Shanghai eats around the clock, and the menu's geography is as wide as the city's streets. The twelve below are not crowd-sourced averages — they are restaurants this editor sends visitors to, ordered by how often the recommendation pays off. Turkish counters off the city's main shopping spines, Sichuan and Northwest grills in the same downtown blocks as a Japanese ramen counter in a mall, a Spanish-run dining room near the river, a blues-and-jazz club that opens its kitchen in the late afternoon and runs into the small hours, a Mexican kitchen that opens only on weekends and is the better for it. Addresses, hours, and phone numbers are pulled from OpenStreetMap; the editorial judgements are opinion. Use both. None of these reward queueing outside the brand-extension franchises the airport gift shop is pushing this season.
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1 Brothers Kebab (兄弟烤肉店)
389 B1 A01 南京西路Turkish kebab cut from the spit to order at a basement counter off the city's main shopping spine
From 10:00 to 22:00 the spit turns at Brothers Kebab, 389 B1 A01 南京西路, a basement Turkish counter on one of the city's busiest shopping spines. Skip the food-court franchises upstairs; the meat is sliced to order, the flatbread folded around it on the spot, and the menu does not need to apologise for being short. The kitchen runs kebabs, fries, and the standard Turkish friture — and the website at brotherskebab.com tells you nothing the doorway does not. The phone is +86 187 1984 0096; call ahead only if you are sending someone in your place, otherwise just go down the stairs.
- friture
- turkish
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-22:00
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2 Yang's Dumplings (小楊生煎)
178 宁波路, 200002Breakfast-onward Asian take-away counter, kitchen on from 06:30
Steam rises through the kitchen at Yang's Dumplings, 178 宁波路 in the 200002 postal area, from 06:30 every morning. The locals come before the office crowd settles — the counter is at its fastest in that first hour, and the breakfast trade here is the genuine article, not the brunch translation of it. Asian fare at take-away pace, a website at xysjg.com, a kitchen that runs through to 21:00 for the late shift, and a phone at +86 21 6322 9763 for orders you would be better off picking up in person. Don't dress it up. Eat it standing if you have to; the second one always tastes better than the first.
- asian
Hours: Mo-Su 06:30-21:00
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3 Maya Restaurant
568 巨鹿路, 上海市Mexican kitchen with a six-hour weekend-only service window
Mexican at 568 巨鹿路 — and only on Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 to 17:00. That is the whole working schedule at Maya Restaurant, and it is, more than anything, a confidence move. The locals know to book by Thursday; walk-ins on a sunny Saturday are a gamble you will lose. Web home at maya-shanghai.com; phone +86 21 6289 6889. Don't bother with the chain Tex-Mex outposts on the food-court circuit — the kitchen cooks with the kind of patience a six-hour-a-day window can afford. Two services a week, paid attention to, beats seven services you stop tasting.
- mexican
Hours: Sa,Su 11:00-17:00
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4 Kin'iro fujoki/Tokyo heshage men (kokkinten) (金色不如帰・東京拉麺（国金店）)
8号上海IF商场LG1-19 世紀大道, 陆家嘴街道, 200120Japanese ramen counter on the LG1 mall level, two daily services
Inside the IF Mall at LG1-19, 8号 世紀大道 in 陆家嘴街道, 200120, a Tokyo-derived ramen counter has set up — Kin'iro Fujoki / Tokyo Heshage Men. The menu is ramen and Japanese; services run 11:00 to 15:00 and 17:00 to 21:30. The locals slot it between meetings, and the room turns over quickly through the lunch shift. Skip the mall-circuit chain ramen on the same level; this counter is the brand behind sobahousekonjikihototogisu.com/access/, not a local imitation. The phone is 18413256947 — useful for an exact arrival window, otherwise unnecessary.
- ramen
- japanese
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5 Northwest Cuisine Restaurant (西北风味餐厅)
589 汉口路, 上海市, 200001Regional Chinese kitchen with a single-region brief, open straight through the day
Smoke rises through the kitchen at Northwest Cuisine Restaurant (西北风味餐厅), 589 汉口路 in the 200001 postal area, from 11:00. The room is what the name promises — Chinese cooking from the country's northwest, kept honest by a brief that does not pretend to be from elsewhere. The locals know what to order; visitors should follow them, not the in-flight magazine. Don't bother with the all-things-Chinese megavenues a few blocks over; this kitchen has a regional brief and sticks to it. Service runs straight through to 21:00; reservations on +86 21 6322 9031 are useful at the weekend, optional otherwise. Sit family-style and order more than you think you need.
