The dining room seen from the entrance steps
The dining room seen from the entrance steps Photo: City Foodsters, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Benu
No. 30of the 100

Contemporary Asian tasting menu · SoMa · San Francisco, United States

How to book Benu

The drop

Tables open 30 days ahead at 10:00 San Francisco time on SevenRooms.

Rule from the restaurant's own site, last read by us 30 September 2026.

00days00hours00minutes00seconds

Turn on JavaScript to see the countdown.

Books on
SevenRooms
Release
30 days ahead at 10:00 (San Francisco time)
Next release, your time
10:00 San Francisco time (turn on JavaScript to see it in your time zone)
Dates released through
Needs JavaScript: work it out from the rule above
Book on SevenRooms

Released means the booking window is open, not that a table is free. Check SevenRooms for what is left.

When do my tables open?

Pick a date and we’ll tell you the minute to be ready.

About Benu

Benu is a tasting menu restaurant at 22 Hawthorne Street in San Francisco's SoMa, run by chef Corey Lee, who opened it in August 2010 after working as head chef at The French Laundry1. It holds three Michelin stars, and Lee also wrote a 2015 cookbook named after the restaurant, published by Phaidon1,4. Jeong-In Hwang is executive chef for Lee's group of restaurants1.

The kitchen cooks one fixed menu each night, built mostly from seafood and vegetables with a few meat courses and some sweets, and the restaurant tells guests to allow up to three hours2. The cooking draws on Korean and Chinese traditions using Californian produce5. Michelin points to dishes such as xiao long bao, a faux shark's fin and a whole roasted quail glazed with maple and soy4. Dinner is served Wednesday to Saturday, and the info page lists the menu at $425 a person plus a 22% service charge3.

The restaurant sits in a historic building5, and a 2016 San Francisco Chronicle guide called the dining room "sleek, understated", with bare wood tables6. The wine list runs to about 300 selections, focused on France, California, Germany and Austria, with sake by the glass and a drinks pairing for the menu2. Its awards include a James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine Program in 2019 and a place on North America's 50 Best Restaurants for 20263,5.

What people like

Pictures

The brick gateway on Hawthorne Street
The brick gateway on Hawthorne Street Photo: City Foodsters, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Lobster coral xiao long bao
Lobster coral xiao long bao Photo: City Foodsters, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Persimmons drying in the courtyard
Persimmons drying in the courtyard Photo: Infoedits, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Last checked 30 September 2026.

Sources for the description and pictures

  1. benusf.com official: team — Benu
  2. benusf.com official: menu — Benu
  3. benusf.com official: info — Benu
  4. guide.michelin.com guide: Benu – San Francisco, a MICHELIN Guide Restaurant
  5. the50.com guide: Benu - San Francisco - Restaurant - The 50 Discovery
  6. projects.sfchronicle.com press: Top 100 Restaurants: Benu

Also hard to book in United States

  1. No. 1AtomixNew York the 1st at 15:00, next month · Tock
  2. No. 2The French LaundryYountville the 1st at 10:00, next month · Tock
  3. No. 3AlineaChicago the 15th at 11:00, 2 months out · OpenTable
  4. No. 5SingleThreadHealdsburg the 1st at 09:00, next month · OpenTable
  5. No. 6CoteNew York 30 days ahead at 10:00 · Resy
  6. No. 8n/nakaLos Angeles Sundays at 10:00, 35 days out · Tock
  7. No. 9SemmaNew York 15 days ahead at 09:00 · SevenRooms
  8. No. 11TorrisiNew York 30 days ahead at 10:00 · Resy