"Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack has been a fun-machine since it opened in 2001. The Bernal Heights red sauce joint is packed nightly and louder than a helicopter landing pad—it’s a revolving door of 10-person birthday groups doing Fireball shots with staff, families with kids shoveling cheesy garlic bread, and regulars sipping bootfuls of margaritas at the bar. Once you’re done clearing a mountain of spaghetti (complete with a $2 “parm blizzard” add-on), head to the back to peruse the pinball machines and stray photo booth strips that line the walls." - julia chen 1, lani conway, patrick wong