“For me, Mexican food is personal. I am Mexican, and it is a cuisine I have wanted to explore in a meaningful way for a long time,” says chef Laura Ozyilmaz, of the team behind Best of Award of Excellence winner Dalida in San Francisco, about their new restaurant Maria Isabel.
Laura says that as far back as the height of the pandemic, she and her husband, Sayat Ozyilmaz, had been developing a concept that blended their two cultures: Mexican and Middle Eastern. “Tacos árabes are a great example, rooted in Lebanese communities who settled in Mexico,” she explains, but notes that as time went on—with many visits to Mexico City—they realized they instead wanted to focus on a contemporary Mexican restaurant.
“I have trained in some of the best restaurants in the world and traveled a lot. That changed the way I think about technique and detail, but it did not change what I crave,” says Laura.
So when a restaurant space became available in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights neighborhood, just a five-minute drive from Dalida, the couple already felt connected to the neighborhood and knew that this was where they wanted to bring their Mexican restaurant to life.
When it opened: March 3, 2026
The menu: “My strongest childhood memories are sensory,” details Laura. “Fresh-caught seafood. The smell of barbacoa and all the tropical flavors that come with the coast, like limes, herbs and chiles.”
Laura was born in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero and grew up in the seaport city of Acapulco. With the menu at Maria Isabel, she’s channeling bright foundational flavors—chile and citrus—with layers or smoke and spice, all envisioned through a technical lens from experiences she and Sayat had in fine dining restaurants such as Mugaritz in San Sebastián, Spain; Best of Award of Excllence winner Café Boulud and Grand Award winner Eleven Madison Park in New York City; and Grand Award winner Saison in San Francisco.
“We stay rooted in tradition, but we are very intentional. We build salsas with more nuance—we focus on clarity in broths and marinades, we use the best local California ingredients and we add creativity in ways that support the flavor rather than distract from it,” she says.
The menu is broken into four sections: mariscos (seafood), antojitos (snacks), maíz (corn) and platos principales (mains). Dishes on the opening menu that speak to the concept include ceviche Acapulqueño, which evokes the coastal side of Guerrero with its poached shrimp and raw scallops, enlivened with marigold, serranos and oregano oil. The lamb ribs barbacoa with lamb consommé, pico de gallo and tortillas is a nod to the grilled meats and barbecue traditions Laura grew up with. Meanwhile, the rib eye carne asada, with flauta de queso, salsa borracha and slow-simmered chilorio beans highlights how central masa, tortillas and salsas are to the whole experience.
“Those dishes really showcase my vision: Food that tastes unmistakably Mexican, specifically Guerrero, with a more contemporary, precise expression,” she adds.
As at Dalida, the menu also celebrates eating together. “Shared plates, passing salsas, and the simple happiness of tearing into warm tortillas as they come off the tortillero and sharing them around the table—that is one of the most joyful parts of Mexican food for me,” Laura sums up.
The wine list: Wine director Jerry McGie, who also curates the program at Dalida, has compiled a concise but exciting list of just under 100 wine bottles—roughly equal parts South American, Mexican and Californian, with a few wild cards thrown in.
McGie admits that when the Ozyilmazes came to him with the idea of opening a restaurant highlighting Laura’s heritage, there was a head-scratching moment about featuring Mexican wines, which have been slowly evolving and gaining momentum but remain inconsistent in quality.
“We said, ‘Would that be a good idea?’” chuckles McGie. “The first tasting of Mexican wine that was brought to me was challenging, but there were some bottles that gave me real inspiration.”
One Mexican wine of note on the opening list that exemplifies Mexico’s exciting wine offerings is the Bruma Plan B, a Rhône-style blend from vineyards in Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico, made by Bordeaux-trained winemaker Lulú Martinez Ojeda, who is widely credited for raising the bar of Mexican wine quality over the past decade.
South America is also well-represented, with familiar names like Familia Zuccardi, Bodegas Caro and Viña Seña. Smaller producers making unique wines are represented as well, such as winemaker Ana Maria Cumsille of Viña Carmen’s side project, Aguila Pais in the Itata Valley, Chile, or the Laberinto Sauvignon Blanc Cenizas from Maule Valley, Chile, made by Rafael Tirado, the brother of Viña Don Melchor technical director Enrique Tirado.
On the California side, a similar approach is taken with bottles such as Nid Tissé Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills Radian Vineyard and Hayfork Charbono Rosé from Napa Valley.
“I'm excited to discover these winemakers and these rare wines and share them with people. That's a lot of what we did at Dalida with Mediterranean wines.”
There’s also a sizable bar program that showcases the depth of Mexican flavors and culture, featuring well-known spirits like tequila and mezcal, as well as lesser-known sotol, bacanora, raicilla and lechuguilla.
The design: The first thing guests will notice is the custom oak door, hand-carved with the initials M and I, setting the tone for an intimate and warm dining experience inside. The cozy restaurant seats just 50 and is split into two distinct areas that reflect the inspiration behind the restaurant’s name: Laura’s sister, Maria, and their mother, Isabel. Maria is the brighter, lighter side, with pink terrazzo floors and natural oak, while Isabel features deeper textures and colors, with earthy browns, greens and dark mirrors.
“We worked with Jenne Wicht at JAK W. They drove the design, but we had a lot of input on the overall feeling and the details,” says Laura. “We cared a lot about lighting and acoustics because we wanted it to feel intimate, and we also cared about working with makers tied to Mexico and California.”
For example, local artist Emily Parkinson, who created the Presidio-focused flora-and-fauna mural and wallpaper at Dalida, was commissioned again to create a vibrant botanical mural showcasing Mexican biota.
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