Cafeography
San Francisco

Cafés open late in San Francisco

Caffe Trieste until 22:00, Yemeni coffee, Geary Boulevard dessert cafés and 24-hour donut counters.

Photo: Stephen Leonardi, Pexels License

San Francisco’s late coffee tradition is older than its specialty scene. Giovanni Giotta took over a small café at 601 Vallejo Street in North Beach in 1956, renamed it Caffè Trieste and opened on April 1 as the first espresso coffeehouse on the West Coast.12 Francis Ford Coppola wrote much of the screenplay for The Godfather at its tables, and for decades opera singers have performed there on Saturdays.1

Caffe Trieste still pours daily until 22:00 and takes cash only. Elsewhere, late hours belong mostly to tea bars, dessert cafés and Yemeni coffeehouses. The Sunset ranks first for late opening, with Union Square, SoMa and Nob Hill tied behind it.

Local tip: After 22:00 on a Friday or Saturday, Cafe la Rosa at 791 O’Farrell Street serves until midnight; later than that, Happy Donut on Columbus Avenue never closes.

Where these cafés are: Sunset District (4), Union Square & Tenderloin (3), North Beach & Chinatown (3), SoMa & Mission Bay (3), Hayes Valley & Civic Center (3), Nob Hill & Russian Hill (3), NoPa, Western Addition & Japantown (2), Richmond District (2), Bernal Heights & Glen Park (1), Marina, Cow Hollow & Pacific Heights (1), Mission District (1).

At a glance

26Cafés listed
26With opening hours
00:00Earliest opening
00:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: All Stars, from 00:00 (Mon–Wed 05:00–18:00 · Thu 05:00–00:00 · Fri 00:00–01:00, 05:00–00:00 · Sat Open 24 hours · Sun 00:00–18:00).
  • Closes latest: Heyma Yemeni Coffee & Brunch, until 00:00 (Mon–Thu 07:30–23:30 · Fri 07:30–00:00 · Sat 08:00–00:00 · Sun 08:00–23:30).
  • Most listed streets: Polk Street (3), Irving Street (3).
  • Most common features: wheelchair access (35%), takeaway (27%), wi-fi (19%).
SoMa & Mission Bay

Heyma Yemeni Coffee & Brunch

  • 248 9th Street
  • Mon–Thu 07:30–23:30 · Fri 07:30–00:00 · Sat 08:00–00:00 · Sun 08:00–23:30
  • +1 510-283-8581
Map WebsiteIs this you?Report
Nob Hill & Russian Hill

Teaspoon

  • 2125 Polk Street
  • Mon–Thu 11:00–21:00 · Fri–Sat 11:00–23:00 · Sun 11:00–21:00
Map WebsiteIs this you?Report
Hayes Valley & Civic Center

Bar & Bean Fusion

  • 1 Polk Street
  • Mon–Wed 09:00–22:30 · Thu 09:00–23:00 · Fri–Sat 09:00–23:30 · Sun 09:00–21:00
MapIs this you?Report
Union Square & Tenderloin

Cafe la Rosa

  • 791 O'Farrell Street
  • Mon–Thu 07:00–22:00 · Fri–Sat 07:00–00:00 · Sun 07:00–22:00
MapIs this you?Report

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in San Francisco.

Yemeni coffeehouses after dark

Yemeni-style coffeehouses add spiced drinks to the late list. Delah Coffee, with cafés at 370 4th Street in SoMa and 450 Sansome Street, serves a Yemeni latte infused with cardamom, cinnamon and honey, and Adeni chai, black tea boiled with cream and spices.3

Sana’a Cafe, named after Yemen’s capital, serves Yemeni coffee and pastries spiced with cinnamon and cardamom; in 2024 a customer told CBS it was one of the few shops open late in the Financial District.4 Its café at 199 New Montgomery Street opens until 22:00 every day.

