5 Iconic San Francisco Food You Must Try With Your Kids
San Francisco food is diverse and absolutely delicious.
While the city is knows for it’s top-rated culinary experiences that any
grown-up would appreciate, it also a offers so many options of
kid-friendly eats that are uniquely San Franciscan.
San Francisco is a culinary Mecca which draws in visitors far and near. How can it not be? With the coolest neighborhoods, hip bars, and the hottest restaurants, it’s a euphoric food heaven for foodie parents. In fact San Francisco food is almost a tourist attraction in itself!
However, the food in San Francisco isn’t just for grown ups. With its diverse range to must-have eats, this city offers a wide array of sweet desserts and savory treats for your young foodies as well.
In this post we’ll get a taste of 5 of the most iconic, uniquely San Franciscan food you absolutely must try with your kids.
And stick around to the very end for a BONUS San Francisco treat that is strictly for the grown-ups, because after all, parents deserve at kid-free moment every now and then too.
Boudin Bakery clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl
Our first iconic San Francisco food to try with your kids is Boudin Bakery.
Where is Boudin Bakery?
(this is one of many location in the SF Bay Area)
What is Boudin known for?
Boudin Bakery is most famous for making “The Original San Francisco Sourdough” and is also recognized as being the oldest continually running business in the city.
What should I order?
On any given day at Boudin, you’ll finds lines of visitors ordering the the clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl. You can also order the chowder without the bread, but wheres the fun in that?! The magic is in their famous sourdough bread.
Why you and the kids will love it.
How often can your kids slurp down warm, creamy clam chowder on a chilly San Francisco day AND eat the bowl after wards? My guess is not very often.
First of, the chowder definitely hits the spot and keeps you warm when the bay fog rolls in. Then, once you’ve gobbled up all the chowder, you get to the the best part: eating the edible bowl. At this point you and your family will get to enjoy spoonfuls of fresh, soft sourdough soaked in the clam chowder that once filled the bowl. It’s soft, savory, gooey, and delicious!
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company handmade fortune cookies
Where is the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory?
What is the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company known for?
Just like the their name touts, the Golden Gate Fortune Cooking Company is known for it’s fortune cookies. They’ve been open since 1962 and make up to 10,000 fortune cookies a day! Their fortune cookies are baked fresh and are hand-twisted with a sweet little fortune tucked inside each one of them.
What should I order?
In addition to the traditional vanilla flavored fortune cookies, the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company also makes fortune cookies in strawberry, chocolate, and green tea. For something extra special, try them glazed or chocolate-dipped.
Their most popular cookie, however, is the flat cookie which are fortune-less, but much easier to eat. No need to break open.
Why you and the kids will love it.
It’s very rare you’ll find a kid who doesn’t appreciate a fresh cookie. With fortune cookies, not only are they perfectly sweet and crunchy, they also contain special fortunes inside to offer good luck.
You and your little ones will absolutely enjoy browsing through the wide variety of fortune cookie flavors at the factory. You’ll also have the opportunity to watch the skilled fortune cookie makers twist each cookie, one by one, into its iconic shape.
The Tea House at the Japanese Tea Garden tea house cookies
Where is the Japanese Tea Garden?
What is the Japanese Tea Garden Tea House known for?
The San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden itself is well-known for it’s meditative, Japanese-style garden. However, visitors also come here to enjoy a grounding cup of green tea and an assortment of Japanese snacks in a tea house that overlooks the calming grounds.
What should I order?
An order of the Tea House Cookies will give you and your kiddos a nice sampling of Asian sweets like sesame cookies and Pocky sticks. To go along with these sweets, grown ups can pair them with some genmaicha tea or coffee. For thirsty kids, the can have fun opening up a bottle of melon Ramune, which is a Japanese soft drink that bottled in a bottle with a VERY unique neck design.
Why you and the kids will love it.
Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop ice cream sundae
Where is the Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop?
What is the Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop known for?
Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate!
Ghirardelli was founded in San Francisco in 1852 and is the oldest, continuously operating chocolate maker in America. This means that their ice cream shop boasts of the smoothest hot fudge and most decadent chocolate brownies.
What should I order?
A hot fudge sundae from Ghirardelli is a must-try San Francisco food that any kid would enjoy. In particular, the “Treasure Island: Warm Brownie Sundae” is perfect for sharing and definitely does not skimp out on the Ghirardelli chocolate.
Why you and the kids will love it.
Plus once you’re absolutely stuffed to the brim with chocolate, you can burn all the sugar off with a walk through Ghirardelli Square and along the bay shore.
Good Mong Kok Bakery dim sum
Another iconic San Francisco food is dim sum. Dim sum is a traditional Chinese meal made up things like dumplings and steamed buns. Some of the best dim sum in San Francisco can be found at Good Mong Kok Bakery.
Where is Good Mong Kok Bakery?
1039 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
What is the Good Mong Kok Bakery known for?
Lastly, Good Mong Kok, a hold-in-the-wall in Chinatown, is know for its large portions of delicious dim sum that you can take to-go. The prices here are super affordable, so you can definitely try a little of everything without breaking the bank.
What should I order?
Some popular savory dim sum dishes include siu mai (steamed pork and shrimp dumping), har gow (steamed shrimp and bamboo shoot dumpling) and char siu bao (steamed bun filled with barbecue pork).
As for sweets, you definitely cannot go wrong with sweet egg tarts or steamed custard buns.
Why you and the kids will love it.
Also, simply ordering your dim sum is an experience in itself. You can easily see everything behind the glass cases and point to whatever looks enticing to you.
A Bonus Must-try San Francisco Treat
Buena Vista Cafe Irish coffee
There’s nothing more San Franciscan than a visit to the Buena Vista Cafe. While kids are more than welcome to eat at Buena Vista, this particular, iconic San Francisco “food” is only for the grown-ups.
Where is Buena Vista Cafe?
2765 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
What is Buena Vista Cafe known for?
Buena Vista Cafe is known for being located in a prime San Francisco location: one block away from Ghirardelli Square, with a bay view, and next to the last stop for the Powell-Hyde cable car.
What brings patrons in, however, is their iconic Irish coffee, which was perfected in 1952.
What should I order?
Without a doubt, get the Irish coffee. However, don’t just order the Irish coffee, you should also sit and watch the process of making it at the bar. There is a real art to making this iconic, San Francisco drink that will make you appreciate it even more.
Why you will love it.
It’s strong. It’s caffeinated. It’s warm. It’s just a great adult beverage to sip on on a foggy San Francisco day. What more can I say?
YES!
Iconic San Francisco Food
Can Be Kid-friendly!
San Francisco is a food-lovers paradise where foodies young and old can find a never-ending array of delicious eats. You can find mouthwatering sweets and pastries to suit all tastebuds. You can find tasty meals that suits all budgets. You can even find inspiring cuisine from all around the world!
San Francisco is culinarily diverse that it can be hard to figure out where to start, so I hope that these 5 most iconic San Francisco foods will give you a running start in exploring all the amazing food this gorgeous city has to offer.
For more San Francisco travel inspirations,
check out these related posts.
