Twelve places, and the sorting principle is the clock, not the cuisine. The addresses fall on Franklin, Market, Hayes, Gough, Grove and Folsom streets, with kitchens running from Japanese and Brazilian to Mexican, Indian and Mediterranean. What pulls them together is when the door is open. One runs Tuesday to Saturday, 17:00 to 20:00; another serves on weekdays from 09:00 to 17:00 and never at night; one goes until 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Each entry is built on what the record supports: where the place is, what it cooks, and the hours it keeps. The opinions are ours, readable as such by their tone. We put this together for visitors who plan dinner by the hour and would rather have a closing time than another adjective. Phone numbers and websites are here throughout, and you should use them, because hours change faster than guides do.
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1 Nakama Sushi
41 Franklin StreetA Japanese kitchen, dinner from 17:00 every evening
Nakama Sushi, 41 Franklin Street, opens from 17:00 every evening, and the kitchen is Japanese through and through. Sunday to Thursday the last seating falls at 21:00, and Friday and Saturday run to 21:30, so in either case this is an early dinner, not a late one. We'd skip the all-you-can-eat sushi barns that trade on volume; a tight evening window is usually the sign of a kitchen that would rather do one service properly. There is no lunch in the listed hours, so plan the day around that. Call +1-628-867-6697 or check nakamasushisf.com before you walk over, because a window this short fills quickly.
- japanese
Hours: Su-Th 17:00-21:00; Fr-Sa 17:00-21:30
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2 The Italian Homemade Company
1 Franklin StreetItalian cooking, 11:00 to 21:00 unbroken, all week
The Italian Homemade Company at 1 Franklin Street runs 11:00 to 21:00, Monday through Sunday, which is more useful than it first sounds. The kitchen is Italian, and because those hours stretch from lunch straight through to dinner without a break, it covers the awkward mid-afternoon meal that most dining rooms simply won't serve. A place that puts the word homemade in its name has set its own standard to meet, and you are the one marking it. Skip the red-sauce spots with a barker at the door. Phone +1-415-757-0877 if you are bringing a crowd, and everything else is at italianhomemade.com.
- italian
Hours: Mo-Su 11:00-21:00
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3 Yakiniku Shodai
1420 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102A Japanese kitchen with a narrow dinner window, Tuesday to Saturday, 17:00 to 20:00
Yakiniku Shodai sits at 1420 Market Street in the 94102, and the kitchen is Japanese. The hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 17:00 to 20:00, which accounts for the full week: Sunday and Monday do not appear in the listed hours at all. Don't take the walk-in gamble you might happily accept at a noodle counter; a room open this briefly is one you build an evening around. Put +1 415-757-0201 in your phone before you go, check shodaisf.com for the current arrangements, and arrive on time and hungry.
- japanese
Hours: Tu-Sa 17:00-20:00
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4 Spice of America: Modern Indian Cusine
1655 Market Street, San Francisco, 94103An Indian kitchen that keeps weekday daytime hours only, 09:00 to 17:00
Spice of America at 1655 Market Street in the 94103 is an Indian kitchen that runs weekdays from 09:00 to 17:00 and nothing else. No dinner and no weekend in the listed hours, which is a rare shape for this kind of cooking. The argument for it is a proper Indian lunch on a working day, eaten at a pace the evening trade never allows. Skip the dinner-buffet circuit. Ring +1 415 8727187 or check spiceofamerica.com before you build a day around it, because daytime hours like these are the first to shift.
- indian
Hours: Mo-Fr 09:00-17:00
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5 Espetus Churrascaria
1686 Market Street, San Francisco, 94102Brazilian churrascaria dinner in a single evening window, 17:00 to 21:00
Espetus Churrascaria runs a single evening window: dinner from 17:00 to 21:00, no lunch, no other slot. The kitchen is Brazilian, at 1686 Market Street in the 94102, and this is not the kind of place you approach like a steakhouse where one cut arrives with one side. A churrascaria is a different evening altogether, and we'd arrive early and hungry rather than late and hoping to linger. The listed hours carry no day restriction, but before you commit a night to it, call +1 415-552-8792 or check espetus.com. Eat a light lunch. You will thank yourself.
- brazilian
Hours: 17:00-21:00
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6 Absinthe Brasserie & Bar
398 Hayes Street, San Francisco, CA 94102French and American brasserie cooking, Wednesday to Sunday, with the bar given equal billing in the name
Absinthe Brasserie & Bar is closed Monday and Tuesday, so plan those nights elsewhere. From Wednesday to Saturday the doors open at 11:30 and close at 22:00; Sunday runs 11:00 to 21:00. The address is 398 Hayes Street in the 94102, and the kitchen covers both French and American cooking, which is the brasserie bargain in two words. The name puts the bar on equal footing with the dining room, and we'd treat the drink list with the same seriousness as the menu. Better than the hotel lobby bars pouring the same glass in every city. Phone +1 415-551-1590; the site is absinthe.com.