Dessert cafés and tea bars on Geary, Irving and Polk

NaYa Dessert Cafe at 5338 Geary Boulevard opens at 17:00 on weekdays and at noon at weekends, and closes at midnight; its Hayes Valley branch at 535 Octavia Street serves daily 12:00–23:00. Oh Dessert Cafe at 1919 Irving Street opens Tuesday to Friday from 18:00 to 23:00, and Ceré Tea at 1186 Valencia Street opens only in the evening, until 23:00.

Bubble tea and matcha keep counters lit too. Plentea at 341 Kearny Street serves daily until 23:00, Teaspoon at 2125 Polk Street until 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, and iTea at 2150 Irving Street daily until 22:00.

Espresso after 21:00

For coffee rather than tea, Cafe la Rosa at 791 O’Farrell Street stays open until 00:00 on Fridays and Saturdays and until 22:00 the rest of the week. Bar & Bean Fusion at 1 Polk Street closes at 23:30 on Fridays and Saturdays, and Finjan Qahwa at 3188 Mission Street at 23:00. ADAN CAFE at 120 Mason Street and Twisted St. Café at 2320 Lombard Street both serve daily 07:00–22:00.

Three counters barely close. All Star Cafe at 1500 Market Street and Happy Donut at 145 Columbus Avenue are open 24 hours, and All Stars at 901 Clement Street is open all day Saturday and until midnight on Thursdays and Fridays. In the Mission, Tartine Manufactory at 595 Alabama Street stays open until 21:00 from Tuesday to Sunday.5

Getting home on Muni Owl buses

After midnight, Muni switches to Owl service: the L Owl starts at 22:00 and the other Owl routes at 00:00. Several, including the N Judah and L Taraval Owls, take a different path from the daytime line.6

At weekends the 38 Geary, 22 Fillmore, 24 Divisadero and N Judah Owls run every 30 minutes, the L Taraval every 20 and the 14 Mission every 15.6 The 38 Geary Owl runs along the same boulevard as NaYa Dessert Cafe.

Sources

  1. Caffe Trieste, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Today Is Caffe Trieste’s 60th Anniversary, Hoodline (Geri Koeppel, April 1, 2016), accessed October 2026
  3. SF’s First Yemeni-Style Coffee House Expands to the East Bay, The San Francisco Standard (Christina Campodonico, December 29, 2022), accessed October 2026
  4. Cafe in San Francisco Financial District sharing Yemeni culture through coffee, CBS San Francisco (Loureen Ayyoub, April 30, 2024), accessed October 2026
  5. Locations, Tartine, accessed October 2026
  6. Weekend Frequency Guide, SFMTA, accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

Other ways to browse San Francisco

Specialty coffee

24 cafés

Outdoor seating

92 cafés

Wi-Fi

72 cafés

Bakery cafés

40 cafés

Open by 6am

20 cafés

By area: North Beach & Chinatown Union Square & Tenderloin Hayes Valley & Civic Center SoMa & Mission Bay Mission District Sunset District

FAQ

Open late in San Francisco: questions

Which cafés in San Francisco are open 24 hours?

All Star Cafe at 1500 Market Street and Happy Donut at 145 Columbus Avenue in North Beach are open 24 hours. All Stars at 901 Clement Street in the Richmond is open all day Saturday and until midnight on Thursdays and Fridays, and Cafe la Rosa at 791 O’Farrell Street serves until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

How late is Caffe Trieste in San Francisco open?

Caffe Trieste at 601 Vallejo Street in North Beach is open daily 07:00–22:00 and takes cash only. Giovanni Giotta opened it in 1956 as the first espresso coffeehouse on the West Coast; Francis Ford Coppola wrote much of The Godfather screenplay there, and opera singers have performed on Saturdays for decades.

Which San Francisco Muni buses run late at night after the cafés close?

Muni’s Owl service starts at 00:00, except the L Owl, which starts at 22:00. At weekends the 38 Geary, 22 Fillmore, 24 Divisadero and N Judah Owls run every 30 minutes, the L Taraval every 20 minutes and the 14 Mission every 15 minutes. Some Owl routes, including the N and L, differ from their daytime path.

For café owners

Your café deserves better than a pin someone else dropped

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design