Well, for those looking for another reason not to stand in an hour-long line at Swan Oyster Depot, a local food influencer has one for you.

"Spotted at Swan Oyster Depot after waiting in a long ass line," writes Kat Ensign, aka @katfoodsf on Instagram, with a photo of baseball cap with the numbers 45 and 47 on it, and some American flag business in back. Clearly a reference to Donald Trump's two non-consecutive terms in office, the hat appears to be sitting atop some rolls of tape behind the counter at the tiny restaurant.

In the caption, Ensign adds, "swan oyster depot -> absolutely not."

It's not clear when the photo was taken — Swan has been closed for a staff vacation since July 3 — but the restaurant will likely need to address the situation when they reopen next week, on July 14. Ensign's photo was subsequently reposted to the r/sanfrancisco subreddit on Reddit, getting hundreds of up- and down-votes, and the SF Standard notes that this has led to Swan Oyster Depot being review-bombed on Yelp — the Yelp page is now being monitored and reviews have been temporarily disabled.

(It should be noted that Ensign was involved in an earlier dustup regarding former Ju-Ni and Handroll Project chef Geoffrey Lee, who attacked Ensign on social media with abusive comments after she said some negative things on TikTok about his new Hamburger Project late last year. The incident led to Lee stepping down from his role at all three restaurants in January.)

Beloved by foodinistas for many years and bolstered by praise from Anthony Bourdain, who truly loved it, Swan Oyster Depot has enjoyed a perennial spot on tourists' must-eat lists and in guidebooks. There is very often a line to get one of the 18 seats inside to enjoy raw oysters and simple classics like crab Louie, seafood cocktail, and "Sicilian sashimi." Food magazine Lucky Peach called it the Best Place to Eat in America in 2012, shortly after Bourdain ate there on his Travel Channel show The Layover — a particularly drunken episode of the show after which Bourdain frequently referred to San Francisco as a "two-fisted drinking town."

Swan Oyster Depot and its owners, the Sancimino brothers, got called out in 2021 both for not following proper COVID-era protocols, and for what was perceived as a racist incident in which one of them yelled "dim sum" at an Asian customer. As Eater reported at the time, this was staff shorthand for when a customer tried to order from multiple servers, like one does at a dim sum restaurant — but the customer who complained, via Instagram, Vietnamese immigrant Tin Dinh, said that use of the term felt racially tinged regardless.

Chronicle critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan, a San Francisco native whose family owns the Henry's Hunan mini-chain, seemed to defend the Sanciminos in a piece last year in which she sang the praises of gruff service in general. (She noted that members of the all-male staff are each assigned to a customer when they come in, even though the counter situation may seem more chaotic than that.)

"A mean server is demonstrating that their friendliness cannot be bought," Chung Fegan wrote. "I take it as a personal challenge: By the time I leave here, I’ll have earned a small kindness, given freely."

Local restaurant chronicler Marcia Gagliardi, aka Tablehopper, wasted no time in commenting on Ensign's Tuesday post, expressing her disaste for Swan Oyster.

"So not surprising," Gagliardi says, upon seeing the MAGA hat. "I stopped going after the racist 'dim sum' incident (I even interviewed them about it and that was their swan song for me). Maybe people will finally open their eyes about this 'beloved' SF classic. Hard pass."

Ensign has not commented further on her experience at the restaurant. In other comments on the post, she says that she lives about a mile away and walks to dine at the restaurant often.