Dalida

Verdict: One of San Francisco's Most Compelling Mediterranean Tables, With a Wine List That Earns Its Own Attention

You sit down at Dalida and realize quickly that this is not a restaurant built around a single idea. The Mediterranean and Turkish cooking from chefs Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz covers enough ground that the wine program has real work to do, Wine Director Jerry McGie is doing it well. A 610-selection list accredited by Star Wine List (2026), priced at a $$ markup, with 2,864 bottles in inventory; this is a drinks program that functions as a co-lead, not supporting cast. If you care about what's in your glass as much as what's on your plate, Dalida earns a booking.

The Restaurant

Dalida holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and landed at number seven on Esquire's Leading New Restaurants list in 2023; two trust signals that come from different evaluative traditions and point in the same direction. The Michelin designation signals technical seriousness in the kitchen; the Esquire recognition suggests the room has enough energy and personality to register with a general audience, not just the tasting-menu circuit. For a Mediterranean restaurant in a city full of them, that combination is worth noting. It also carries a 2025 Opinionated About Dining Casual recognition for North America, which positions it clearly: this is serious cooking served without the ceremony of San Francisco's $$$$ tier.

The cuisine leans Mediterranean with a Turkish throughline, which gives the kitchen more to work with than a strictly Italian or Greek frame would allow. Expect flavors built around preserved ingredients, bright acid, spice, the kind of cooking where wine pairing matters and where the French and Italian strengths of McGie's list align with what's arriving from the kitchen. A two-course meal runs in the $40-$65 range, which makes Dalida one of the more accessible serious restaurants in the city. At $$$ for a full evening with wine, you are spending meaningfully less than you would at Lazy Bear, Atelier Crenn, or Benu, and getting a different but credible experience in return.

The Wine Program

The Star Wine List accreditation (2026) is the clearest external signal that Dalida's drinks program has been evaluated and found serious. The list runs 610 selections across 2,864 bottles of inventory, with particular depth in France and Italy, both logical anchors for a Mediterranean kitchen. The markup sits at $$, meaning you will find a range of price points rather than a list engineered to extract maximum spend. The corkage fee is $60 if you prefer to bring your own, which is a reasonable number for this tier of restaurant. For wine-focused diners in San Francisco, this combination of list size, reasonable markup, critical recognition puts Dalida in a distinct position: credentialed on wine without requiring you to treat the list as a luxury purchase. Compare that to Saison or Quince, where the wine programs are similarly serious but the overall spend is significantly higher. Dalida lets you engage with a curated, well-structured list without the $$$$ commitment those rooms require.

Sommelier coverage comes from both Jerry McGie and Nayelli Mejia, which means there is genuine expertise on the floor to move through the list. For a wine enthusiast visiting from outside San Francisco, or a local who wants to explore the intersection of Turkish-inflected cooking and European viticulture, this is worth the trip on the drinks program alone. For broader regional context, see our full San Francisco wineries guide.

Who Should Book

Dalida works well for food and wine enthusiasts who want serious credentials at a price point that does not require a special occasion to justify. The $$$ overall spend with a $$ wine list makes it a strong pick for a dinner where you want to drink well without engineering the evening around a budget. It is also a sound choice if you are calibrating your San Francisco itinerary across multiple nights: Dalida covers the Mediterranean-serious slot in a way that none of the $$$$ tasting-menu rooms can, it leaves budget for a meal at one of those rooms without the whole trip feeling expensive. If you are comparing it to Mediterranean options at other price points elsewhere, Forma in Los Angeles or Ottolenghi in London, for instance, Dalida brings more technical kitchen seriousness and a far more developed wine program than either. Solo diners and couples will find it easier to navigate than large groups given the format, though the address at 101 Montgomery Street in the Presidio area is accessible enough for visitors staying across the city. For the full picture of what San Francisco offers at this level, see our full San Francisco restaurants guide.

Practical Details

Dalida serves lunch and dinner. The address is 101 Montgomery Street, Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94129. Booking difficulty is moderate, plan ahead but this is not a two-month reservation situation. Corkage is $60 if you bring your own bottle. Wine pricing is $$ on the list. A typical two-course meal without drinks is $40-$65. Full evening spend with wine lands at $$$. For accommodation nearby, see our full San Francisco hotels guide. For drinks options around the city, see our full San Francisco bars guide.

Quick reference: Mediterranean/Turkish, $$$, Michelin Plate 2025, Star Wine List 2026, 610-selection wine list, $60 corkage, lunch and dinner, moderate booking difficulty, 101 Montgomery St SF.

How It Compares