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Seafood · Oyster & Raw Bar · Private Dining Spaces
Union Square — San Francisco. A hand-painted 1925 swimming-pool vault, brass jellyfish overhead, and a raw bar packed with ice.
Since 1997
Born and raised in the heart of San Francisco's Union Square, Farallon has grown and evolved with the ever changing landscape of this beloved city. Since 1997 Farallon has stayed committed to always sourcing quality ingredients, carefully crafting each menu with the freshest local produce, seafood, meat and game. To another year of putting a modern twist on classic dishes. Cheers!
Coastal cuisine is the phrase Chef/Owner Mark Franz coined for the way this kitchen cooks: sea-first, seasonal, and unfussy in intent even when the plate is elaborate. The daily menu is written around what the boats and the farms actually delivered that morning — Alaskan halibut, local petrale sole, Dungeness crab in season, Point Reyes Miyagi oysters — and it is rewritten again the next day. Meat and game sit alongside the fish rather than in opposition to it, because a table of six rarely wants the same thing.
The building gives us the luxury of range. The Pool Room is the grand main dining room under the arched ceiling, where the tasting menus are served. The Jellyfish Lounge downstairs is the loose, sociable half of the restaurant — cocktails, the raw bar and happy hour, with the Me'duse menu from 5:30pm. Upstairs, three private dining rooms named for caviar grades handle everything from a board dinner for sixteen to a wedding for two hundred and fifty.
Whichever room you sit in, the kitchen is the same kitchen and the raw bar is the same raw bar. There is no second-tier menu at Farallon.
Explore Farallon
Four ways into the restaurant — a grand dining room, a lounge, a private floor, and a shop.
Private dining
Farallon's Private Dining Rooms are available for weddings, corporate and special events for groups from 10 to 250.
Sevruga, Osetra and Beluga sit above the restaurant in the historic Elks' building, each with its own service kitchen and seasonal menus.
The main dining room
The Pool Room is our historic main dining room where you can relax underneath sea urchin chandeliers in one of our cozy banquettes and enjoy a Three or Four Course Tasting Menu and delicacies from the Raw Bar.
Bar & lounge
Join us for more casual dining experience from our Me'duse Lounge menu. Cocktails, Raw Bar and Happy Hour.…
The bar and raw bar open at 4:30pm; the Me'duse menu follows nightly from 5:30pm.
The raw bar
The oyster bar opens with the doors at 4:30pm and stays packed until close.
Fruits de Mer is the centrepiece: an extravagant platter of iced shellfish built to order, available as a Grand Platter or the larger Royal Platter. Around it sit American paddlefish caviar with traditional accompaniments, chilled Maine lobster, chilled Dungeness crab, littleneck clams, and a rotating slate of oysters on the half shell.
Because the oyster list is written from what arrived that day, you will see West Coast and East Coast varieties side by side — Barron Point and Quilcene from Washington, Point Reyes Miyagi and Walker Creek from California, Malpeque from Prince Edward Island, Blue Point from New York. Ask your server which are eating best tonight; they taste them at line-up.
A dozen oysters and a Grand Platter comfortably start a table of four. If caviar is on the agenda, order it first and let it sit while you finish the shellfish — the blinis arrive warm.
It's all about the food — let the ingredients guide the dish.Mark Franz, Chef / Owner
The rooms and the plates
Pat Kuleto's interior puts kelp columns, sea-urchin chandeliers and 50,000 indigo-blue marbles between you and Post Street.
Take Farallon home
Gift
The simplest present for anyone who loves seafood. Gift cards can be bought online or in person at the restaurant.
Book
Mark Franz and Lisa Weiss's collection of Farallon recipes, including the caviar service and the shellfish platters.
Dinner
Settle the bill in advance and hand someone an evening rather than a card. Useful for out-of-town family.
Hotel partners
Kensington Park Hotel Guests Enjoy Priority Reservations and Room Signing Privileges at Farallon.
The hotel occupies the same historic Elks' building on Post Street — you can reach the restaurant without stepping outside. We also work closely with our neighbours at The Inn at Union Square and King George Hotel; ask any of the three concierges about current promotions for guests.
Frequently asked questions
Dress, parking, dietary requests and the difference between our rooms.
Farallon is located in San Francisco's popular Union Square, at 450 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. The restaurant sits inside the historic Elks' building, which also houses the Kensington Park Hotel and the Post Street Theater. Phone: (415) 956-6969.
We are closed on Sundays and Mondays for special events. The bar and raw bar open nightly at 4:30pm, happy hour runs daily from 4:30 to 6pm, and Pool Room dining is Tuesday through Thursday 5:30 to 9pm and Friday and Saturday 5:30 to 9:30pm. The Me'duse menu is available in the Jellyfish Lounge nightly from 5:30pm.
Reservations are strongly recommended for the Pool Room, especially Thursday through Saturday and during theatre season. Make a reservation online, or call us at (415) 956-6969. The Jellyfish Lounge and the bar keep seats for walk-ins, and our full menu is served at the bar.
Most guests dress smart-casual to business-casual — a jacket is common in the Pool Room but not required, and jeans with a nice top are perfectly at home in the Jellyfish Lounge. The room is dark and dramatic, so people tend to dress for it.
Limited valet parking is available. Union Square garages on Post, Sutter and Geary are within a short walk, and the Powell Street BART and Muni station is about five minutes on foot.
Yes. Because the menu is written daily rather than printed for a season, the kitchen has real flexibility with vegetarian, gluten-free and shellfish-allergy requests. Tell us when you book so the chefs can plan, and remind your server on arrival.
VISA/MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club/Carte Blanche, Discover and Travelers Checks. An 18% gratuity is added to all parties of five or more persons, and a service charge for San Francisco Employer Mandates is included as noted on each menu.
Yes — we host restaurant buy-outs for up to 250 guests, alongside three private dining rooms and two semi-private spaces. Start on the private dining page or email zoec@farallonrestaurant.com.
Reservations
Make a reservation online, or call us at (415) 956-6969. Our full menu is served at the bar, and limited valet parking is available.