San Francisco · Open Sunday
Best Restaurants Open on Sunday in San Francisco 2026
San Francisco rests on Sunday and Monday. Benu and Quince, the city's three-star tables, both go dark, and most tasting-menu rooms follow. These six are the upscale exceptions, each one confirmed open Sunday with the hours to prove it.
The pattern in this city is brutal for a Sunday diner. The kitchens with the most ambition close at the weekend's end to give their cooks two days off, so a casual scan of the Michelin list on a Sunday afternoon returns mostly locked doors. What stays open splits into two camps: the a la carte institutions that have run seven nights for decades, and the brunch rooms that treat Sunday as the busiest shift of the week. Every restaurant below was checked against its live hours, and any room we could not confirm was left off rather than guessed.
Gary Danko
Sunday: 5:00pm – 10:00pm (open all seven nights)
The one room here with a Michelin star, and it never takes a day off. Gary Danko's build-your-own menu of three to five courses runs at 800 North Point Street near the wharf, and the Sunday seating is identical to any other night, down to the roving cheese cart and the glazed oysters with lettuce cream. A wine list deep enough to keep two sommeliers busy and a dessert flight that lands without a fight make this the Sunday booking for a meal that matters. Reserve on OpenTable two to four weeks ahead.
House of Prime Rib
Sunday: 4:00pm – 10:00pm (earliest start on this list)
One dish, served since 1949, and a Sunday opening earlier than anyone else in town. House of Prime Rib carves its aged rib tableside from a silver cart at 1906 Van Ness Avenue, after a salad spun at the table in a bowl set on ice. The City Cut, the English Cut, the King Henry VIII for the serious: pick a thickness and a glass of cabernet and let the room do the rest. The 4pm Sunday start is built for families and visitors, so the early seatings vanish first. Book through OpenTable.
Zuni Cafe
Sunday: 11:00am – 3:00pm and 5:00pm – 9:30pm
Judy Rodgers is gone but the brick oven still turns out the chicken that made Zuni a pilgrimage. Order the roast chicken for two with the bread salad the moment you sit, because it takes an hour, then drink something interesting from a list that has championed natural wine since before it was a category. The wedge of a room at 1658 Market Street has held its line since 1979, and Sunday gives you both the late-morning Caesar-and-oysters service and a full dinner. The Michelin Guide still lists it, which in a city this competitive is its own statement.
Foreign Cinema
Sunday: brunch 10:30am – 2:30pm, dinner 5:00pm – 9:00pm
The courtyard that screens films on its back wall has run on Mission Street since 1999, and Sunday is its strongest argument. The brunch is the move: fried chicken, an oyster selection, baked eggs with harissa, taken under the heat lamps before the projector starts. Gayle Pirie and John Clark cook with a Mediterranean accent and a confidence that has outlasted every wave of Mission gentrification around them. Come at noon on a Sunday for the patio, or after dark for the full dinner and the old movies. Reservations recommended for both.
Nopa
Sunday: 5:00pm – 9:30pm
The room that gave its neighbourhood a name, and the place the city's own cooks still pile into after their shifts. Nopa works a wood-fired oven at 560 Divisadero Street for the flatbreads, the pork chop and the rotisserie, in a high-ceilinged former bank with a mezzanine that stays loud and happy on a Sunday night. It opened in 2006 and never tipped into either fussiness or decline. For a Sunday that is celebratory without being formal, with a cocktail list that takes itself seriously and prices that do not, this is the call.
Wayfare Tavern
Sunday: 11:30am – 9:00pm (continuous service)
Tyler Florence's four-storey tavern at 201 Pine Street is the rare Financial District room that keeps a full Sunday, running straight through from 11:30am with no afternoon gap. The fried chicken built its reputation and the popovers arrive whether you ask or not, but the kitchen also turns out a deviled egg and a burger that hold up against far pricier rooms. The continuous Sunday service makes it the safe answer for an off-hour meal, a late lunch that drifts into dinner, or a group that cannot agree on a time. Book ahead or take a bar seat.
San Francisco Sunday dining FAQ
Which upscale restaurants are open on Sunday in San Francisco?
Six rooms worth a Sunday booking are confirmed open: Gary Danko in Fisherman's Wharf serves from 5pm, House of Prime Rib in Polk Gulch opens at 4pm, Zuni Cafe on Market Street runs lunch and dinner, Foreign Cinema in the Mission does brunch and dinner, Nopa near Alamo Square opens at 5pm, and Wayfare Tavern in the Financial District runs straight through from 11:30am. The three-star tables, Benu and Quince, both close Sunday and Monday.
Is Gary Danko open on Sunday?
Yes. Gary Danko serves every night of the week, including Sunday, from 5pm to 10pm at 800 North Point Street near Fisherman's Wharf. The Michelin one-star kitchen runs a build-your-own prix fixe of three to five courses, roughly $132 to $176 a head, with the same roving cheese cart on Sunday as any other night. Book through OpenTable two to four weeks out, since the wharf fills with weekend visitors and the Sunday seatings go early.
Where can I get Sunday brunch in a good San Francisco restaurant?
Foreign Cinema on Mission Street runs the standout upscale Sunday brunch from 10:30am to 2:30pm, with oysters, fried chicken and baked eggs in a film-screening courtyard. Zuni Cafe opens at 11am on Sunday for its Caesar and a Mediterranean menu, and Wayfare Tavern starts at 11:30am with popovers and a midday tavern card. All three take reservations for the late-morning slots, which fill first on a Sunday, so book a few days out.
Are most fine-dining restaurants in San Francisco closed on Sunday?
Many of the city's tasting-menu rooms close Sunday and Monday to rest the team, including the three-star pair Benu and Quince, plus Saison, Birdsong and Lazy Bear. The rooms that keep a Sunday service are mostly the a la carte institutions and brunch destinations that treat the weekend as prime trade. That is why a verified Sunday list is worth keeping in a city that goes quiet at the start of the week.
What is the best Sunday steak or prime rib in San Francisco?
House of Prime Rib in Polk Gulch is the Sunday meat pick, open from 4pm, the earliest dinner start of any room on this list. The single-dish institution has carved prime rib tableside since 1949, with a spinning salad bowl and Yorkshire pudding, around $67 to $75 a head. Reservations through OpenTable are essential on a Sunday, when families and visitors compete for the early seatings before the room fills.
Hours and prices were verified at publication and can change for holidays and private events; confirm directly with the restaurant before you travel. Restaurants for Kings may earn a commission on reservations booked through partner links, at no cost to you. This never affects which restaurants we include or how we rank them.