The Zagat Guide San Francisco survey results are in. And it's all anyone in the San Francisco food scene can talk about.
Once again, Gary Danko nearly swept the series, claiming three of the four most coveted awards: food, popularity and service. Other winners included Thomas Keller, who pulled the number one spot for Traditional American cuisine at Ad Hoc, as well as number two spots for New American and food -- knocked out of first by Gary Danko in both categories. (Are we sensing some bitterness?) Manresa also made a serious jump to the number four spot for food from number 20 last year, and and Chris Kostow's Restaurant at Meadowood came out of nowhere to claim the number six spot. (Alright, hardly out of nowhere, but at least as far as Zagat is concerned.)
Now, on to the snubs.
Even though the restaurant is still shining both of its Michelin stars, Coi didn't even make it in the top 50 restaurants for Zagat. And while a top ten spot is certainly no snub, Chez Panisse did drop a spot in the food category (now at ten from last year's nine).
But the punching bag award of 2012 goes to the much loved and much hated SF institution, the Tonga Room. While few expected the tired tiki lounge to do well in the food category, even we didn't expect the scathing 13 points (out of 30) for food. Ouch. That's the same score at Mel's Drive-In. Looks like even an Anthony Bourdain pool party can't make diners forget about subpar poke.
Check out a preview of the top honors in our slideshow below, or check out the Zagat Guide for a full list:
