Californios (restaurant)

Californios is a Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco, California, serving Mexican cuisine. Its head chef is Val M. Cantu, one of the restaurant's co-owners. Californios earned its first Michelin star in 2015 and its second in 2017, becoming the first US restaurant serving Mexican cuisine to earn two Michelin stars. Its original Mission District location closed in 2020. The restaurant relocated to the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood in early 2021.

History
Cantu ran a series of Mexican pop-up restaurants called Californios for two years. He then opened the permanent location using the same name in the Mission District in January 2015. Californios's seating capacity was eighteen in the dining room and six at the chef's counter. The interior design was dark, and windows were tinted.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Californios's original location closed in 2020. The restaurant in early 2021 was relocated to the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood.

The restaurant's capacity was doubled to about fifty seats later that year. The SoMa location's size is 4959 sqft, including an 1742 sqft outdoor patio.

Menu (Mission)
Cantu's family ran a Mexican restaurant in Brownwood, Texas, where he was raised. His recipes have blended Mexican and northern Californian cuisines and have been inspired by his maternal grandmother Rosa. The menu is prix fixe and changes in response to seasonal availability of ingredients.

Reception
Californios received its first Michelin star in October 2015 and its second in October 2017, becoming the first Mexican restaurant in the US to earn two Michelin stars. As of August 2021, it remains the only two-Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant in the US.