Can’t get a table? Never mind. At the city’s most buzzed-about restaurants, the bar is the place to be. A guy walks into a bar, but this time the joke’s not on him. He not only snags a seat without a reservation but also enjoys an haute-cuisine dinner without the haute-cuisine check. It’s happening nightly at some of San Francisco’s hottest restaurants, where laid-back bars offer a quicker, more casual, and cheaper alternative to booked-up formal dining rooms.

Coi

What all the buzz is about: Daniel Patterson’s superb, cerebral cooking is shown off with an 11-course tasting menu that ranges from spiny lobster salad with fennel and chervil to quince parfait with huckleberry and thyme. The Michelin guide recently handed the place two coveted stars. 

Why the bar is better: A table in the tiny dining room requires a hard-to-land reservation, not to mention several hours of your evening. Less commitment is required in the adjacent lounge, which has its own menu of easygoing dishes like roast chicken, pork pâté, and udon noodles in mushroom dashi broth. The setting is relaxed, with plush throw pillows and cushy banquettes, but the service is impressively attentive.