Because of this stress, coupled with the fact that I now subscribe to the upper limits of the Patton Oswalt rule of You Are Allowed 20 Birthday Parties, my last few birthdays have been pretty low-key (Tl;dr: Past the 21st birthday, you only celebrate at the start of a new decade — 30, 40, 50, etc.) I honestly couldn’t remember what I did last year, so I had to dig into my photos to remind myself that I spent an all-consuming three days of my life making an epic Christina Tosi carrot cake from scratch, just to see if I could do it. (I can, but it’s not a project bake for the weak.) Another year, I ordered delivery pizza and wings from Square Pie Guys and watched Everything Everywhere All at Once from my couch.
But even when I don’t do a big thing, I still stress over the seemingly minor decision of which restaurant I will go to on the actual day of my birthday. I allow myself an unfettered choice of picking where I want to go, but perhaps in a unique-to-me situation as a food editor, I’m often torn between going to a new-to-me restaurant or a standby that I don’t get to visit often, due to my job of restaurant speed dating (as one astute chef called it). Then I will endlessly toil between options until two days before my birthday, when I likely decide to eat at a restaurant 15 minutes from my house or get fancier-than-usual delivery.
That said, these are the places I think are perfect San Francisco birthday celebration spots, agnostic of how you feel about your own birthdays.
Low(er)key options:
I’ve waxed poetic about the farmers market before, but there’s something celebratory about finding time to wander the stalls, try different varieties of fruit, and people-watch. And while it’d be easy to eat at one of the many places within the Ferry Building, I do also enjoy the lunchtime vibes at Pier 23 Cafe. On a sunny day, it feels necessary to be under an umbrella on the back patio, beer in hand, eating a sandwich or indulging in a shrimp Louie salad. If I’m headed for a park hang or the beach, I’m likely to stop at Sandy’s for a muffuletta wedge, as I’m in a muffuletta deficiency and I highly believe this is one of the better transportable foods in town.
For dinner, I love the fun vibes of Chome, an izakaya whose plates can get wild with uni and ikura toppings, and an interior featuring a mini Godzilla. (Fit in a visit to cookbook shop Ominivore Books, just 2.5 blocks away.) I do also adore dinner at Jules, a crowd-pleasing stop for pizza and ice cream if I can get a reservation.
Highkey options:
For more involved dinners (and by involved, I mean planning, foresight, and reservations), I’ve recently revisited Four Kings and wow! It’s still such a fun spot, with really sharp, punchy dishes, and a crowd that feels really vibrant and youthful — perfect for birthdays, no? I’ve also been recently impressed by another visit to Maria Isabel, which feels like the place for a great dinner for two that explores Mexican cuisine, cocktails included.
The Progress still feels like a celebratory spot that can accommodate both couples and groups, with top-notch cooking that doesn’t feel too over-the-top (and yes, you better believe I’m ordering the hot dog). And if I’m feeling a little fancier, I do have a soft spot for Boulevard, which I think has a perfect, upscale bar and, yes, a great dining room, too.
(*Now, I’ll state that I’m not the biggest believer in astrology, and this is mostly tongue-in-cheek. That being said, I do like to pretend there are some out-of-my-hands reasons why I tend to be indecisive and weird about things like my birthday. Shrug.)
