Bay Area top restaurants

Four Kings now sits at No. 1 on the San Francisco Chronicle’s 2026 Top 100, putting the Chinatown dining room at the center of the Bay Area’s latest restaurant conversation. (sfchronicle.com) The Chronicle updated its 2026 list on April 15 and said about a quarter of the 100 restaurants were new this year, after the paper revived the project in 2025 following a five-year hiatus. Critics MacKenzie Chung Fegan and Cesar Hernandez wrote that each reviewed about 300 meals while building the ranking. (sfchronicle.com, sfchronicle.com) Four Kings had already landed near the top of the Chronicle’s 2025 comeback list, and the paper’s 2026 update moved it into first place. KQED described the restaurant in May 2025 as a packed, Hong Kong–inspired Chinatown spot that books up weeks ahead and stays open until 11 p.m. on weekends. (sfchronicle.com, kqed.org) The Chronicle’s project is broad by design. Its critics said the list is meant to cover “a cross section” of Bay Area dining, from sandwich shops and taquerias to tasting-menu restaurants, rather than only the region’s most expensive rooms. (sfchronicle.com) That wider lens helps explain why another name drawing attention this month is Fikscue Craft Barbecue at Thrive City next to Chase Center, even though the current burst of chatter is also coming from social posts and local word of mouth. Chase Center describes Fikscue as an Indonesian-Texas barbecue restaurant run by Fik and Reka Saleh, with smoked brisket, dino ribs and Indonesian dishes on the menu. (chasecenter.com) Fikscue’s San Francisco outpost is at 7 Warriors Way, Suite 208, and the restaurant says it is open Thursday through Sunday from noon to 8 p.m., or until sold out, with extended hours during Chase Center events and Warriors home games. The Salehs first launched Fikscue as a pop-up in 2020, then opened their Alameda brick-and-mortar in 2023 before adding the Thrive City location in June 2025. (fikscue.com, chasecenter.com, kqed.org) KQED reported in January that Fikscue’s Alameda restaurant had drawn around-the-block crowds and that its Thrive City shop was already reaching a wider audience. During the Warriors’ Muslim Heritage Night on Jan. 15, boxed barbecue meals from Fikscue were part of an event that organizers said had already sold 700 tickets, including 250 meal packages. (kqed.org) The result is two different signals pointing diners in the same direction this April: a formal 100-restaurant ranking led by Four Kings, and a steady stream of local attention on a newer Chase Center barbecue stop. In a region where critics say the list can change quickly because restaurants are “living entities,” this month’s standouts are the ones getting the reservations, lines and reposts. (sfchronicle.com, kqed.org, chasecenter.com)