Best Baked Oysters

The best baked oysters in San Francisco aren't in San Francisco at all. They're a few minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge at the Buckeye, a rustically hip roadhouse just off Highway 1 between Sausalito and Mill Valley. Amid a menu of steaks, chops, jumbo salads, and pie, the Buckeye's unqualified culinary triumph is Oysters Bingo, a dish that makes oysters Roffignac, Bienville, and Rockefeller taste like so much briny Jell-O. Oysters of the Bingo variety are allowed to shine in all their phosphorescent succulence, but what makes these hot little bivalves so lush and tasty is the sauce they're nestled in: a garlicky aioli ribboned with shards of fresh spinach. Broiled until hot and bubbly, they're rich, earthy, and addictive. The perfect accompaniment is an ice-cold Sapphire martini, another delicacy the Buckeye prepares very well.