- chinese
Hours: Mo-Su 11:00-21:00
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6 Yuxin Sichuan Dish (渝信川菜)
399 九江路, 上海市Sichuan-tradition Chinese kitchen running two clean daily services
The dining room at Yuxin Sichuan Dish (渝信川菜), 399 九江路, runs two services a day — 11:00 to 14:30 and 17:00 to 21:30 — and the kitchen does not slow down between them. The cooking is Sichuan: the dishes that numb the lips and clear the head. The locals come for exactly that. Skip the hotel-restaurant 'Sichuan' menus dialled down for the lobby crowd; this room serves the real heat. Bookings on +86 21 6361 1777; show up at 11:00 if you want to be seated in the first run of lunch, otherwise plan for the second sitting.
- chinese
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7 Tock's
221 河南中路, 上海市American, sandwich, and Canadian deli counter, all-day service
American, sandwich, and Canadian is the menu honesty at Tock's, 221 河南中路. The kitchen runs 11:00 to 22:00, and the sandwiches sit at the heart of the room; the locals — particularly the homesick North American kind — keep the counter busy through the day. Don't bother with the imitation 'NY-style' delis the high-end malls have been planting; the cooking here owes nothing to a brand book. Order the sandwich and a coffee, sit at the counter, and don't dress it up. Phone 63463735 for take-out. There is no website on file — call instead, or just walk in at 11:00 and beat the lunch run.
- american
- sandwich
- canadian
Hours: Mo-Su 11:00-22:00
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8 House of Blues & Jazz
60 福州路, 上海市, 200002American kitchen attached to a live blues-and-jazz room, kitchen on from 16:30 to 02:00
From 16:30 to 02:00, Tuesday through Sunday, House of Blues & Jazz at 60 福州路 in the 200002 postal area runs the closest thing this city has to a proper after-dinner jazz room. American kitchen in the back, music on the stage, and a Monday closure that lets the building breathe. The locals come for the late set; the early dinner crowd is mostly hotel guests, and the room sharpens once the night settles. Skip the lobby-bar 'jazz nights' that hotels schedule between the canapé service and the housekeeping turn-down — this is a club, not a lounge. Reservations on +86 21 6323 2779; ask for a table off the bar if you want to actually hear the band.
- american
Hours: Tu-Su 16:30-02:00
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9 The Harrods Tea Rooms & Piano Bar
420 威海路Cake, coffee, and tea room with piano-bar fittings, all-day service
Cake, coffee, and tea at The Harrods Tea Rooms & Piano Bar, 420 威海路 — a name that promises more pretension than the room delivers, and a kitchen that delivers more than the name has earned. Service runs 11:00 to 22:00 every day. The locals come in the late afternoon, when the piano fittings make sense and the coffee has had enough customers to be calibrated. Better than the department-store cafés opening with similar branding in recent years; the cakes here are the point, not a marketing brief. Phone +86 21 6227 6857 to book the corner table you actually want.
- cake
- coffee shop
- tea
Hours: Mo-Su 11:00-22:00
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10 El Willy
22 Zhongshan East 2nd Rd, 上海市Iberian and Mexican kitchen reduced to a single Saturday service
The dining room at El Willy, 22 Zhongshan East 2nd Rd, has narrowed itself to a single Saturday window — 11:30 to 15:00. Iberian and Mexican on the same menu: an honest combination, not a contrived one. The locals book the Saturday lunch a week out; the website at elwillygroup.com is the only legitimate route to a confirmed table. Don't bother with the river-view restaurants that charge for the view and forget the kitchen; the cooking here is the point. Three and a half hours a week, paid attention to, beats seven services you stop tasting. Bring an appetite that does not need to be hurried.
- Iberian
- mexican
Hours: Sa 11:30-15:00
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11 Fat Cow
35 富城路Burger and salad counter open through midnight, daily
Burgers and salads at Fat Cow, 35 富城路 — a short menu honestly delivered. The kitchen runs 11:00 to 00:00, which gives the city a clean late-night burger option that does not depend on the convenience-store warmer. The locals come after the bar shift winds down, and the room handles a midnight crowd without losing temperature. Skip the late-night fast-food multinationals — the patty is cooked to order, the salad dressed in the room, and the bill is honest. Phone +86 21 5077 7631 for orders. Sit at the counter and don't order more than the menu offers; it knows exactly what it is.
- burger
- salad
Hours: Mo-Su 11:00-00:00
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12 Brothers Kebab
310 奉贤路Late-night Turkish counter with the longest service hours on this list
The kebab counter at Brothers Kebab, 310 奉贤路, runs the longest service hours on this list: Mo-Th and Su 11:00 to 23:00, Fr and Sa to 04:00. Turkish, straight: a spit, a flatbread, a few stools. The locals know this is where the after-club queue forms, and the kitchen does not lower its standards for the late crowd. The convenience-store hot food on the walk home is not worth considering; the kebab here is sliced to order and folded fresh, even at the end of the Saturday shift. Phone +86 21 5265 5177 for delivery, though the wrap is at its best across the counter, eaten while it is still too hot.
- turkish
Hours: Fr, Sa 11:00-04:00; Mo-Th, Su 11:00-23:00
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