Californios

Where To Have A Unique Dining Experience In SF - San Francisco - The Infatuation

"Dinner at this fine dining Mexican restaurant in SoMa is an extravagant and seamless production. Servers move around the room like they share a single brain to bring you precisely plated dishes while you soak in the all-black, cathedral-like space. Grilled banana is topped with caviar and served with savory dulce de leche, the entire taco course includes a tlacoyo wrapped in hoja santa and grilled squab on a sourdough tortilla, and a tiny masa chip topped with sturgeon cream and sturgeon caviar. At $307 a person, this is a place you should reserve for very special nights." - julia chen 1, lani conway, patrick wong

Here Are All the Michelin Starred Restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area | Eater SF

"Chef Val M. Cantu’s California Mexican restaurant Californios continues to impress in its much-larger home in SoMa. (2 stars)" - Eater Staff

The 25 Best Restaurants In SF - San Francisco - The Infatuation

"For the most dramatic tasting experience in the city, go to Californios in SoMa. You’ll feel like you’ve scored VIP tickets to your favorite band every time you go here—which might not be often, since the 16-course menu is $325. The high-ceilinged walls are painted all-black, a thick booklet details the entire night ahead, and the well-choreographed staff switches plates and fills wine glasses in sync, like they share a single brain. The dishes at this fine-dining Mexican restaurant are designed to rewire your brain—chicharrones are covered in a cloud-like bed of truffle shavings that dissolve in your mouth like snow, a caviar-topped grilled banana is served in a pool of slightly salty dulce de leche, and the chilapita has a fat swirl of sturgeon cream and sturgeon caviar. Dining at Californios might be a one-time thing—which is why you’ll want to soak up every minute of your meal." - julia chen 1, lani conway, patrick wong, ricky rodriguez

"Chef Val M. Cantú's Californios is a divine dining temple where a passionate focus on heritage is applied with masterful technique. The attractive space, with its dark walls, colorful artwork, and lively playlist, keeps things more festive than hallowed, and the patio area is especially pleasant.The foundational elements of Mexican cuisine are elevated here through the team's ingenuity and the utilization of the finest products. Familiar dishes are turned complex and deliciously unique. Lime cured cold-smoked hamachi is presented with a sweet lime aguachile with pickled buddha's hand and cold pressed cilantro, then beer- and mezcal-battered black cod in a sour cherry tamarind salsa makes a nice addition to a tortilla." - Michelin Inspector

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"The menu at this fine dining Mexican spot is a 12-page program for the night, complete with the menu, names of the entire staff, and, of course, the ceramicist in charge of the dinnerware (Erin Hupp, for anyone keeping track). Some plates look like phases of the moon, while a course of caviar-topped grilled banana arrives in a bowl that looks like a custom-built throne. We’d expect nothing less from a place worthy of your last meal in the city." - julia chen 1