The days of SF being moderately well appointed with 24-hour diners and late-night restaurants are well behind us, and even before the pandemic a slew of reliable, after-midnight standbys had shuttered. But that may be slowly changing.
Gone are the days of 1 a.m. last calls for food at NoPa — the favorite destination of restaurant industry folk getting off work started cutting back those late-night hours in 2016, but post-pandemic, the last call for food on Fridays and Saturdays is now 11 p.m., which is still relatively late given the plethora of places where the kitchen shuts down at 9 or 9:30.
And while San Francisco has never been a city that never sleeps a la New York — we like our sleep! — it was, at least a few years back, a city where you could still get someone to drive you someplace for food after the bars shut down.
We learned yesterday via Hoodline that Beep's Burgers, the old Ingleside drive-up burger-and-milkshake spot, is now serving until 2 a.m. every night of the week, so that's a new option for night owls and barflies. (They had previously shut things down at 10 p.m., but maybe they kept later hours way back when.) Eater crowned it the "Best $7 Burger In SF" back in 2017, so there's that — though the burgers are $8 now.
As Tablehopper reports this week, a new late-night sushi and izakaya spot has just opened in SoMa called Dragon Horse, in the former Izakaya Hon space at 917 Folsom (at 5th). The place serves cocktails, with a menu by Derrick Li, who has previously worked at Blind Pig and Cold Drinks (above China Live). It's now open Wednesday to Monday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., and you can see the drunk-friendly menu here.
These days, there are only a few options for you after midnight, but hopefully soon there will be more. Among the existing late-night haunts, there's always Orphan Andy's in the Castro — the griddle may be over-greased, but it barely ever shuts off, and they're staying open until 6 a.m. all through the weekend these days (reopening at 9 a.m.). A new development threatens to force it closed someday soon, but the Grubstake Diner off Polk Street is still chugging along.
Just down the block from Nopa, Horsefeather (528 Divisadero) has taken up the late-night, industry-friendly torch, serving food until midnight through the week and until 2 a.m. on weekends.
Uncle Boy's in the Richmond (245 Balboa Street) is slinging burgers until 12:50 a.m. Thursday to Sunday — so, pre-last-call at the bars, but still late for the 'hood.
Cocobang has got you covered in the Tenderloin/Union Square vicinity, serving up Korean fare until 4 a.m. on weekends (Fri-Sat), and until 2 a.m. every other night of the week now.
And over in the Mission, you can get one of the best burgers in town at ABV, but only until midnight — that's seven days a week, though, and the place serves drinks until 2 a.m.
Photo courtesy of Beep's Burgers
