With four travel shows and well over 200 episodes of television featuring him eating around the world, Anthony Bourdain tried not just hundreds but thousands of restaurants. The website www.anthonybourdainworldmap.com — which documents every place the chef ate on just two shows, Parts Unknown and No Reservations — counts 1,589 restaurants, bars, and street stalls, to be exact.
Anthony Bourdain never named a specific restaurant as his all-time favorite — presumably an impossible task when your job is to eat at the greatest places across the globe — but he did have a few destinations he had a soft spot for. He divulged that his favorite sandwich was served at a bar in Brazil, and he described a Rome restaurant’s pasta as the “greatest thing in the history of the world.” One of the iconic eateries the chef and television host admitted to returning to again and again is located stateside and it’s more than a century old.
In a season six episode of Parts Unknown, while giving viewers a culinary tour of San Francisco, Bourdain confessed that there’s one restaurant he visits every time he’s in the Bay Area, and he’s headed back yet again. “I’m fully aware of the fact that — and I can hear it already — ‘Every show you’ve ever done in San Francisco, you come to Swan Oyster Depot,’” he jokes. “Yes, that’s correct. True love cannot be denied.”
Bourdain started visiting this counter-service seafood joint years before he ever appeared on television. He describes it in Parts Unknown as “a touchstone in my worldwide wanderings — a happy zone.” The chef also stopped by Swan Oyster Depot on an episode of The Layover, noting that “Even if I’m eating on camera like every ten minutes, I find a moment to sneak in here and shove food in my face.”
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In addition to freshly shucked oysters and crab legs served with a side of tangy Louie dressing, Bourdain orders the restaurant’s crab back on camera. The term “crab back” can refer to very different dishes across cuisines, often describing a crab shell stuffed with meat and seasonings and then baked. At Swan Oyster Depot, it’s something very simple: a pool of melted butter and crab innards served directly in the shell, with San Francisco sourdough for dipping.
Swan Oyster Depot got its start in the late 1890s, and was acquired by Sal Sancimino and his cousins in the ’70s.Credit: Photo by Christine Quong
The oysters available each day may vary depending on what’s fresh.Credit: Photo by Christine Quong
Swan Oyster Depot’s crab back stars a pool of butter served in the crab shell.Credit: Photo by Christine Quong
Although the menu at Swan Oyster Depot has remained largely the same since it opened in 1903, it also reflects the seasonality of seafood. Some items may change depending on the day’s freshest catch. For example, you can always get options like clam chowder, smoked salmon, and crab back, but the oysters available will vary depending on what’s fresh. Overall, the restaurant focuses exclusively on serving fresh seafood that’s prepared as simply as possible.
The small restaurant is open only until 2:30 pm each day and usually has a long line of customers waiting to snag one of the 18 seats inside. Swan Oyster Depot has been run by the Sancimino family since they purchased it in 1946. If you want to know the best items to order, the restaurant’s website suggests asking one of the Sancimino brothers behind the counter what they recommend — they might even share an off-menu option featuring the freshest fish possible.
What to know before visiting Swan Oyster Depot
Lunch at Swan Oyster Depot takes a little planning. With just 18 seats at the counter and a line that often stretches outside, leave yourself some time to settle in.
Find it: 1517 Polk Street, between California and Sacramento streets, in San Francisco.
Plan for an early meal: Listed hours are Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; closed Sunday. Call 415-673-1101 to confirm before making a special trip.
Expect to wait: There are no reservations, so build some flexibility into your plans.
Bring cash: Swan is cash-only. Make an ATM stop before joining the line.
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