Anything open all night? with Wifi?

[AntarcticWidow]

My BIL has to be in the city (2nd and Mission) at 11:30pm tonight for 4 or so hours of work, then again at 7am. Is there an all night cafe or restaurant nearby or downtown, preferably with wifi, where he can hole up from say 4am-7am? He lives in the East Bay and doesn't have a car, otherwise he would drive home.

Thanks for your suggestions!

[bbulkow]

Holing up in the denny's, or any of these places, for three hours is a little problematic. I'd consider doing a hotel. It's amazing how a pot of tea at the four seasons can stretch for a number of hours, and the chairs are comfy. I don't know the best in that area, though

[johnq]

As far as I know, none of the hotels are serving anything that late, and I'd be somewhat surprised if you could just hang out in the lobby chairs for several hours at that time of night. I'm pretty sure anyone trying it would be politely asked to leave.

[bbulkow]

It depends on how you're dressed and how you behave. I've hung out in lobbies simply because I couldn't sleep, hacking around on my computer, and there was no problem. You just have to look & smell like a guest.

But one does wonder why some of the major hotels - which do have all night kitchens for room service - don't also have some kind of snack service in the lobbies.

[Robert Lauriston]

Didn't one of the downtown hotels used to have a 24-hour restaurant?

[johnq]

I regularly walk through the lounge/lobby area of one of the high end downtown hotels around 5 AM and it's invariably deserted, except for the staff, of whom there are often half a dozen hanging around with nothing obvious to do. But I suppose you're right bbulkow: if you look like a guest they'd probably leave you alone.

As far as late-night dining goes, I'm sure they have no interest in turning their lounges into post-midnight hangouts for drunks leaving the clubs. I suspect that's a major reason there aren't more late night options available in general.

[ML8000]

Indeed, Yelp is handy for some stuff. Says Cafe Mason is about a block from Union Sq and open 24/7, about 5-6 blocks away. Looks a lot nicer then Denny's, Pinecone and Lori's but who knows...might be run by the same people. I doubt you're going to find both wifi and 24 hours except Denny's.

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Cafe Mason
320 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94102

[johnq]

Cafe Mason is not a bad choice. The food is about one notch above Denny's. Sort of a generic diner. It's where I go if I'm not going to make it to Dottie's before 7:20. Doubt they have wifi, but who knows these days. Relatively safe walk from 2nd and Mission, though you're getting towards the edge of the Tenderloin.

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Cafe Mason
320 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94102

[bigwheel042]

Isn't the Starbucks on Powell open 24 hours?

edit: huh, maybe not anymore...

[jeffnsf]

There is a 24 hour donut/coffee shop at 5th & Harrison Streets. I'm not sure if they have wi-fi.
It is amazing how things have changed over the decades. Used to be a lot of stuff open late and 24 hours...now everything is closing early. It is strange and kind of scary.

[wolfe]

The only Wi I found on it's Yelp page was "With" at the beginning of a sentence and compu turned red in find.

[Windy]

That donut shop is kind of scary at 3 p.m.

It's true, a few years ago, I could have named five places open after 4. Now it's just the gym and the supermarket.

[Frosty Melon]

Yup, if I had to be up & doing anything at that hour I wouldn't want to be at 5th & Harrison. Sparky's is a much better idea even if getting there isn't the easiest task. I'd call a cab.

[johnq]

The donut shop is All-Star Donuts, which, oddly enough, serves lots of food other than donughts, including some pretty good chicken, though I'm not sure they're still serving it at 3 AM. Somewhat of a dicey neighborhood, though, at that time of night. I'd think twice about walking from 2nd and Mission to 5th and Harrison after midnight. Not as dangerous as some other parts of the city, but definitely spooky.

[wolfe]

Even the gangs patrol in 2's.

[Robert Lauriston]

The terminal for the all-night AC Transit buses is a few blocks away.

He could catch the N-Owl bus up Market to Sparky's. Probably a more fun place to hang out than Lori's Diner or Pinecrest.

-----
Sparky's 24 Hour Diner
242 Church St, San Francisco, CA 94114

[Windy]

Sparky's on Church Street is open 24 hours. He could see if the 24 hour fitness around the corner on Market would give him a day pass--then he could workout, eat, and shower.

MUNI doesn't have many buses at that hour either, at least not until 6.

I seem to remember the cafe by the flower market being open very early.

[johnq]

Sparky's is too far to walk, particularly at that time of night. Not a good idea to walk much past 5th St. after midnight.

Better choice would be the Denny's on 4th and Mission. It's open 24 hours and I'm pretty sure it has Wifi.

[wolfe]

Who said Yelp isn't good for something
Denny's
816 Mission St
(between 4th St & 5th St)
Wi-Fi:
No

[johnq]

Odd, since the internet seems to think there is wifi there: http://usatoday.jiwire.com/wi-fi-
wireless-hotspot-San-Francisco-California-
CA-US-Denny-s-Restaurant-1364139.htm. (url broken up because it's the only way to get it to post

)

So possibly Yelp has again established that it's not actually good for anything. Or maybe there's wrong information on the internet. Been known to happen. Either way, it's the only 24 hour place I know of in safe walking distance from 2nd and Mission.

[wolfe]

You are correct. This seems to work.
http://usatoday.jiwire.com/wi-fi-wire...

[drewskiSF]

anything else Yelp may be good for or was that the last thing? ;-)