• The Golden Gate Bridge in San Franciscobaker beach, san francisco image by Chee-Onn Leong from Fotolia.com
  
  Sitting at a restaurant in Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, looking at the Golden Gate Bridge and eating sumptuous fresh Dungeness crab from the bay, is truly a culinary delight. Dungeness crabs are small crabs, as opposed to Alaskan crabs that can grow quite large. As you walk around Fisherman's Wharf, the mouthwatering smell of boiling crab permeates the air. A San Franciscan tradition is to indulge in fresh-baked sourdough bread with lots of cracked Dungeness crab. Several restaurants in San Francisco specialize in serving fresh local Dungeness crab.
  
  

Crab House

• Sitting on the famous Pier 39 in San Francisco is the Crab House. The Crab House specialty dishes are crab-oriented. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, which share the same menu. Start out with the house specialty of "Killer Crab," which is roasted whole in a special garlic sauce. It comes as a whole crab, half-crab, or with several crabs. Other crab dishes include crab cioppino, crab chowder, cocktails, and cakes. Sandwiches can be made with crab as well as omelets, enchiladas, or lasagna. The Crab House features other dishes, such as filet mignon and salmon. The restaurant has a full bar.
  
  Crab House
  203 C Pier 39
  San Francisco, CA 94133
  (415) 434-2722
  crabhouse39.com
  
  

Joe's Crab Shack

• Joe's Crab Shack is a franchised restaurant with locations around the United States. San Francisco-based Joe's Crab Shack sits at Fisherman's Wharf near the Maritime Park. Appetizers and salads start the meal with festive dishes such as crab dip, crab nachos, or crab cake chipotle Caesar salad. Entrees range from crab stuffed shrimp to crab cakes to chipotle barbecued chicken. Joe's signature dish is "crab in a bucket" with choices of Dungeness, snow, or king crab. Different preparations of the crab are offered, from plain boiled crab to boiled crab with smoked chilies. Joe's features a full bar menu with tropical-themed drinks.
  
  Joe's Crab Shack
  245 Jefferson St.
  San Francisco, CA 94133
  (415) 673-2266
  joescrabshack.com
  
  

Scoma's Restaurant

• Scoma's Restaurant has been a San Francisco dining tradition since 1947. Crab specialties begin with appetizers such as crab-stuffed portobello mushrooms or organic butternut squash soup with crab. Try the hearts of romaine and crab meat salad followed with crab risotto as a main entree. Crab raviolis and roasted whole Dungeness crab round out the special crab menu. Scoma's features other fresh seafood dishes, such as fettucine with smoked salmon and rock shrimp to aged filet mignon. Simple grilled seafood dishes include favorites such as grilled sand dabs or broiled salmon. Scoma's offers a full bar menu.
  
  Scoma's Restaurant
  Pier 47
  San Francisco, CA 94133
  (415) 771-4383
  scomas.com