Restaurants in Piedmont

Hanging lampshades and flat-screen televisions cast a warm glow on Knuckles at the Wharf's chic interior, a snazzy setting scattered throughout with svelte wooden tables and padded purple chairs. Lively lunch and dinner menus of bar fare, seafood, and sandwiches go hand in hand with sports games, and a long list of craft brews and cocktails helps patrons toast to the memories of groundbreaking food fights past. Every morning, a breakfast buffet greets the sun as it rises over Fisherman's Wharf with classics that include bacon, sausage, eggs, and pancakes with blueberry syrup.

Antipasti selections include inventive small, sociable plates such as a Tuscan take on hummus, with white beans and crispy, dippable hunks of rosemary focaccia bread ($11.95), and caprese di bufala con pomodori rossi arrostiti ($14.95), with imported buffalo mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, and basil-flavored extra-virgin olive oil. A wide variety of properly prepared pizza pies please palates like a well-formed tongue twister, including a Mediterranean-inspired pie with caramelized onions, feta, tomatoes, black olives, olive oil, and garlic ($14.95). Meatier fare includes wood-oven-roasted, organic, free-range Cornish hen ($22.95) and grilled New York steak served Tuscan style with roasted potatoes and garlic spinach ($26.95). Reunite your meal with its long-lost pair with a selection from Credo's wine and cocktail menu.

The Starlight Room evokes an ideal atmosphere for the glitz and glam of a drag show. Windows present a 360-degree view of San Francisco's numerous landmarks, and warm tones, velvet booths, glittering chandeliers, and silk drapes crank up the opulence to critical majesty. The weekly Sunday drag show, now in its fifth year, takes this 1930s mystique and races with it in a saucy nod to the variety shows of yesteryear. Hosted by blond bombshell Donna Sachet, the 45-minute shows provide visitors a chance to kick back and enjoy a variety of stand-up routines, female-impersonation acts, and lip-sync performances.

Beneath the yellow tablecloths that brighten Judy’s Café, tables groan under the weight of homestyle breakfast, brunch, and lunch dishes loaded with organic ingredients. The menu of recipes devised by owner Charles Bain’s mother has satisfied the stomachs of San Franciscans, tourists, and celebrities who gaze down from photographs and cryogenic capsules. Breakfast poses a choice of overstuffed three-egg omelets and cut-to-order fruit, while lunch presents appetites with sandwiches of Dutch Crunch bread and nine-grain wheat toast enclosing Cajun, Italian, and American cargo. House-made salsa graces the contents of Mexican wraps before heading off to make an appearance at a high-profile fiesta.

The neighborhood eatery offers a fresh menu of authentic Italian fare for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. Start with an order of oregano-, lemon-, and olive-oil-marinated olives ($6), savoring the flavor-infused spheres while a herbivorous tablemate noshes on the grilled polenta cakes with Manchego cheese, mushrooms, and red-wine sauce ($8). Personal pizzas, such as the prosciutto pie with gorgonzola cheese and balsamic reduction ($12), please orbital eaters, while plate-bound diners can feast upon house-made pastas, such as the butternut-squash ravioli with brown butter, sage, and mascarpone ($14). Other entrees include a decadent pork osso bucco ($18) with potato puree and aromatic vegetables under a port red-wine sauce and a filet of sole with veggies and mustard-seed and caper-berry aioli ($18).

Johnny Cherry, the proven barbecue king, seasons the fare at Frank's BBQ and Seafood with his own special blend of herbs and spices, earning himself and the eatery a first-place finish in the Black Cuisine of San Francisco competition for 10 years running. He cooks up pork and beef ribs, sliced beef brisket, and chicken wings, all available in a variety of combos with sides such as potato salad and hush puppies. Not to be outdone, seafood dishes such as red snapper, catfish, and fish burgers sidle up beside the barbecue fare.

Margie—Frank's BBQ and Seafood's resident soul-fare specialist and fellow Black Cuisine of San Francisco first-prize winner—drops by every Thursday and Friday to whip up her down-home cuisine. Made from her grandmother's Alabama recipes, her entrees include smothered turkey wings, meatloaf, and oxtail, prepared with comfort-fare sides such as string beans and candied yams in the shape of a La-Z-Boy. On request, she can also craft homemade desserts such as cakes, peach cobbler, banana pudding, and pies. Frank's BBQ and Seafood and Margie's soul fare are also available for catering for any event.