Late Night Restaurants and Dining in San Francisco

Here's a fairly good guide to late night dining in San Francisco created by 7x7 Magazine's Bits & Bites blog earlier this year.

The list only deserves a "fairly good" rating because 7x7 Magazine assembled a list that seems to exclude some of San Francisco's better-known late-night gay restaurants in the Castro. The list is good for visitors, people who don't know anything about San Francisco, and straight folks, but it's not adequate for gay visitors or locals.

The list lacks the nuance of local wisdom and experience

The 7x7 list is a "snapshot" kind of collection. It takes a look at restaurants in a frozen moment of time. It fails to include history, background, local popularity and the restaurant's relationship with the people of San Francisco. The list appears to have been prepared by someone who has not really lived in San Francisco very long and hasn't quite yet got the real feel for the City. So, the list only gets a "fairly good" rating from me.

Who am I? Nobody famous. I'm just an old San Franciscan (mid sixties) whose family first came here in 1849, a 161 years ago. I'm not qualified in a lot of areas, but I do know San Francisco as well or better than most of the people who think they know a lot.

A better list, a better choice

San Francisco Menupages is a much better source for San Francisco restaurant information. You can view the actual restaurant's menu online through Menupages in addition to reviews and notes. You can choose to review the City's restaurants sorted by type of cuisine, by menu or by neighborhood. They also have a nice iPhone app available. Give them a try.

Forget Yelp

Yelp is an almost useless service. People who just arrived in San Francisco "yesterday" and who are struggling to find themselves in the City are the same people who rate restaurants on Yelp. Great. We have newbies who don't know the City posting advice for other newbies who know even less. Forget Yelp.

Photo of the San Francisco nightime skyline courtesy of Declan McCullagh

The 7x7 Magazine list

Now that I have knocked the 7x7 list, I want to balance the scales a bit and tell you that I did find the 7x7 list to be useful for people who are not really interested in finding a "San Francisco" experience. There are some really good choices in this list and some of these places are among my own favorites. Many are very San Francisco and some are not at all. A few are clique-ish, which is a NOT the way most San Franciscans live their lives. It's a mixed bag, but the food will likely be good. As for the ambiance? Well, you spin the wheel and you take your chance.

Here they are . . .

Betelnut (Marina)

Eats: lettuce cups, hand-pulled hoisin pork, Happy Buddha dumplings
Last call for food: 11 pm, Sun–Thurs; midnight, Fri and Sat

Beretta (Mission)
Eats: pizza, eggplant caponatina, meatballs
Last call for food: 1 am, daily

Bix (Jackson Square)
Eats: hand-cut steak tartare, deviled eggs, mini lamb burgers
Last call for food: 9:30 pm, Sun–Wed; 10:30 pm, Thurs–Sat; bar menu until midnight, Thurs–Sat

Brazen Head (Marina)
Eats: oysters on the half shell, crab cakes, pepper steak
Last call for food: 1 am, daily

Cav (Hayes Valley)
Eats: steamed clams with chorizo, marrow bones, roasted kurobuta pork
Last call for food: 11 pm, Mon–Thurs; midnight, Fri and Sat

Delarosa (Marina)
Eats: proscuitto and argula pizza, carpaccio of beets, gnocchi with rock shrimp
Last call for food: 1 am, daily

District (SOMA)
Eats: cambazola cheese fondue, pear and endive salad, lamb meatballs in charmoula
Last call for food: 10:30, dailfull menu until 10:30; late night menu until midnight (closed Sun)

El Farolito (Mission)
Eats: three-ton burritos
Last call for food: 3 am, Sun–Thurs; 4 am, Fri and Sat

El Zocalo (Bernal Heights)
Eats: pupusas, plantains and beans
Last call for food: 4 am, daily

Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack (Bernal Heights)
Eats: caesar salad, spaghetti and meatballs
Last call for food: 10:45 pm, Sun–Thurs; 11:45 pm, Fri and Sat

Gaspare (Outer Richmond)
Eats: old-school thin-crust pizzas; old-school antipasto misto
Last call for food: 11 pm, Sun–Thurs; midnight, Fri and Sat

Genki Ramen (Richmond)
Eats: kimchi ramen, shrimp tempura, seaweed salad
Last call for food: 11 pm, Sun–Thurs; 1 am, Fri and Sat

Globe (Jackson Square)
Eats: tuna tartare, salad lardon, rib-eye with potato gratin
Last call for food: 1 am, Mon–Sat; midnight, Sun

Gitane (Union Square)
Eats: bacon bonbons, Pacific wild swordfish, French lentils
Last call for food: 11 pm, Tues–Wed; midnight, Thurs–Sat

Golden Boy Pizza (North Beach)
Eats: pesto pizza, clam pizza
Last call for food: 11:30 pm, Sun–Thurs; 2:30 am, Fri and Sat

Grubstake (TenderNob)
Eats: linguisa with eggs, French dip sandwich
Last call for food: 4 am, daily

Heaven’s Dog (SOMA)
Eats: soup dumplings, kung pao tofu, chicken curry claypot
Last call for food: 1 am, Mon–Sat

Kasa Indian (Marina)
Eats: turkey kebabs, kati rolls, lamb curry
Last call for food: 11 pm, Sun–Wed; 2 am, Thurs–Sat

Katana-Ya (Tenderloin)
Eats: kimchee fried rice, chasu ramen, sushi
Last call for food: 1 am, daily

King of Thai Noodle (Union Square)*
* several locations
Eats: wonton noodle soup with greens, yellow chicken curry
Last call for food: 1 am, daily

Magnolia Pub + Brewery (Upper Haight)
Eats: house-made jerky, Spanish chorizo, cobb salad
Last call for food: midnight, Mon–Thurs; 1 am, Fri; midnight, Sat

The Monk’s Kettle (Mission)
Eats: house-made veggie burger, giant pretzel, fire-grilled chicken breast
Last call for food: 1 am, daily

Namu (Inner Richmond)
Eats: cold soba noodles, shiitake dumplings, crispy vegetable tempura
Last call for food: 10:30 pm, Sun–Tues; 1 am, Wed–Sat

Nombe (Mission)
Eats: ramen, chicken wings with honey and chili, blood orange salad
Last call for food: 11 am, Sun, Mon, Wed, Thurs; 2 am, Fri and Sat

Nopa (NOPA)
Eats: warm chicory salad, Moroccan vegetable tangine, hamburger
Last call for food: 1 am, daily

Oola (SOMA)
Eats: slow-cooked confit of duck, goat cheddar mac and cheese
Last call for food: midnight, Sun–Mon; 1 am, Tues–Sat

Panchitas #2 (Mission)
Eats: pupusas!
Last call for food: 2:30 am, daily

Ryoko’s (Nob Hill)
Eats: sushi, sushi, sushi
Last call for food: 2 am, daily

Starbelly (Castro) Eats: chicken liver terrine, porchetta Last call for food: 11 pm, Sun–Thurs; midnight, Fri and Sat

Tacolicious (Marina) Eats: carnitas tacos, albondigas soup, drunken beans Last call for food: 12 am, daily

Yuet Lee (North Beach) Eats: clams in black bean sauce, salt-and-pepper squid Last call for food: midnight, Thurs–Sun; 3 am, Fri and Sat; closed Tues

Zuni Café (Hayes Valley) Eats: roasted chicken and bread salad, ricotta gnocchi, shoestring potatoes Last call for food: 11 pm, Sun, Tues–Thur; midnight, Fri and Sat; closed Mon.