Where to eat Christmas dinner in San Francisco

They do the holidays right at Top of the Mark, the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel’s penthouse restaurant with unbeatable panoramic city views. For either brunch or dinner on Christmas Day, take the elevator to the top floor to enjoy an expansive buffet featuring carving stations, local seafood, salads, pasta dishes, a dim sum station, a bounty of desserts and much more ($189 per adult and $70 per children ages 4-12). Pair your feast with unlimited champagne and live music. This year, there will be three seatings throughout the day, at 11:30am, 2:30pm and 5:30pm.

The Cavalier, a British-themed brasserie inside Hotel Zetta, will feature a four-course, pre-fixe menu on Christmas Day this year. Start your meal with a choice of appetizer, including Dungeness crab with a citrus remoulade or a "croque monsieur" tart, which pairs brie with baked apple and prosciutto. Entree choices are all decadent: seared scallops and jumbo prawns, cornish game hen, slow-braised lamb shank or grilled ribeye. Every table will be served scalloped potatoes, smoked Swiss chard and brown butter Brussels Sprouts on the side. End on a sweet note—we recommend the sticky toffee bread pudding with Medjool dates & coffee ice cream.

Food Network star of Chef Dynasty: House of Fang, Kathy Fang is keeping her Cantonese-fusion SoMa restaurant open on Christmas Day for a festive meal that goes beyond your typical holiday fare. Fill up on dim sum, traditional wok entrees like crispy honey chili short-ribs, pan-fried flounder with yellow curry sauce, and her family’s famous Nanking sesame chicken, and wash it all down with Chinese wines made from wheat and sorghum or rice and millet.

Every holiday season, the Fairmont Hotel becomes one of the most frequented destinations in San Francisco, with visitors flocking to the lobby to witness the giant, two-story handcrafted gingerbread house. Laurel Court, the hotel's opulent restaurant, sits directly adjacent to the gingerbread house. This Christmas, take in the Gilded Age vibes and holiday festivity with an extravagant buffet within Laurel Court, paired with live music. Seatings will take place at 1:30pm, 4:00pm, and 6:30pm, and the price is $169 for adults and $95 for children (under 12 years old). 

Book a table at historic John's Grill for a truly festive meal that's fitting for Christmas. At over 100 years old, this is one of San Francisco's oldest steak and seafood restaurants, proven by the black and white photos of the famous guests who have dined here hung on the wall, from Shirley Temple to Hillary Rodham Clinton. The vibe is perfectly cozy, with period furnishings, dark paneled walls, and white tablecloths. The restaurant is known to hang sparkling lights and greenery come Christmas. John's offers diners a choice of a prix fixe meal on Christmas Day—for $95, enjoy three courses including lobster bisque, surf & turf (filet mignon and lobster), and your choice of dessert. You can also order a la carte.

The Post Room, a Mediterranean-inspired bar and lounge inside the historic (and recently updated) Beacon Grand Hotel, offers a few different festive holiday dining events this year. On Christmas Eve, the restaurant will offer a three-course prix fixe dinner ($90 per adult, $75 per child). On Christmas Day itself, from 11am to 2:30pm, it will take the three-course menu up a notch with bottomless bubbles and wines, special dishes for children, and live Christmas tunes on the piano ($130 per adult, $85 per child.). Not up for that big of a feast? The Post Room will also offer regular breakfast and dinner service; menu highlights include Spanish octopus, roasted branzino, and curated flatbreads. 

Fior d’Italia's fresh, house-made pasta—we love dishes like pumpkin ravioli with pine nuts and sage and classic tagliatelle alla bolognese—will be available this Christmas along with enough steak, veal and game to put a smile on the face of even the most traditional Christmas dinner aficionados.

Imperial Palace Restaurant is this year’s venue for a long-standing SF tradition: Kung Pao Kosher Comedy. Christmas Day (and on December 23–24), Imperial will be serving a set menu of Chinese favorites, from kung pao chicken to sweet and sour flounder filet, at the 5pm show ($90-100 per person). They will also serve a lighter menu of dim sum, from vegetarian egg rolls to shrimp dim sum, at the 8:30pm show ($65-75 per person). Each seating will feature a series of comedians, including Wendy Liebman (who has starred in specials for HBO, Showtime and Comedy Central.)

This year, Villon Restaurant—located within the swanky Proper Hotel—will present a four-course, prix-fixe menu on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. For $145 per person ($65 for kids 12 and under), Chef Jason Fox and his team will prepare a traditional holiday menu inspired by in-season local ingredients. Menu highlights include a root vegetable salad, sablefish with brussels sprouts, almonds and cranberry, and roasted prime rib with potato puree, creamed spinach, and yorkshire pudding. Desserts are holiday classics, too: think sticky date pudding with eggnog anglaise and a chocolate coffee roulade topped with candied hazelnuts, caramel, and chocolate crumble.

Pay homage to the humble garlic clove at The Stinking Rose this Christmas. As they do daily, North Beach’s long-standing Italian institution will be generously dousing dishes like 40 clove garlic chicken, lamb shank and gnocchi in pungent garlicky deliciousness. And what better way to end your meal, and Christmas, than pairing decadent tiramisu with Baileys before going home all warm and fuzzy inside? 

Tuscan staple Acquolina is a more casual dining option for Christmas Day. Share one of the eatery’s favorite pizzas (mozzarella, sausage, mushrooms and truffle cream, anyone?) or select from a variety of pasta, risotto or meat dishes like porchetta Romana (slow-roasted rolled pork) or beef medallions in four cheese sauce for a hearty holiday escape to the Italian countryside.