Good 24-hr. restaurants in SF

sopas ej · #1 Posted **Apr 3, 2008, 6:11 PM**

Hi all, I'll be in SF the weekend of 4/12. Are there any good 24-hour restaurants? The last time I was there, I couldn't find anything apart from a Denny's in J-town. I've looked on other websites but thought I'd ask here...

Hal Incandenza · #2 Posted **Apr 3, 2008, 7:06 PM**

Sparky's and Orphan Andy's on Upper Market have typical late-night diner food. There's Chinese food at Silver Restaurant on Washington, Indian at Naan 'n' Curry on O'Farrell, and general weirdness at the Video Cafe in the Richmond. That's about all I know of, though.

roadwarrior · #3 Posted **Apr 3, 2008, 7:57 PM**

Osha Thai noodle cafe is a good option.

For more options, go to www.yelp.com and type in "Late Hours Restaurant" to search.

Gordo · #4 Posted **Apr 3, 2008, 8:02 PM**

Cafe Mason is a good one in the Union Square area for tasty 24 hour eats and attractive waitresses.

petescafe · #5 Posted **Apr 3, 2008, 10:10 PM**

If your in the area of the Castro district try the Bagdad Cafe at 2295 Market St.

They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and is open all day and night. A few menu items include hamburgers, fries, orange chicken, fried chicken, soups and desserts like carrot cake.

Open 24 hrs, the only downside is that the restaurant only accepts cash.

AndrewK · #6 Posted **Apr 3, 2008, 10:56 PM**

for diner food theres also grubstake on pine below van ness and its tops (open til 3 or 4am) on market near octavia.

BTinSF · #7 Posted **Apr 4, 2008, 1:30 AM**

The Castro does seem to be a center for 24 hour places: Bagdad, Sparky's, Orphan Andy's.

There's also the Lucky Penny (2670 Geary), Lori's Diner on Union Square, Island Cafe (901 Taraval), Pine Crest (401 Geary @ Mason).

That's about all I can remember.

sopas ej · #8 Posted **Apr 4, 2008, 6:25 AM**

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys, I'll definitely keep them in mind!

sf_eddo · #9 Posted **Apr 7, 2008, 5:52 PM**

Bagdad Cafe is no longer cash only.

There is also the typical Jack in the Crack, McDonalds, Denny's, and Mel's Diner... ABC Cafe in the Outer Sunset is open late night, if not 24 hours, and I think there are a couple places in Chinatown that are open super late as well. Also, I am in love with the bacon dog cart guys that serve bacon wrapped hot dogs with onions until the wee morning hours straight up Tijuana style.

sf_eddo · #10 Posted **Apr 7, 2008, 5:53 PM**

But yeah, SF is not really a late night city, especially not for dining.

sopas ej · #11 Posted **Apr 9, 2008, 12:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sf_eddo

But yeah, SF is not really a late night city, especially not for dining.

Yeah, I've noticed that, one of the few downsides of SF.

BTinSF · #12 Posted **Apr 10, 2008, 6:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sf_eddo

But yeah, SF is not really a late night city, especially not for dining.

There's a reason for that: Most of SF's best inexpensive places are family run ethnic places and families don't like working 24 hours. I think it's a reasonable trade-off--limited hours for great almost-home cooking.

Frisco_Zig · #13 Posted **May 5, 2008, 12:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sf_eddo

Bagdad Cafe is no longer cash only.

Also, I am in love with the bacon dog cart guys that serve bacon wrapped hot dogs with onions until the wee morning hours straight up Tijuana style.

TJ dogs are the (gut) bomb!

Chase Unperson · #14 Posted **May 5, 2008, 4:00 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BTinSF

There's a reason for that: Most of SF's best inexpensive places are family run ethnic places and families don't like working 24 hours. I think it's a reasonable trade-off--limited hours for great almost-home cooking.

That's one way to try to spin it, but in larger cities you have a wide selection of restaurants open all night or at least really really super late, whether they are inexpensive, ethnic and/or something else.

It comes down to the culture of the city. San Francisco isn't an all-night city. If it was, far more than a handful of greasy diners would be open past 1 am.

BTinSF · #15 Posted **May 5, 2008, 8:06 AM**

^^^I wouldn't call it spin. It's fact. And in New York or Chicago, the family run places aren't open 24 hours either. But you are right that SF isn't really among the "cities that never sleep"--yet. I'm hoping with more high rise residences and the accompanying greater density could come a market for late night dining. Still, the city's piling more and more costs onto restauranteurs doesn't help. When you are not only paying a relatively high minimum wage plus health care etc, you have to do a decent business in order to justify staying open.

Oh and most of the places I mentioned above aren't really "greasy diners" either. Most of them have pretty good food though of the fairly basic variety, leaning heavily on burgers, fries and/or breakfast items.

BTinSF · #16 Posted **May 5, 2008, 8:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sf_eddo

BI am in love with the bacon dog cart guys that serve bacon wrapped hot dogs with onions until the wee morning hours straight up Tijuana style.

No longer really being a late night person in my home town (I sometimes still am when traveling), this is something I'm not familiar with but it sounds worth exploring. I love hot dogs, bacon and onions. The combo sounds scrumptious. Please elucidate: especially where you get these.

rs913 · #17 Posted **May 5, 2008, 5:27 PM**

I've wondered what's different about SF that prevents it from sprouting a late-night restaurant scene to rival NYC and Chicago. Here's what I've come up with:

Earlier last call: 2am, as opposed to 4am in NYC and 4-5am in Chicago. (here's a full list of last call times across the U.S.)

NYC and Chicago have many more options for getting around: cabs (as in, enough of them that you can hail one on the street) and public transit. You can use either here, but it's more of a pain, so many more people drive and park when they go out.

Both of these things mean you stop drinking much earlier in SF, meaning there's less of a need for late-night restaurants where people can sober up.

On top of that, at least as far as NYC is concerned, smaller apartments combined with high density means that people are used to using public places like restaurants as their "living rooms". If your group is hungry after a night of drinking in NYC, it's just a default that you go to the all-night diner on the corner. In SF, the default is to go back to someone's place and raid the fridge.

tech12 · #18 Posted **May 5, 2008, 5:30 PM**

I don't know any 24hr restaurants aside from those already mentioned, but I can add a couple late-night restaurants:

Milano Pizza on 9th and Irving is open to around 12 a.m. It's pretty good..

El Farolito Taqueria at 24th and Mission is open until 1 a.m. weekdays, and 2 a.m. on weekends. This place is actually really good too.

Then of course you have your various 24 hr. donut shops. There's one at 9th and Judah and another at 24th and Church, and who knows how many dozens more around the city. The one at 24th actually has decent sandwiches too.

peanut gallery · #19 Posted **May 5, 2008, 6:26 PM**

This thread makes me feel old. Late night eating for me is sometime after 7:00 and going out to bars is a thing of the past. It's a big party night if my wife and I split a couple of beers and stay up until midnight.

fflint · #20 Posted **May 5, 2008, 7:49 PM**

The Pork Store on 16th near Valencia is open until 3:00am on weekend nights. They have outdoor seating and a full bar, so one can literally sit out on the street drinking hard liquor and mocking the hipsters as they saunter right by with their bagged MGDs or wobble about on their fixies a couple feet over in the street. Good times. The chops are good, too.