Best Fried Cheese In The Bay Area

Located in the East Bay, Pathos Organic Greek offers the traditional Greek dish Saganaki, fried Kefalotyri cheese, along with oregano and tomato, topped with Retsina, a white Greek wine. Pathos also offers classes that include dinner from a variety of guest chefs throughout the year. The exclusive restaurant is only open for dinner Thursday through Sunday, in the fall and winter months, so make sure to make a reservation ahead of time.

Hotel Zetta's Salvage and Rescue Lounge, or S&R Lounge, brings the Manhattan bar scene to downtown San Francisco. The appetizer and entrée menu will help you keep you full throughout the night, and features one of the best fried cheese curd dishes the Bay has to offer. An order serves you a plate full of curds, whether you want to share with a friend or greedily have it for yourself, and comes with a generous helping of warm marinara sauce as an added kick.

If you are looking for a more sophisticated atmosphere and menu, Italian restaurant SPQR, the brain child of Executive Chef Matthew Accarino and wine director and owner Shelley Lindgren, will have you salivating just looking at the menu. Pecorino, a staple Italian cheese next to parmesan, can be found on many of the dishes, from salad to their talked-about fried version as a side of an entrée, highlighting any food attached to it.

Though San Francisco's Mission District is renowned for its Mexican restaurants, Las Tinajas serves up Nicaraguan food, featuring queso frito. A staple food for breakfast or lunch, queso frito is featured on many of the entrees including Nicaraguan steak, fried plantains and several of their specials. Not only is their queso frito a highlight of dishes, but it's also one of the reasons Las Tinajas has a steady flow of regulars.

Of course the most basic and common foods in America are fried cheese sticks, most commonly mozzarella sticks. With two locations, one just off of Van Ness and the other in the Financial District, Sauce takes fried cheese sticks to the next level. Paired specifically with their tomato bisque, the white truffle cheese stick with its enormous flavor and crunch could very well be the headliner dish.