Healthy Eats in the City by the Bay: A Guide for Seniors

Eating Well: You don’t have to be a foodie to take advantage of San Francisco’s fabulous options for dining out – or dining in. The city’s culinary landscape makes it possible for older adults to have a wide variety of delicious meals that are also nutritious.

San Francisco is well-known as a foodie paradise, a city where restaurateurs, grocers, farmers and artisans have created a culture of locally sourced, innovative dining. This focus has also spilled over into markets and shops where top-quality foods line the shelves and counters for home cooks to enjoy.

For older adults who are interested in healthy eating, this abundance provides dining options that are delicious – and nutritious. These restaurants and grocers are located throughout the city, from neighborhood gems and celebrated restaurants to standout grocers that draw huge local followings.

Here's a look at San Francisco’s top restaurants and markets for health-minded seniors. Check out their menus and make a reservation or get out your reusable grocery bags and stroll down the grocer’s temptingly colorful aisles.

While you can (probably) find a few healthy, or healthy-ish, items on any restaurant menu, these restaurants are well-regarded for their focus on healthy eating. Whether you prefer vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or American carnivore, there’s a restaurant meal for you to dig into and enjoy.

Wildseed  (Cow Hollow)

A chic, airy, very popular restaurant (reservations suggested), Wildseed is 100% plant-based, with some gluten-free options. The menu is seasonal California cuisine with global flavors. Its ethos – good for you, good for the planet – follows through, even to its bar and cocktail menu (cocktails, beer and wine). 

o   What to order: Fresh, flavorful and hearty, its Neatball Masala is formed with warm super grains, lentils and walnuts; its Wildseed Burger is a delectable mushroom and spinach patty that diners swear by (Impossible Burgers are also available).

Souvia (Hayes Valley, Mission District, NoPA, Marina, Dogpatch)

The restaurant group’s Hayes Valley location was the first to open, with a stylishly casual décor. It serves up trendy “fast fine” Greek food in a restaurant with open seating and bar dining (no reservations). Here they rotisserie-roast naturally raised meats (pork, lamb, chicken) and vegetarian options and wrap them into warm pita bread with Greek yogurt sauces (can also be served as salads rather than wraps).Wine and beer.

o   What to order: If you’re a vegetarian, the Black Sheep plant-based lamb is a standout, with all the grill aromas and extra flavor. If you’re more of a “chicketarian,” the chicken salad with fennel, navel orange and red onion is a must-try.

Anchor Oyster Bar (Castro Street)

When you want oysters (and other very fresh seafood), you want a venerable restaurant (1977) that looks like a place that’s serious about its offerings. And it helps if there’s a slightly New England coastal-ish vibe (large storefront windows, awning, counter, a few tables and tile flooring). If you don’t mind a little wait (it’s popular, no reservations), this is the place. Wine and beer.

o   What to order: Oysters, mussels and shrimp are its standard offerings. But the New York Timesand Wall Street Journal, and other diners, are all over the cioppino, its signature dish.

Lucky Creation (Chinatown)

This restaurant is an anomaly – not only unusual but a real find among the hundreds of restaurants in or near Chinatown. A Cantonese-style vegetarian restaurant, the outside isn’t imposing, but the lines that sometime form to enter are (no reservations; cash only). Tea.

o   What to order: Its version of sweet and sour pork, hot and sour soup and chow mein get high marks, but the don’t-miss items are its vegetable spring rolls and potstickers. Some vegan options are available as well. 

Greens (Marina)

And then there’s Greens, the first, ultimate upscale San Francisco vegetarian restaurant, with white tablecloth service and fantastic views of San Francisco Bay. “Celebrating vegetables since 1979,” it relies on local farmers and farmers from its nearby organic farm to create its popular seasonal dishes (some are year-round favorites).

o   What to order: Its Black Bean Chili (cheddar, crema, pepita salsa) and Potato Griddle Cakes (cheddar cheese, pickled cabbage, salsa rosa and avocado) are a visual and culinary treat.

Older adults in San Francisco are looking for value, variety and convenience to feed their healthy meal-prep at home. Even if you’re living in a wonderful community that provides a meal plan, there may be days you’d like something your own style, to your own taste – and not on the weekly menu. That’s when San Francisco’s great variety of grocers can fill the need.

Rainbow Grocery Cooperative (Mission District)

This is the granddaddy of all worker-owned organic markets. Operating out of a warehouse-type building since 1975, Rainbow has been providing San Franciscans with affordable vegetarian food products from local, organic purveyors for decades.

o   Best Buys: Shopping here can be a little overwhelming, but if you stick to the basics, such as produce (the signs tell where it originated, sometimes even the farm), its celebrated bulk foods (where you can buy a pinch or a pound) and its bakery (where many items are gluten free).

Bi-Rite Market (18th Street, Divisidero, Polk Street)

A family-owned business, Bi-Rite opened its first grocery store with a kitchen as its center in 1998, offering farm-direct foods that were freshly cooked. It has a full menu of house-made meals for take-out, marinated meats for DIY senior cooks (only fish at the new Polk Street location) and a host of deli sandwiches. Delivery option.

o   Best Buys: In addition to its fabulous fresh produce and pantry items you’ll want to pick up, the marinated cilantro chicken thighs in the refrigerator case to bake at home. And, at all locations, the Lone Mountain sandwich, achiote chicken with avocado, provolone and chipotle aioli on focaccia bread, is the top-seller.

Trader Joe’s (7 locations throughout the city)

You might wonder about Trader Joe’s being on this list. Designed to look like a neighborhood market, in fact it’s a huge chain with outlets across the United States. But, for seniors, it’s actually a great spot for picking up groceries that promote a healthy diet. Due to their buying clout, they have good prices on organic house-brand pantry staples, frozen meal ingredients and whole-dinner choices.

o   Best Buys: Trader Joe’s aficionados all have their favorite buys, but for seniors, the portion sizes of Hatch Chili Chicken Wraps, Mushroom Ravioli and Garlic and Pesto Pizza are among them. (Be sure to toss a package of Thai Vegetable Goya into your cart as well.)

And Now for Something Different – Good Eggs 

Good Eggs is a multifaced food delivery service especially appealing for seniors who’d like the convenience of delivered foods or meals. Specializing in fresh produce and sustainable meats, dairy and eggs, the selections include individual items, such as appetizer and sides, entrees and meals, and meal kits where they provide the goods, you provide the cooking, This company also offers a menu of salads and meals according to special dietary needs.

While it can be argued that older adults can maintain their healthy eating efforts by choosing what to put on their forks, the fact is, having access to restaurants with healthy alternatives and markets with nutritious groceries will help you achieve your goal. And San Francisco offers both.