2 Bay Area spots make Bon Appetit ’20 Best New Restaurants of 2024′ list

SAN FRANCISCO ( KRON ) — A pair of Bay Area restaurants made their way onto Bon Appetit’s annual “20 Best New Restaurants” list .

In San Francisco, Four Kings made the list. The hip Chinatown eatery’s chefs, Franky Ho and Mike Long were praised for their “shared nostalgia for traditional Cantonese flavors” served in the style of a “Japanese izakaya,” in which “small dishes are meant to be eaten alongside plenty of drinks.”

Located in an alleyway on Commercial Street in the heart of Chinatown, Four Kings offers the “flavors of Hong Kong hangin’ on ya taste buds,” with “90’s Cantopop bangin’ on ya eardrums,” according to its website.

Cantopop is a genre of Chinese pop music with lyrics in Cantonese.

“This is the cooking of two chefs who know how to really let loose, and hope you will too,” the magazine wrote.

Four Kings opened to some fanfare earlier this year. Reservations, if you can get one, become available three weeks in advance at midnight.

“So honored to be invited to the cool kids table,” Four Kings wrote in a social media post responding to the honor.

Across the Bay, Oakland pupuseria Popoca is the other Bay Area spot to make this year’s list.

Popoca, according to the City of Oakland, serves “progressive Salvadoran food” and is on a mission to “find and preserve techniques from the past to bring you a new and authentic experience in Oakland.”

According to Bon Appetit, Popoca chef Anthony Salguero’s pupusas are “mesmerizing,” featuring “plump balls of masa that he stuffs with seasonable vegetables and presses flat on a cast-iron griddle set above a wood fire.”

Bon Appetit went on to say that the menu at Popoca, which means “emits smoke,” blends “local produce with Salvadoran tradition to create something entirely its own.”

“This means so much to me and the community,” Chef Salguero wrote on Instagram responding to the honor. “It wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication, hard work & care from our team at Popoca. It’s a huge win for Oakland.”

Popoca opened in August of 2023 and is located on Washington Street near Oakland’s Chinatown.

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