While it is true that SFO boasts a wide variety of great restaurants, it’s still airport food! And airport food, as we all know, comes with the usual accompaniments – constant boarding announcements and the yelling of irate passengers. Luckily travelers arriving and departing from SFO have a wide variety of excellent restaurants near the airport to choose from. So here are the 10 best restaurants near San Francisco Airport.
Eating at the airport is becoming slightly more bearable thanks to the new eating options at San Francisco Airport. We’ve even reached the point where you can have decent food after passing through security. But airport food may not be to everyone’s taste, especially with food nearby being pretty amazing. The best part is that there are restaurants catering to a variety of budgets and food preferences near SFO Airport. So plan to visit one of these restaurants near San Francisco Airport to have a sit-down meal before your next trip or pick up dinner on your way home.
Hot Tip: You should consider booking your SFO Airport parking spot in advance since finding parking at San Francisco Airport can be a major hassle.
Top Restaurants near San Francisco Airport
Hong Kong Flower Lounge
51 Millbrae Ave., Millbrae
This pork bun paradise has been a favorite of dim sum connoisseurs for ages and is one of the best restaurants near San Fransisco Airport for dim sum. Â Evenings are more relaxed, emphasizing Cantonese seafood sourced directly from the tanks.
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Fresh seafood prepared in the traditional Hong Kong way and the restaurant’s distinctive Peking duck are crowd pleasers. The restaurant’s dim sum, which continually arrives on carts and trays from the kitchen, is among the most popular items on the menu at the Hong Kong Flower Lounge Restaurant. Rich barbecue pig belly with crispy skin, pan-fried pork-and-chive wontons cooked to order, drenched in oyster sauce, delicate vegetable dumplings, and a world-class baked egg custard bun are just some of the treats you must not miss here.
Need to book a room near SFO? You should check out the 10 best hotels near San Francisco Airport.
Little Lucca Sandwich Shop
724 El Camino Real
The restaurant “Little Lucca” (a total misnomer) is known for its enormous sandwiches. Prices are the only thing that’s “little” at this restaurant near SFO Airport. This modest old-school sandwich restaurant in South San Francisco is notorious for serving some of the Bay Area’s largest sandwiches. These literally foot-long, big-as-your-forearm monsters are about as generous and well-built as a sandwich can be.
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A “Little Lucca Combination” on Dutch crunch with additional garlic sauce may be the Bay Area’s definitive version of a classic Italian combo. Many regulars will make a special trip on Tuesdays and Fridays when the Fish Combo (containing a cold fish salad) is available.
New England Lobster Market & Eatery
824 Cowan Rd, Burlingame
The one thing that will kill you is the parking problem, which requires an enormous amount of patience at almost any time of the day or night. But once you make it to the front of the line (or, better yet, opt for online ordering), the qualities of this classic seafood restaurant near San Francisco Airport are quite obvious.
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Here you’ll find what’s perhaps the most convincing version of a Maine-style lobster roll in the Bay Area, which purists can order plain, with just a tub of drawn butter on the side. There are other sandwiches made with Dungeness crab that you may have if you want to stay with a more regional crustacean delicacy. There is curbside pickup available, in addition to seats on an outside terrace and vice versa.
Have a long layover at SFO? It’ll be a breeze if you know some fun things to do on a layover at San Francisco Airport.
In-N-Out Burger
Yes, we know that it’s the In-N-Out near another California Airport, LAX, that’s almost a religious institution for true believers of the Animal Style Burger.
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However, In-N-Out is also the fast-food chain that people from other states most often think of when they think of California. Also, don’t ignore the fact that the Millbrae store is so conveniently located. It’s only a single exit up the road from SFO. That is probably a large part of the reason why so many people’s first and final meal when visiting the Bay Area is a Double-Double Animal Style. Oh, and with the fries well-done, thank you very much.
Millbrae Pancake House
1301 El Camino Real, Millbrae
Since this traditional pancake house initially opened its doors in 1959, not a whole lot seems to have changed, and it continues to be a beloved spot in the neighborhood for a filling breakfast with an inexpensive American flavor.
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The signature meal is a type of Swedish pancake that is similar to a crepe and is served with lingonberry butter. If you buy one of the more ambitious meals, such as steak and eggs or a large three-egg omelet, you will automatically receive a couple of pancakes on the side. This is a convenient option if you don’t want to commit to ordering an entire stack.
Sugandh Indian Restaurant & Bar
333 Broadway, Millbrae
This is where your search for an Indian restaurant near San Francisco Airport ends –it’s that good! Sugandh is an upscale Indian restaurant with a full bar that offers delicious, authentic Indian food at reasonable prices.
The restaurant offers great masala chai, mango lassi, and coffee, among other non-alcoholic drinks. A must not miss is the Chicken Biriyani. Its boneless spiced chicken cooked with fragrant basmati rice, onions, bell pepper, and garnished with nuts. Herbivores will love that this restaurant offers a wide range of vegetarian dishes. There’s also chicken and vegetarian momos, a steamed Nepali delicacy. You can also snack on a whole range of pakoras -fritters dipped in spiced chickpea batter. It’s served with sides of homemade mint chutney and hot & sour tamarind chutney.
Need some help in getting around SFO? Check out how to get around SFO Airport easily – San Francisco International Airport  guide.
Taqueria San Bruno
1045 San Mateo Ave, San Bruno
Mission-style super burrito is arguably San Francisco’s most recognizable original food creation. And Taqueria San Bruno is the closest and most convenient place where you can pick up a truly stellar and truly ginormous version on the way either to or from the airport. There’ll be planes literally taking off above your head.
It is important to emphasize that these giant burritos are ludicrously large and bursting with meat. Their morning burritos are also quite similar, making them ideal if you have an early trip. The charred carne asada is perhaps the most popular item at this taqueria. But they also dish up some of the best fish and shrimp tacos in the neighborhood.
wonderful
270 Broadway, Millbrae
Because of the abundance of Cantonese and Sichuanese restaurants in the Bay Area, Hunanese cuisine is frequently relegated to the background. Therefore, it is not surprising that this hot spot has become popular among the area’s foodies looking for Hunan food. However, you can expect a longish wait during peak meal hours. That’s because of the dining room’s limited space. The wait is definitely worth it, though!
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The boldly flavored dishes incorporate oodles of smoked, cured, and fermented ingredients. You’ll enjoy the pork wok tossed with leeks and garlic. There’s also soy, spicy pork, black bean, and pickled chili mixture that tops those fiery, chewy, hand-cut Godfather’s noodles. The pork wok-tossed with leeks, garlic, and soy is similar to bacon. In its bath of brilliant red chili sauce flecked with onions and garlic, the entire chili-braised fish is an essential need. The fish is fresh and flaky, and the sauce is vivid red.
The Night Market
230 S Spruce Ave
The Night Market is probably the restaurant in the Bay Area that comes the closest to recreating the look and feel of the type of night market you can find all through Asia. There’s, of course, a specific nod to the foods and atmosphere of Hong Kong’s dai pai dong. You’ll feel the vibe everywhere, right down to the folding tables and colorful plastic stools.
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The Night Market is a great place to go if you want to get a taste of Asia without having to travel there. Mainstays on the menu include Hong Kong-style cart noodles, Hainan chicken rice, and a Chiu-Chow style congee bar that offers more than a dozen different toppings for diners to pick from.
Here’s more info on Where to park at San Francisco Airport & SFO Airport Parking rates.
Flavas Jamaican Grill
314 Linden Ave, South San Francisco
There is a Bay Area institution that serves jerk chicken and oxtails. Luckily, it just so happens to be a restaurant near SFO Airport. Flavas’s dining room is neat and understated. There’s just a painting of a sunset in the Caribbean Sea and a Bob Marley poster.
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You must order the jerk chicken! It has just the proper amount of Scotch bonnet peppers, cloves, and various other spices. These imbue the chicken with a pleasant sharpness and earthiness. Keeping the meat exceptionally wet must result from the marinade’s unique thickness, which is not common in jerk chicken dishes. You can order Jerk chicken alone or as part of a combination with jerk salmon or oxtail that literally falls off the bone.
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