Dinner and a show with kids in San Francisco
Updated October 2026
Why just eat when something can happen while you do? 10 places in San Francisco with a show at dinner, or right after it: acrobats a few feet from your table, a chef doing knife tricks, rain on the hour over a tiki lagoon. Then the penny arcade at the wharf, cookies folded by hand in a Chinatown alley, and bowling and mini golf if the night keeps going.
North Beach theatre where Dear San Francisco's acrobats perform feet from the tables. Ninety minutes, with tumbling that holds a seven-year-old and a grandparent.
Japantown teppanyaki where the chef cooks at the table with knife tricks and an onion volcano. Big tables seat a whole family and the show keeps the kids in their seats until the food comes. Kids' menu.
Order on the iPad at your table and the sushi rides up on a bullet train. The kids' bento arrives on a robot.
Fairmont tiki bar with indoor rainstorms.
Embarcadero seafood with a kids' menu, crayons, and floor-to-ceiling fish tanks.
A free room at the wharf packed with working penny arcade machines, from a hand-cranked carnival to old strength testers.
A Chinatown alley the width of a hallway where two women fold cookies off a hot press by hand. Two minutes, a sample, and worth the detour.
A Castro arcade bar that welcomes kids of all ages on Saturday afternoons.
Presidio bowling alley; loud, fun, and built for preschool and school-age kids.
A mall floor of arcade games, bowling and karaoke.
A whole afternoon
Coffee nearby
Stroller friendly
Rainy day
Birthday dinner
With the grandparents