Eureka Restaurant & Lounge, San Francisco

Raised by a family of chefs in Belzoni—a town in the Mississippi Delta—chef Gaines Douglas Dobbins brings a distinctly authentic southern flair to crafting dishes at the Zagat-rated Eureka Restaurant. Inside his kitchen, Dobbins prepares each dish to order, putting modern twists on southern dishes such as pairing fried okra with yuzu aioli and smoking pork loin in-house to re-create home-cooked flavors that are as comforting as a grandma wearing a teddy-bear costume. Customers dine in three different areas, clinking glasses of wine or custom cocktails. The romantic main dining room glows with flickering votive candles on each table. Upstairs, just beyond the cocktail lounge, the dining room features windows overlooking the bustle of the Castro district. The garden room, just off the outdoor patio, looks out on the trees, flowers, and gnomes who water them each day.