- french
- american
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7 Chez Maman
401 Gough StreetFrench and American cooking with a 10:30 weekend start and a 22:00 close every day
On Saturday and Sunday, Chez Maman opens at 10:30, ahead of its 11:30 weekday start, and it runs to 22:00 every night of the week. The address is 401 Gough Street, and the kitchen is listed as both French and American, a pairing that suits the late breakfast sliding into lunch. Locals reach for a table here over the brunch queues that eat up half a Sunday, and we'd make the same call. Monday is covered, which solves the night that most restaurants in a new city leave you short. Call +1 415-355-9067 or visit chezmamansf.com before you go.
- american
- french
Hours: Mo-Fr 11:30-22:00; Sa, Su 10:30-22:00
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8 Papito
425 Hayes StreetA Mexican kitchen open daily, with the later 22:00 close from Thursday to Saturday
Papito at 425 Hayes Street runs a Mexican kitchen every day of the week, but the hours shift as the week moves, so read them before you go: 11:30 to 21:00 Monday to Wednesday, 11:30 to 22:00 on Thursday and Friday, 11:00 to 22:00 on Saturday, and 11:00 to 21:00 on Sunday. We'd skip the burrito-as-big-as-your-arm circuit, sit down instead, order in rounds, and let the table decide when it is finished. The later close on Thursday, Friday and Saturday is your cue for the unhurried version of that meal. The number is +1-415-554-0541 and the site is papitohayessf.com.
- mexican
Hours: Mo-We 11:30-21:00; Th-Fr 11:30-22:00; Sa 11:00-22:00; Su 11:00-21:00
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9 a Mano
450 Hayes StreetPizza and Italian cooking, with the latest closes on Friday and Saturday at 22:30
Check amanosf.com before you head to a Mano, because the closing time moves with the day: Monday to Thursday it runs 11:30 to 21:30, Friday goes to 22:30, Saturday opens at 11:00 and also runs to 22:30, and Sunday is 11:00 to 21:00. The address is 450 Hayes Street, and the kitchen covers pizza and Italian. We'd pass on the slice counters built for people in a hurry; this is a sit-down argument for the same food, and Friday or Saturday gives you the longest evening to hear it out. Call +1-415-506-7401 if the group is large.
- pizza
- italian
Hours: Mo-Th 11:30-21:30; Fr 11:30-22:30; Sa 11:00-22:30; Su 11:00-21:00
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10 Double Decker
465 Grove Street, San Francisco, CA 94102Burgers from 10:30 to 21:00, Monday to Sunday
Double Decker opens its burger kitchen at 10:30 every morning at 465 Grove Street in the 94102, running straight through to 21:00, Monday to Sunday, with no gap in the afternoon. That is the whole proposition, and it is a good one: a burger when you want it, not when a reservation system says you may. We'd skip the queue at the hyped pop-ups that sell out by early afternoon and photograph better than they eat. A mid-morning burger is one of the small freedoms of being on holiday, and the 10:30 start permits it. Phone +1 415-552-8042; the page is at doubledeckerssf.square.site.
- burger
Hours: Mo-Su 10:30-21:00
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11 Gyro King
25 Grove Street, San Francisco, CA 94102Mediterranean food on a 10:00 to 20:00 day, all week
The door at Gyro King, 25 Grove Street, is open by 10:00, and the kitchen closes at 20:00 every day of the week, which makes this a lunch and early-dinner address in the 94102 with nothing to offer anyone eating late. The cooking is Mediterranean, and the counter is set up for people who want to be fed well without ceremony: order, eat, go. Don't hold it for the end of the evening, because the 20:00 close will get there before you do. Phone +1 415-621-8313, or see gyrokingca.com.
- mediterranean
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-20:00
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12 The Willows
1582 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94103American food with doors open to 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays
The Willows, at 1582 Folsom Street in the 94103, stays open until 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, which changes what this address is for. Sunday to Thursday the listed close is 24:00, and the doors open at 11:30 on weekdays and 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday, so the same room covers lunch and the last stop of the evening. The cooking is American. When dinner has run long and the night has not, skip the drive-through fallback: a seat and a plate after midnight is the civilised answer. Call +1-415-529-2039 or check TheWillowsSF.com for the night you have in mind.
- american
Hours: Su 11:00-24:00; Sa 11:00-02:00; Mo-Th 11:30-24:00; Fr 11:30-02:00
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