Tosca Cafe

To avoid bass vibrations from the underfoot Palladium Club, be sure to come to Tosca early on a weeknight. Relax in the same leather booths once occupied by Francis Ford Coppola and Sam Shepard, at this charming and historic cafe. Sip a house coffee made with steamed milk, chocolate, and brandy, as you absorb the beauty of the opera on the jukebox and the antique espresso machine behind the...

Keep your eyes peeled: Sean Penn, Francis Ford Coppola and Maria Grazia Cucinotta have been known to stop in for a drink.

Snag one of the big red booths along the back wall, if you can. They're perfect for big groups and people-watching.

Partners April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman (The Spotted Pig, The Breslin Bar & Dining Room, John Dory Oyster Bar) spared little expense in the $1.5 million resurrection of this iconic North Beach café that has nursed San Francisco’s literati for nigh a century. A hulking stainless-steel espresso machine anchors the café’s narrow, boisterous bar, where savvy bartenders turn out refreshing twists...

Bon Appetit's annual list of the 10 best new restaurants in the US of A has arrived, and of the three Bay Area longlisters in the top 50 (Kin Khao, Sir & Star, and Tosca Cafe), it was Tosca that made the top ten, clocking in at #4. The top spot went to Washington, D.C.'s Rose's Luxury, while Philadelphia's High Street on Market came in second and NYC's Estela took third. Tosca, the restaurant...

The arrival of the Jay-Z and Beyoncé tour basically brought San Francisco to a standstill this week, monopolizing Instagram feeds, conversations, and even the city's soundscape. But even this dynamic duo has to occasionally stop to eat, which they did with gusto. Most notably, they went to Tosca Cafe not one, but both nights of their tour, which was a bit of internal synergy, since Jay-Z is an...

April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman are famous for not taking reservations at NYC's The Spotted Pig, and they chose to institute the same policy with their first San Francisco project, Tosca Cafe. But nine months in, their will is officially broken: after testing the waters with a Sunday supper that accepts reservations, the duo has decided to open the floodgates and put Tosca's whole book on...

A perfectly polished mahogany bar invites guests to linger over a well-mixed cocktail (don't neglect the martinis and ...