San Francisco Mines Gold in Michelin’s 2019 Bib Gourmand List

Michelin’s Guide star rating carries enormous cache in the restaurant world. The precursor to the Michelin Guide stars awarded each year (coming out next week) is the Bib Gourmand List, a lesser firmament, yet still a very heavy award for any restaurant. The List just came out and San Francisco placed 8 restaurants on the roster for 2019. Other towns in the Bay area also garnered the prize. All told, the Bay Area now has 68 restaurants as Bib Gourmands, ranging across 40 different cuisine varieties.

SF is very expensive city to open a restaurant, with the average hit to the pocketbook being $750,000. That’s sans rent or expenses after the opening. It’s becoming more and more challenging for restaurants to survive in the city, as workers can’t afford to live here, and the cost of creativity is rising. However, the 8 SF establishments on Bib do prove that creative cuisine, cost management, and building a rep for affordable quality do contribute to success. Among the SF restaurants honored are: M.Y. China, Cotogna, A16, Anchor Oyster Bar, DOSA.