While the past year’s economic uncertainty led to many restaurants playing it safe, Bon Appétit still sniffed out 19 new restaurants across the United States it deemed exciting and visionary in 2026. Two San Francisco restaurants are among the magazine’s top new restaurants in the country: trendy pizza destination Jules and Mexican fine dining eatery Maria Isabel.
Jules, which opened in the Lower Haight in May 2025, quickly became one of the toughest reservations in San Francisco. Former Tartine Bakery culinary director Max Blachman-Gentile grew a devoted following for his maximally flavored, New York-meets-California-style sourdough pizzas, which were originally sold at pop-ups.
“His crusts straddle pizza styles, boasting a substantial crunchy exterior, the insides slightly chewy, topped with ingredients not often partnered but which get along so famously they could be old friends,” Bon Appétit wrote, praising the restaurant’s Fun Guy, a mushroom, black garlic and tamarind sauce pizza, as well as the Fiona’s Destiny, a pizza topped with burnt scallion crème fraîche, pickled shallots, spring onions and Funyuns.
“Honored to be on this list with so many restaurants that inspire us!!” read a post shared on Jules’ Instagram story on Monday.
Laura Ozyilmaz and Sayat Ozyilmaz, the fine dining couple behind Dalida, opened Maria Isabel in March. The Lower Pacific Heights restaurant pays homage to Laura’s upbringing in Mexico’s coastal Guerrero state with a seafood-forward menu anchored by house-nixtamalized corn masa. “The tamal is Laura’s platonic ideal of the dish: puffy and airy, light and delicate enough to melt a bit on your tongue, dotted with unctuous Santa Barbara sea urchin and drenched in a foamy corn crema,” Bon Appétit wrote. The magazine also praised the restaurant’s lamb ribs barbacoa with made-to-order tortillas and the bar menu of cocktails crafted with Mexican-made spirits…