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3. NopaIf there's one restaurant that exemplifies the energy, precision, and laid-back refinement of the San Francisco restaurant scene, it's Nopa. With a proper reservation, you can scoot through the bodies clustering around the door and the bar, and if the place strikes your visitors as too chichi to enjoy, loosen them up with a few rounds of cocktails. Laurence Jossel's exuberant California-Mediterranean cuisine works with both the risk-averse (the pork chop!) and more experimental diners (the salumi platter, the tiny fried fish). Pretend you eat here every week.
