Angler

"This offshoot of Saison can get expensive (around $100 per person), but they serve some of the most creative and delicious seafood in the city. (Seriously, when was the last time you had salt-and-pepper blowfish tails or tuna tartare with tomato jelly?) Angler’s pretty heavy on the we-need-to-impress-some-clients crowd (it is on Embarcadero, after all), and this bright, lively place - with service that rivals the kind bestowed to King Louis XIV - is great for celebratory group dinners or dates with cocktails and small plates." - will kamensky

"If you’re crunched for time, go to Angler for the rotating $45 three-course lunch tasting menu. You only need to utter your choice of two entrees, like a half-seabream or half-roasted chicken, before the starter seems to magically appear on the table. A dessert, like the mountainous soft serve sundae with hot fudge and cocoa nibs, is also included. If you happen to be entertaining a client or dining with a coworker you have nothing to talk to about, pivot your conversation to the many taxidermied animal heads mounted to the walls." - ricky rodriguez, julia chen 1, patrick wong

"Fine dining restaurant Saison billed Angler as a casual spinoff restaurant, but there’s nothing casual about this place. The Embarcadero spot feels perfectly suited for trading stock tips with a friend or sitting next to tables full of puffer vest-ed folks who agree that Dreamforce is the highlight of fall. The dining room is a cross between a fancy seafood house and a hunting lodge thanks to decorative wall fish, a taxidermy bear, and a big open kitchen with a wood-burning hearth. The menu is both seafood and meat-focused, so expect to dine on wild swordfish steaks, meaty antelope tartare topped with herbs, and a whole head of radicchio doused in an intense XO sauce. " - lani conway, julia chen 1, ricky rodriguez

"If you like your soft serve dressed up like it’s going to a dinner party at Mary Crawley’s estate, hit up this seafood restaurant on the Embarcadero. Their incredibly smooth soft serve sundae comes together with things like peppered caramel, smoked salt, and cocoa nibs, and is an excellent follow-up to a meal that will probably also include antelope tartar and oysters." - julia chen 1, lani conway, patrick wong

"Angler opened on the Embarcadero in 2018, as a spinoff from Michelin-starred Saison, and it’s focused on seafood with some luxurious options and add-ons. Fish picks up flavor in the woodfired oven and smokers, and there are Parkerhouse rolls with cultured seaweed butter, grilled whole lobster and hand-dived scallops, not to mention whole sea bream, aged black cod, and more." - Justine Jones, Dianne de Guzman