The Lucky Penny Diner Is the Latest on the Condo Chopping Block

San Francisco is far from a 24-hour town, so the news that one of the city's iconic greasy spoons and vanishingly few all-night establishments, the Lucky Penny, might not be long for this world was met with predictable horror. Hoodline reports that the diner, which has been around in one incarnation or another since the '50s (and in its current form since 1993), is the site of a proposed seven-story mixed-use building with three floors of apartments and three floors of office space. Of course, the plans are just getting rolling and the project will have to go through all kinds of city-related hoops, but this is the same progression of events that will fell the Elbo Room, and poses a potential threat to Lucky 13 as well.

With that said, the Lucky Penny is situated in a more condo-friendly corridor than those other two spots: it's on a major car and Muni thoroughfare, located right next to a recently revamped mall with a Target and the always-packed Masonic Trader Joe's, and much of its footprint is devoted to a parking lot that goes mostly unused (except as overflow for said Trader Joe's). Nonetheless, while the Lucky Penny isn't known for its culinary achievements, its loss would be a huge blow to the late-night crowd, especially industry folks and those living west of Divis, who have slim pickings in this department. We'll keep you posted on the Lucky Penny's future, and when it might close.