Outside Lands is the prime major music festival, with a focus on food and drinks just as much as the music. There were close to 100 food vendors set up at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, ready to showcase their local cuisine for the upwards of 70,000 attendees per day at the fest. And just like the music, the food and beverage offerings keep getting better.
“You want people to look at a row of options and have enough diversity to make their decision really hard when it comes to what they’re going to land on,” Outside Lands food curator Tanya Kollar told us before the fest.
And the “Taste of the Bay Area” options did precisely that. While favorites like Reem’s California and Sandy’s Muffuletta’s were consistently selling out of items, there was still SO much to choose from. Ditto for the local beer slate at Beer Lands and the Wine Lands options from nearby Napa and Sonoma county wineries. With that, here are the best bites and sips from Outside Lands.
Peruvian Choripán From Michoz
There were several hyped pop-ups at the fest, and they rose to the occasion. Michoz is a Peruvian-Eritrean concept, and their Peruvian Choripan might’ve been the single best festival food item I had over the weekend. This was an essay in salt/acid/fat/heat symbiosis with a Peruvian chicken sausage flavored with smoky aji panca pepper on a ciabatta roll, along with zingy chimichurri, mayo, and a salsa criolla made with red onion, lime, and herbs.
Smoked Brisket Bento From Provecho
Speaking of pop-ups, Oaxacan-fusionist Provecho had consistent lines all weekend long; a testament to how Outside Lands serves as a gateway for some of the most happening food in the Bay. From a tuna tostada to sushi bento boxes, Provecho’s whole menu was on point. But the smoky, salty, and umami AF brisket was my favorite among the many brisket options at the fest. The smoke flavor was pronounced and precise, along with an exemplary smoke ring, textured pull, and perfect saltiness. In an inspired Texan-Oaxacan-Cali presentation, it was awesome to see this workhorse cross-Bay pop-up operation shine.
Mala Honey Wings From Piglet & Co
Late Friday night, The Mission District’s Piglet & Co. was like an oasis with its plump and crispy Mala Honey Wings waiting for me. Sichuan peppercorns and a honey glaze gave these a spicy and sweet flavor. Triple-fried, they were crispy as heck, but still wildly juicy. I was dipping these in a yuzu ranch as Doja Cat jumped into “Paint The Town Red,” and if you can’t get down with that, I don’t get you.
Embered Oysters From Angler
While Angler’s Parker House rolls with crème fraîche and a generous dollop of caviar made the rounds on the ‘gram, it was the Michelin-starred oysters with smoked chili butter cooked in live fire embers that blew my mind the most. Keeping festival food hot is a challenge, but the cooking technique on these was a cheat code. The smoked chili butter melded immaculately with the hot brine for the alpha bite of the weekend.
BloodRoot Trousseau Gris At Wine Lands
In 17 years of Outside Lands, Wine Lands has taken shape in every one of them and, in its marvelous open-air tasting experience, has finally achieved its peak form. There are roughly two dozen wineries in the convivial environment, from Napa and Sonoma County, both within 60 miles of the park. I dropped less than $20 and had tastes from a few different spots, but was especially struck by the Trousseau Gris from Healdsburg’s BloodRoot Winest, a lightly sparkling pet-nat that left summer stonefruit and limestone notes on my palate. “I’m so happy that not only does this area still exist,” said Wine Lands curator Peter Eastlake. “It thrives,”
Asian Cajun Surf And Turf From Brenda’s French Soul Food
I was looking for a proper noodle dish on Sunday, and good lord was this IT. Brenda’s Asian Cajun surf and turf spared no details: Pork belly braised and fried, then blowtorchred with a hoisin BBQ sauce, crispy taro root puffs and garlicky cajun shrimp atop pancit noodles [inhales] cooked down in a soy-based pancit juice with vinegar and sugar, topped with julienned cucumber and red radishes lightly marinated in a rice vinegar [exhales]. I rest my case.
Goin’ Home ESB From Hidden Splendor At Beer Lands
Beer Lands is always such a pleasure to hit up, for the sheer fact that you can try fresh beer on draft from Bay Area breweries for the same price as a cheap domestic brew from the normal fest bar. The first kegs of local beer, OG (and Beer Lands curator) Dave McLean’s brand new Hidden Splendor brewery, were on at Outside Lands, and the English style Goin’ Home ESB was killer on a warm afternoon. Caramel notes came through on this cold, British-style bitter, and the malty brew was as crushable as McLean’s early creations back in the day at Magnolia Brewing.
Lobster Tail Corn Dog From Um.Ma
Caviar was the trend of the year at Outside Lands 2025, with a dozen eateries adding it to menu items. But it was Inner Sunset District Korean joint Um.Ma that did it best with this unreal lobster tail corndog that was dipped in a mochi tempura batter with kimchi and gojuchang, then topped with spicy kimchi mayo, loaded with Tsar Nicoulai osetra caviar, and dusted with chives. Only 10 of these were available each day at $45, which isn’t too crazy considering how much high-end food was packed onto this glorious stick.
Butter Chicken Rice Bowl From Tiya
Is there a more obvious festival food item for a foggy San Francisco day than butter chicken? The Marina’s 1.5-year-old modern Indian restaurant, Tiya, was ladling this velvety goodness out in droves, and I kick-started my Saturday with a bowl. It went super well with Tiya’s shareable crunchy cauliflower pakoda, too.
General Roe’s Caviar Fries At Mamahuhu
The other limited-run caviar-added order that stood out, and the best batch of fries I had all weekend, was from decorated Chef Brandon Jew’s fast casual Chinese spot Mamahuhu. The MSG-dusted cleaver-cut garlic fries were the ideal scooping shape to dip into a ginger scallion crème fraîche dip that was topped off with Tsar Nicoulai Siberian caviar. It was $35, but sometimes, it’s best not to worry about being judged and just splurge.
