Yeah you can get fantastic food in SF but it requires maybe more effort to find than in other big Metros. I would speculate it's the fact that a lot of folks are vegetarian and therefore tend to cook for themselves at home: The fact that they are no longer in the "restaurant eating" pool of people negatively impacts the restaurant scene.
Also, California restaurants tend to emphasize ingredient quality over other factors- I don't know what's in a slice of pizza when I go to New York, all I know is it is delicious.
Again, just wildly speculating here
