fun activities in San Francisco at 3 am?

March 15, 2006 7:43 PM

What is there to do in the middle of the night in San Francisco?

We've got a friend visiting from out of town. Her flight home is tomorrow at some ridiculously early hour of the morning, so we're thinking of just going down to San Francisco and doing some late night tourism instead of trying to get any sleep. Any ideas?

posted by moss to Society & Culture (11 answers total)

This is for entertainment tonight?

111 minna is the hippest place to club on a Wednesday, although it closes at 10. It is, however, awesome and wonderfully unpretentious. Okay, maybe not, but it is awesome.

Alternately, the squidlist calendar can be super useful, but I don't see much after

Past midnight on a wednesday, I'm not sure. There must be more than that!
posted by metaculpa at 8:04 PM on March 15, 2006

How late are you talking? There's any number of cafes to go hang out at. There's the Big Heart Cafe over on Geary in Richmond, and there's the Bagdad Cafe over on Market around the Castro are.

metaculpa is right, the squidlist is good.

There's often movies running pretty late at most of the theaters in the city as well.

You could also hit one of the great bars if you're into that.
posted by smallerdemon at 8:09 PM on March 15, 2006

If you like electronic music, specifically electro and techno, you should definitely go to the Endup tonight. It goes till 4am..
posted by rajbot at 8:09 PM on March 15, 2006

Ocean Beach can be lovely by moonlight. Sometimes the waves seem slightly phosphorescent, and the sound is wonderful. I've never been there so late, though, so I don't know if it's safe. I would think so, but the usual precautions apply.
posted by Quietgal at 8:13 PM on March 15, 2006

Ocean beach is safe at night. You can make a fire on the beach and hang out under the mostly-full moon.. but it might rain later. You can make fires on the part of the beach between Lincoln and Fulton. The police usually show up on weekends to make sure you are following their rules, but it should be hassle-free on wednesday night.. still, be discreet w/ alcohol. Note that you will get ticketed if you park in the lot after 10pm, so park on the street.

Really though, go to the Endup instead; it'll be warmer.
posted by rajbot at 8:21 PM on March 15, 2006

Best answer: Well, you're probably already doing whatever it is you decided to do, but you could do worse than driving/busing/cabbing it up to twin peaks to check out the view. It's not that overcast tonight.
posted by trip and a half at 9:27 PM on March 15, 2006

Yeah, it's looking pretty nice out tonight really, so I'm hoping that they ended up somewhere enjoying the night.
posted by smallerdemon at 9:35 PM on March 15, 2006

Bob's Doughnuts on Polk near California. Open and frying fresh delights all night. Not just for speed freaks and midnight cowboys anymore! Great for people watching, and the buttermilk bars are the WUH!
posted by squirrel at 11:11 PM on March 15, 2006

Whoa, there's an all-night donut place? I'm so happy!
posted by metaculpa at 11:49 PM on March 15, 2006

Response by poster: We ended up going to twin peaks, walking the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral, and then realizing that we didn't actually have time to go to the Bagdad Cafe as planned. Thanks to everyone for some great suggestions--I'll be keeping the rest of these in mind for the next time I'm down that way at night.
posted by moss at 3:51 PM on March 16, 2006

Wow. I never expected that to be 'best answer', but I'm glad you had a good time. Cheers!
posted by trip and a half at 3:24 AM on March 18, 2006