We’ve already crowned 20 Spot one of the nation’s best wine bars, but we’d be remiss not to celebrate the Mission eatery’s equally stellar small plates. 20 Spot’s atmosphere is sleek, warm and just the slightest bit kitschy, with midcentury furnishings and an all-vinyl soundtrack that balances the kitchen’s contemporary take on Mediterranean small plates. On the ever-changing menu, standby mains—kitchen favorites include octopus and flatbread— are paired with seasonal accouterments like lemongrass quinoa and jalapeño sofrito. Our favorites included Brussels sprouts fried in duck fat and enlivened by pickled onions, and 20 Spot’s famed avocado toast, in which an arguably overdone dish is elevated with tender, salty halibut ceviche. Trust us, it’s worth the hype.
We love the thrill of tucking into a massive meal—dim sum spreads, hearty pizza pies, huge cuts of steak at SF’s best steakhouses—but in a sea of super-sized options, it feels refreshingly refined to scale down. Enter tapas: as chic as they are delicious, small plates somehow pull off being both elegant and adorable. Plus, you can mix and match plates to create a bespoke feast, and you get to try a little of everything without committing to one dish. We’ve hunted down the best tapas in the city so you can see—and taste—why small plates have such big appeal.