish on it, plus the Japanese imports nobody else on the Peninsula stocks. Running on Fourth Avenue since 1974 by the store's own count.
Curry Up Now Indian Restaurant and Cateringjust added
Indian street food · Downtown San Mateo · $
walk-in
Akash and Rana Kapoor ran one truck at Howard and Primrose in Burlingame from 2009. This B Street room was the first one with walls, and the tikka masala burrito came with them.