Gary Danko

Gary Danko near San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf is one of California's most enduringly excellent restaurants — a single-Michelin-star institution that has maintained the same standard of refined, guest-focused American fine dining since 1999. Chef Gary Danko trained with Madeleine Kamman in France and brings a classically grounded sensibility to his seasonal California menu, drawing produce from Northern California farms and seafood from the cold Pacific waters off the Bay Area coast. The prix-fixe format is unusually flexible: guests compose their own three-, four-, or five-course meals from an extensive selection, choosing from dishes such as glazed oysters with leek fondue and Osetra caviar, seared foie gras with seasonal fruit, butter-poached Maine lobster, and Dungeness crab salad. The dining room is polished and intimate — warm lighting, dark wood paneling, curved banquettes — and the service is exemplary without being stiff. The restaurant's cheese cart is a signature highlight: a substantial trolley of American and European artisan cheeses presented tableside, an increasingly rare experience in Bay Area dining. The wine list, which earned a James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine Service, draws deeply from California producers alongside France and Italy. Gary Danko at 800 North Point Street, San Francisco, California, seats approximately 70 covers and accepts reservations 60 days in advance. Tables are available through the restaurant's website and OpenTable; prime Friday and Saturday evening seatings book rapidly after the window opens.