You’re leaving the Felix on Mason Street at 1:30 a.m. after a wild Saturday night. Now you’re hungry as can be, understandably, and left to roam San Francisco in search of something greasy, rich, and warming. There’s fast food, sure, and gas station munchies are reliable companions. But San Francisco has a cornucopia of late-night food that’s wonderful once the lights go down in the city. Toyose on Noriega Street is packed after midnight. Mexico Tipico lights the Excelsior up until 11 p.m. And Muukata6395 keeps things moving until daybreak seven nights a week. Try any of these 14 restaurants for that final exclamation point in the night, the only salvation until breakfast rolls around.
Read MoreWhere to Eat Late Night in San Francisco
Sleepy San Francisco still has good food past 10 p.m.
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.
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.
Céleste
For the late-night wanderer in search of something slightly ritzy, newcomer Céleste holds it down on Union Street. Lalo Luevano and Paria Sedigh, owners of Bodega and Key Klub in North Beach and Lower Nob Hill, respectively, are dishing “Greek taverna fare” — think seafood and skewers — alongside a bevy of wine until 11 p.m.
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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.
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.
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.
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Muukata6395
It’s hard to pass up sizzling hot pot when the late-night turns into early morning, the witching hour approaching as one digs into marinated rib-eye and chicken. This new restaurant opened in March 2023 serving bombastic Thai barbecue on Geary Boulevard. Hit this spot up until midnight seven nights a week.
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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.
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.
Sushi Uma
The Outer Sunset — outside of Toyose — definitely leaves the pizza to get cold once 10 p.m. rolls around. But Sushi Uma is another exception, dishing up a wide menu of sushi, gyoza, and sake until midnight while playing wacky movies on two plasma screens.
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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