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The Pinecrest Diner sign. Patricia Chang

Where to Eat Late Night in San Francisco

Sleepy San Francisco still has good food past 10 p.m.

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When it’s midnight and time to get post-drinking pizza or post-dancing waffles or even post-fancy wine party doughnuts, nothing else besides that incredibly-specific craving will do. Everyone knows that; it’s just science. In San Francisco, the city oft-slandered for a dearth of late-night dining options, there are a host of places to slide into, where a booth of diner coffee welcomes you at 3 a.m. or where simmering dishes of spam stew grant a second wind before the after-party begins. Whether it’s the old heads including Pinecrest Diner, with its enormous throngs of weekend diners, or the new brass such as SoMa’s Dragon Horse, the Paris of the West will be there to keep you fed. Try these twelve restaurants keeping the lights on until the streetlights go off.

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Tacolicious

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A longtime staple of Valencia Street, Tacolicious brought on culinary director Fernando Guzman to kick up the menu a notch. The sopecitos are creamy with Rancho Gordo beans held up by a fried masa base, and the churros were trialed 15 times to get to Guzman’s liking. The Marina and Mission locations stay open until 11 p.m.

Food
Sopecitos at Tacolicious.
Paolo Bicchieri

Taishan Cuisine

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This Chinatown newcomer specializes in food from China’s Guangdong province, which means braised lamb or beef stew, steamed vermicelli with shrimp, or wontons and fried fish balls, all served until 3 a.m. daily. Anthony Bourdain’s favorite burger shop, Sam’s, is a storied late-night destination just a few blocks away, too.

Late night eats at Taishan.
Late night eats at Taishan.
Yelp

Bob's Donut & Pastry Shop

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Bob’s, San Francisco’s undisputed king of late-night doughnuts, is known for its apple fritters and signature crumble doughnuts roughly the size of the tire on a kid's bike.

Lauren Saria

Grubstake Diner

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This classic San Francisco late-night diner has stood the test of time, continuing to serve three square meals a day in the Pork Gulch neighborhood. The menu is full of the usual fare — think burgers, pancakes, and good ol’ fashioned American apple pie — but with a Portuguese flair in the form of bife a Portuguesa and linguica sausage.

Grubstake Diner
Grubstake Diner/Facebook
Grubstake Diner/Facebook

Pinecrest Diner

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Say you’re talking smack about the Bay from outside of the Bay, without saying you’re from outside the Bay: Example one, roasting the lack of 24-hour options without acknowledging longtime champion Pinecrest Diner. The diner opened in 1969 and, against popular belief, is packed Wednesday through Sunday all through late night.

Patricia Chang

Genki Crepes & Mini Mart

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Clement Street in the Richmond District holds a bevy of incredible restaurants, but not so much as the night stretches on and those places close. Genki Crepes and Mini Mart is there to answer the call for hungry night owls, though Naya Dessert Cafe holds it down, too. Where else can one pick up a red bean ice cream and banana crepe while stocking up on shrimp chips? On weekdays the shop is open until 11 p.m. and on Fridays and Saturdays until midnight.

Dragon Horse

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From the same team as Blind Pig Speakeasy Lounge comes this SoMa destination for late-night skewers and sushi. Derrick Li is the mind behind both businesses, but at Dragon Horse he focuses on bar bites including ginger chicken tsukune skewers and gyoza dumplings, in addition to the rose baiju-based Framing Dragon and the rum-driven Mogura. 

Mateen Karimy

You can order one of the many outstanding cocktails at ABV until 2 a.m. every day, but if you want in on the menu of grilled abalone mushrooms or soft shell crab tacos, you’ll need to get that order in by midnight. There’s plenty to please — from meat and cheese platters to a fried chicken sandwich — but the star of the food side is the burger, which comes with white cheddar cheese, raw red onion, shredded lettuce, pickles, and a tangy special sauce.

Orphan Andy's Restaurant

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This greasy spoon-esque treasure lies on the corner of Market and Castro streets and is undoubtedly amongst the top diners in the city. Things wrap up at 9:45 p.m. every night except Friday and Saturday when the door stays open all 24 hours.

Despite its humble exterior (it is, after all, housed in a former garage), Toyose is one big party. The late-night Korean hideaway serves up hefty portions of Korean fried rice and saccharine soju cocktails until 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. During the week, the party ends at midnight.

