That San Francisco, California, is the most sought-after tourist destination on the west coast, needs no reiteration. However, if you are planning to spend your holidays at San Francisco, there is one major attraction you can ill-afford to miss and that is the far-famed San Francisco Crab Season. For the San Francisco Bay Area, Dungeness crab season coincides with the peak holiday season

Crab season in San Francisco is one of the most eagerly awaited events where almost all restaurants showcase crab delicacies. The San Francisco crab season commences from mid-November and lasts for nearly seven months and ends in mid-June. During this season visitors can expect to find some of the unique crabs on the West Coast, eat at some leading crab restaurants in the USA, visit some of the best crab markets and partake in the crab festivals.

Particularly noteworthy is the San Francisco's Dungeness crab that is a part of San Francisco history. The Dungeness crab has resulted in a range of delicious Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese dishes – apart from others.

When in San Francisco during the crab season, try to buy your crabs from the most prominent shops in the city. You will find a host of grocery stalls in the streets of Chinatown and you can buy some of the most freshly-caught crab here. You will see live crabs in abundance filling the several saltwater tanks. Chinatown is arguably one of the ideal locations for buying fresh San Francisco crabs.

Fisherman's Wharf, one of San Francisco's equally popular neighborhoods, is also an excellent place where you can buy fresh crab. Throughout the Fisherman's Wharf, you will hear the loud crackling sounds of crabs even as you inhale the fascinating aroma. Here, you will come across restaurants that serve ready-to-eat Dungeness crabs and clam chowder.

During crab season, San Francisco will feature the country's most exciting crab festivals. The San Francisco crab Festival as also the Fisherman's Wharf crab Festival will both showcase crab's culinary delight. There are also less known festivals in San Francisco like the North Beach crab crawl, the Union Square crab fest etc. Easily one of the best Chinese restaurants in San Francisco is the San Francisco Chinese restaurant, R + G Lounge that serves a unique deep-fried Dungeness crab.

For a menu full of rich, savory seafood delights, Woodhouse Fish Company in San Francisco is the one place you should not miss during Crab Season. Yet another time-honored place is Scoma's, located off the main strip on Pier 47, that has celebrated forty-five crab seasons in San Francisco.

A mouth-watering Vietnamese delicacy served at Drunken Crab at Thanh Long, a small yet over crowded restaurant, is where the locals flock. Joe's Crab Shack is a prestige family-friendly San Francisco chain restaurant, with branches all over the Bay Area and its exotic Gulf Coast version of Dungeness crab, is the only one of its kind in the entire San Francisco.

Overlooking the water, the crab house, a wood building perched on stilts, is a romantic place for cracking a bottle of chardonnay and consuming a whole-roasted Dungeness Crab. Starbelly, Bistro Boudin, Presidio Social Club, Clement Street - are all eateries that you should compulsively visit during the crab season.