Cesar Hernandez

Los Angeles

Associate Restaurant Critic at San Francisco Chronicle

Associate restaurant critic @sfchronicle. Writer Out of the Shadows pod. Host @pilotboiz. before: @lataco (James Beard team) and others. [email protected]

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Articles

What to try — and skip — at the Bay Area’s new Korean food wonderland

3 weeks ago | sfchronicle.com | Cesar Hernandez |César Hernández |MacKenzie Chung Fegan

“How many more minutes, Daddy?” asked the child, who was literally climbing the walls outside Jagalchi. She and her family were waiting in line to enter the new, 75,000-square-foot Korean food complex in Daly City, as were my colleague Cesar Hernandez and I. You, too, will almost certainly wait in line — to pass through the doors, to procure baked goods or snacks or beverages at various kiosks and eateries throughout the compound, to pay for your groceries.
This S.F. bar's loaded fries made my head spin

3 weeks ago | sfchronicle.com | Cesar Hernandez |César Hernández

If you didn't tell me that the Halfway Club opened last year, I would have thought it had been around for over a decade. Located in San Francisco's Excelsior neighborhood, the watering hole has a "Cheers" vibe, where everyone seems to know each other. The green-walled bar area is inspired by the Midwestern dives and taverns, while a projector in the dining room shows black-and-white flicks.
100 best restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area, ranked

4 weeks ago | sfchronicle.com | MacKenzie Chung Fegan |Cesar Hernandez |César Hernández

As someone who, at a former job, tested a lot of kitchen appliances, I can assure you that determining the best restaurants in the Bay Area is a lot more nuanced than compiling a list of the best blenders. More art, less science, more subjectivity, fewer smoothies. Before we dive into our list of the Top 100 restaurants, my colleague Cesar Hernandez and I want to take a beat to think aloud - what even is a "top restaurant"?
Best Fried Chicken in the Bay Area

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Cesar Hernandez |César Hernández

Virtually everyone on the planet loves fried chicken, a dish with nearly as many versions as there are food cultures. What's special about fried chicken in the Bay Area, though, is the breadth of styles available in one region.
Where to find the best bakeries of the Bay Area

2 months ago | sfchronicle.com | MacKenzie Chung Fegan |Cesar Hernandez |César Hernández

By MacKenzie Chung Fegan,Cesar Hernandez If you have a hankering for carbs, you're in the right place. MacKenzie Chung Fegan and I have been hard at work searching for the latest and greatest bakeries in the Bay Area. Readers in Marin County: We have read all your messages (thank you) and we're happy to add another option in your area. Other highlights include a quirky croissant specialist, a strip mall patisserie, a canelé expert and a top-notch baklava spot.
10 best new San Francisco Bay Area restaurants 2024

Dec 3, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Cesar Hernandez |César Hernández |MacKenzie Chung Fegan

It has been an undeniably rough year for restaurants. Each week seems to bring another closure, and, disturbingly, three of the best new restaurants of 2023 have already shut their doors. In this painful economic climate, it’s more important than ever to celebrate the gumption of new restaurants that are committed to excellence. These 10 Bay Area businesses, listed in alphabetical order, flung open their doors in 2024 and charmed us to our cores.
I tried over 30 breakfast burritos in the Bay Area. Here are the 10 best

Nov 13, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Cesar Hernandez |César Hernández

Breakfast burritos are an underrated class in the Bay Area. They reveal how far-reaching, yet elemental burritos can be. The prototype likely started in the Mexican home, bandaging last night’s dinner into tomorrow’s portable, tubular breakfast. I wasn’t there, obviously, but it is the creation myth I subscribe to. A successful breakfast burrito comes down to gestalt, meaning the sum of its parts are greater than any one component. It’s an Omega-level breakfast food, the one to end all others.
Most upscale Mexican restaurants in the Bay Area miss the mark. But this one is special

Nov 12, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Cesar Hernandez |César Hernández

When a Mexican restaurant makes its signature dish a vegetable, it’s a big statement. You might be inclined to believe that the genius of Bombera’s spicy carrots dish ($15) lies in the layered smokiness, coming from the wood-burning grill or the salsa called "toasted almond misantla" — an aromatic middle ground between salsa macha, chili crunch and romesco. Its deceptive brilliance, however, is the dish’s foundation: brothy, creamy beans.
Best burritos in the San Francisco Bay Area

Nov 4, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Cesar Hernandez |César Hernández

Burritos are to the Bay Area what pizza is to New York City or barbecue is to Austin. Here, the foodstuff is a lifestyle, an ideology and a perpetual muse — a symbol of affordable abundance and a harbinger of satisfaction. In this third edition of our annual guide to burritos, you’ll find several wonderful additions, including charcoal-obsessed taquerias in Hayward, excellent breakfast burritos spots in San Francisco and a vegan joint.
I’ve been searching for my dream diner my whole life. I found it in the Bay Area

Oct 29, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Cesar Hernandez |César Hernández

By design, diners don’t change much. The food is standardized: pancakes, eggs, burgers. Trying one diner can feel like trying them all. As much as I love greasy spoons, it’s comfort — not quality — that begs me to return. The opposite is true at my favorite diner: Oakland’s Sequoia Diner, where everything from the bacon to the hot sauces are made from scratch. Here, a historic part of culinary Americana is revitalized with multicultural flavors.