Taqueria El Farolito

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The witching hour for El Farolito is after midnight, as it metes out burritos the size of bricks until 2:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturdays — making it a late-night pit stop for both the hungry and the inebriated. What it lacks in ambiance it makes up for with the sheer size of its offerings, which you can explore until 1:30 a.m. Sunday to Thursday. Now available to the North Beach residents, too.

Mexico Tipico

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This Excelsior go-to for fish fillets, nachos, burritos, and bistec keeps convenient late-night hours for those with a night owl schedule. The business stays open until 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, until 10 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, and until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Tacolicious

A longtime staple of Valencia Street, Tacolicious brought on culinary director Fernando Guzman to kick up the menu a notch. The sopecitos are creamy with Rancho Gordo beans held up by a fried masa base, and the churros were trialed 15 times to get to Guzman’s liking. The Marina and Mission locations stay open until 11 p.m.

Food
Sopecitos at Tacolicious.
Paolo Bicchieri

Taishan Cuisine

This Chinatown newcomer specializes in food from China’s Guangdong province, which means braised lamb or beef stew, steamed vermicelli with shrimp, or wontons and fried fish balls, all served until 3 a.m. daily. Anthony Bourdain’s favorite burger shop, Sam’s, is a storied late-night destination just a few blocks away, too.

Late night eats at Taishan.
Late night eats at Taishan.
Yelp

Bob's Donut & Pastry Shop

Bob’s, San Francisco’s undisputed king of late-night doughnuts, is known for its apple fritters and signature crumble doughnuts roughly the size of the tire on a kid's bike.

Lauren Saria

Grubstake Diner

This classic San Francisco late-night diner has stood the test of time, continuing to serve three square meals a day in the Pork Gulch neighborhood. The menu is full of the usual fare — think burgers, pancakes, and good ol’ fashioned American apple pie — but with a Portuguese flair in the form of bife a Portuguesa and linguica sausage.

Grubstake Diner
Grubstake Diner/Facebook
Grubstake Diner/Facebook

Pinecrest Diner

Say you’re talking smack about the Bay from outside of the Bay, without saying you’re from outside the Bay: Example one, roasting the lack of 24-hour options without acknowledging longtime champion Pinecrest Diner. The diner opened in 1969 and, against popular belief, is packed Wednesday through Sunday all through late night.

Patricia Chang

Genki Crepes & Mini Mart

Clement Street in the Richmond District holds a bevy of incredible restaurants, but not so much as the night stretches on and those places close. Genki Crepes and Mini Mart is there to answer the call for hungry night owls, though Naya Dessert Cafe holds it down, too. Where else can one pick up a red bean ice cream and banana crepe while stocking up on shrimp chips? On weekdays the shop is open until 11 p.m. and on Fridays and Saturdays until midnight.

Dragon Horse

From the same team as Blind Pig Speakeasy Lounge comes this SoMa destination for late-night skewers and sushi. Derrick Li is the mind behind both businesses, but at Dragon Horse he focuses on bar bites including ginger chicken tsukune skewers and gyoza dumplings, in addition to the rose baiju-based Framing Dragon and the rum-driven Mogura. 

Mateen Karimy

ABV

You can order one of the many outstanding cocktails at ABV until 2 a.m. every day, but if you want in on the menu of grilled abalone mushrooms or soft shell crab tacos, you’ll need to get that order in by midnight. There’s plenty to please — from meat and cheese platters to a fried chicken sandwich — but the star of the food side is the burger, which comes with white cheddar cheese, raw red onion, shredded lettuce, pickles, and a tangy special sauce.

Orphan Andy's Restaurant

This greasy spoon-esque treasure lies on the corner of Market and Castro streets and is undoubtedly amongst the top diners in the city. Things wrap up at 9:45 p.m. every night except Friday and Saturday when the door stays open all 24 hours.

Toyose

Despite its humble exterior (it is, after all, housed in a former garage), Toyose is one big party. The late-night Korean hideaway serves up hefty portions of Korean fried rice and saccharine soju cocktails until 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. During the week, the party ends at midnight.

Taqueria El Farolito

The witching hour for El Farolito is after midnight, as it metes out burritos the size of bricks until 2:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturdays — making it a late-night pit stop for both the hungry and the inebriated. What it lacks in ambiance it makes up for with the sheer size of its offerings, which you can explore until 1:30 a.m. Sunday to Thursday. Now available to the North Beach residents, too.

Mexico Tipico

This Excelsior go-to for fish fillets, nachos, burritos, and bistec keeps convenient late-night hours for those with a night owl schedule. The business stays open until 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, until 10 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, and until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

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