These are the best San Francisco restaurants open on Christmas Day

What is it? A buffet presentation with unlimited bubbly, live piano music and incredible city views. The Top of the Mark is the historic Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel’s 19th-floor penthouse restaurant, and executive chef Christian Luxton’s buffet sprawl includes a carving station, dim sum, signature mains, caviar and roe, a raw bar, and an array of salads, sides, breads, and desserts. No one will go hungry! Allow time for a photo opp with Santa in the lobby.

Address: 999 California St, San Francisco, CA 94108

Christmas hours: Dec 25, seatings at 10:30am, 11am, 3:30pm and 4pm.

Expect to pay: $225 per person, $85 per child aged 4-12.

What is it? A festive four-course prix fixe at The Cavalier, a British-inspired brasserie inside SoMa’s Hotel Zetta helmed by executive chef Jennifer Puccio. You can add on oysters, Tsar Nicolai paddlefish, or Osetra caviar for an upcharge. Watch an English Christmas movie (Love Actually or The Holiday?) and slide into a booth in this inspirational interior designed by San Francisco’s beloved Ken Fulk with beautiful museum-lit paintings, curios in niches, and wallpaper featuring proper British gentlemen on horses.

Address: 360 Jessie St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Christmas hours: 11am–3pm, 3:30pm–7:15pm 

Expect to pay: $150 per person. Children aged 12 and under receive a special two-course children’s menu for $50.

What is it? A holiday buffet in a space that reads as old-world Italy with domed ceilings, marble columns, and Tuscan-style frescoes. The Laurel Court is inside the famed Fairmont San Francisco, and your dining is accompanied by live music, sparkling wine and a celebratory atmosphere. Add-ons include a Fairmont Teddy bear in pajamas or splashes of 2015 Dom Pérignon Brut. Possible bucket list upgrade? You can dine inside the private gingerbread cottage with up to 10 guests for a memorable meal.

Address: 950 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94108

Christmas hours: Noon–5pm

Expect to pay: $118-222 per person

What is it? A family-style, shareable feast infused with Mediterranean flavors. You’ll dine in the elegant Post Room at the top of the grand staircase in the historic Beacon Grand Hotel. The menu includes dishes like golden gougères, duck confit, prime rib, maple-glazed ham and sole meunière, ending with a yule log cake. 

Address: 450 Powell St, San Francisco, CA 94108

Christmas hours: Noon–7pm

Expect to pay: $120 per person, $60 per child under 12

What is it? A fun, wacky Jewish comedy show with dim sum held in a Chinese restaurant on Christmas (and online). The venue is the Imperial Palace, and this year’s headliner is a name you’ll recognize: Elayne Boosler, along with Orion Levine, Amanda Marks and Lisa Geduldig. Before the show, indulge in a six-course Chinese dinner served “lazy Susan style” with kung pao chicken, sweet and sour flounder, eggplant in black bean sauce, kosher walnut prawns and several other options, closing with (what else?) fortune cookies filled with Yiddish proverbs. It’s a San Francisco tradition celebrating 33 years in 2025.

Address: 818 Washington St, San Francisco 94108

Christmas hours: In-person dining is at 5pm (show at 6pm). There’s also a cocktail show at 8:30pm with dim sum offerings.

Expect to pay: $95 per person.

What is it? You know that the Ritz-Carlton will pull out the stops for incredible holiday décor, and the three-course Christmas Day menu served in The Lounge offers decadent takes on traditional dishes and seasonal inspirations.

Address: 600 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94108

Christmas hours: Seatings at noon, 2:30pm, 5pm and 7:30pm.

Expect to pay: $185 per person, $100 per child.

What is it? A delicious three-course prix fixe menu at the brand-new (opened in October 2025) Bourbon Steak San Francisco from James Beard award-winning chef Michael Mina. Lodged inside the iconic Westin St. Francis hotel in Union Square, the restaurant will offer entrées like Seven Seas Boil with clams, mussels, shrimp, monterey calamari salmon, seabass, dungeness crab and sourdough garlic bread, and slow roasted prime rib with blue cheese-stuffed popover, fresh horseradish and truffle au jus—plus starters, shareable sides and desserts like warm nutmeg beignets and winter pavlova.

Address: 335 Powell St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Christmas hours: Not yet announced; check website for details.

Expect to pay: $165 per person

What is it? A four-course steak and pasta menu which includes several substantial (not just token) gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options for every course. Zingari’s a family-owned Italian restaurant with a calming, understated interior in Union Square. The Christmas meal includes herb-sausage rigatoni and grilled dry-aged ribeye, or choose from osso buco, pan-seared salmon, grilled lamb chops, and on the vegetarian side, pasta primavera, pesto gnocchi, crostini fichi, and other delicious options. You can opt to enjoy live jazz with Tony Martinez (a $50 upcharge) in the Artist Room during the last three seatings. After dinner, head to the Aperitivo Bar for a Negroni afterparty. The sister restaurant Ula, also owned by Krishan Miglan, is open for Christmas Day as well.

Address: 501 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Christmas hours: Seatings at noon, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm.

Expect to pay: $120 per person, $50 for children with a “small children menu.”

What is it? Have a French-inspired Christmas meal at an authentic French Restaurant with a Provençal feel. Chou Chou has been around for more than 20 years in Forest Hill near Twin Peaks, and their intimate dining space is decorated with poinsettias and a stylized Christmas tree. The offerings may include holiday favorites like cassoulet with sausages and duck confit, Boeuf Bourguignon and salmon en croute.

Address: 400 Dewey Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94116

Christmas hours: 11am–9pm

Expect to pay: Details have not yet been released, but the Thanksgiving three-course prix fixe was $75 and Christmas should be similar.

What is it? Three choices of festive prix fixe meals at historic John's Grill. At 117 years old, this is one of San Francisco's oldest steak and seafood restaurants, as proven by the black and white photos hung on the wall of famous guests who have dined here. The vibe is perfectly cozy, and at Christmas time sparkling lights and greenery come out. This year, there's a steak and seafood option, a prime rib option and a surf and turf option, with various dishes like lobster bisque, Harris Ranch roast prime rib, jumbo prawns Dijonnaise and filet mignon with Maine lobster tail. 

Address:  63 Ellis St, San Francisco, CA 94102 

Christmas hours: 11:45am–9:30pm

Expect to pay: $95 steak and seafood, $110 prime rib menu, $125 surf and turf.