Ordering a steaming bowl of cioppino remains a rite of passage for any food lover visiting San Francisco. The iconic stew first started simmering in the late 1800s after Northern Italian immigrants arrived during the Gold Rush. Many eventually settled in North Beach, or Little Italy, and wound up catching salmon in the summer and crab in the winter. Cioppino is a result of their resourcefulness, tossing seafood scraps into stockpots, down on Fisherman’s Wharf.
The Italian American classic hasn’t changed much since then. It typically brims with fresh shellfish, such as crab, mussels, and squid, along with fillets of firm white halibut or local rockfish. The tomato broth should be aromatic and sippable, often brightened with white wine, fennel, and fragrant herbs. Infusing seafood shells in the stock adds an extra edge of brininess, so you can taste the ocean singing from your spoon. Slices of crusty sourdough are essential for mopping up every last drop. Lifelong obsessives, like myself, would argue a proper cioppino must include Dungeness crab, our prized wild crustacean with a limited season. Some old-school joints use frozen or canned options year-round—a forgivable workaround when doused with enough garlic.
For the past 15 years, I’ve seen creative takes come and go, but the traditional dish is beloved for a reason. Whether passed down through family recipes or calibrated with fine dining precision, cioppino reflects our immigrant heritage and wild ingredients in San Francisco. These eight spots offer exemplary versions, found at seafood counters in the city, and on oyster farms and in fish shacks up and down the coast. So dive in with your hands and get cracking.
Sotto Mare
Owned by the Azzolino family since 2014, Sotto Mare is a legend in the heart of North Beach, boasting “the best damn cioppino” in town. The slogan delivers, and locals and tourists alike pack the narrow dining room every day of the week. Brave the wait, and you’ll be greeted by the scent of simmering garlic, Giants decor, and taxidermied marlin leaping off the walls. One order of cioppino allegedly feeds two people but could sustain a family of four, packed with exclusively shellfish, including a tangle of Dungeness crab legs, squid tentacles, and petite shrimp. Lurking in the depths of the classic tomato broth, you’ll spot a highly unusual yet satisfying addition: penne pasta. Seating may be hard to come by, but barstools turn over quickly.
