It happens to the best of us. One drink turns into two turns into... well, more than two. And though you swore you weren't going to skip dinner and that you definitely were going to drink all of the water before bed, you probably didn't, and now you kind of want to die just a little. Instead of dying, though, just remember that a hangover is your free pass to eat all of the delicious, greasy, savory, sweet, indulgent food that you want.
Like these 31 things, all of which you can find in SF. And many of which likely can be ordered with a Bloody Mary.
Bacon Bacon
Ashbury Heights
Over-easy egg. Cheese. Brioche bun. Bacon jam. Bacon. Pro tip: the more adult beverages you enjoy at night, the better the breakfast sandwich tastes in the morning.
Happy Donuts
Noe Valley
Sometimes life calls for a perfectly classic glazed donut. And by "sometimes", we mean "right now". No seriously, someone please bring us a dozen of these.
4505 Burgers & BBQ
Western Addition
Crispy FRIED mac & cheese. With a hot dog inside. If only they'd had stuff like this when you were a kid...
Farmerbrown
Union Square
Fried chicken and waffles. Enough said.
The Elite Cafe
Lower Pac Heights
These deviled eggs are legendary for a reason.
Brenda's French Soul Food
Tenderloin
What? There's no such thing as too much fried chicken.
Plow
Potrero Hill
It's not a hangover without eggs Benedict. Plow's lemony hollandaise makes 'em especially good.
The Cavalier
SOMA
Eggs, bacon, bangers, roasted tomato, pullman... it's a breakfast fit for an Englishman, but tastes just as good going down if you're American.
Rose's Café
Cow Hollow
All you have to do to make a pizza into breakfast food is put an egg on it. Rose's just happens to do it better than everyone else.
La Urbana
Western Addition
Quesadillas with manchego, smoked habanero salsa, and creme? Si.
Tartine Bakery
The Mission
Morning, bun!
Zazie
Cole Valley
Why get the Croque Monsieur when you can get the Croque Madame, which is the same ooey-gooey ham and Gruyere sandwich, only with a sunny-side egg on top?
Pinkie's Bakery
SOMA
Apple fritter. No sharing allowed.
Nopa
Western Addition
Ain't nothin' wrong with eating a burger for breakfast and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Mama Ji's
The Castro
Dumplings! Dumplings! Dumplings! Dumplings!
Jay's Cheesesteak
The Mission
Just 'cause we're not in Philly doesn't mean we shouldn't eat cheesesteaks. Can't go wrong with Jay's Original.
Wayfare Tavern
Financial District
Hand-cut potatoes, oxtail, roasted vegetable gravy, mozzarella curd... you'll be poutine this in your mouth at a rate no one wants to watch. (Sorry, we literally cannot help ourselves.)
Marina Submarine
Cow Hollow
It's the best sub sandwich in the city. Eat it.
Patxi's Pizza
Hayes Valley
Deep dish pizza with jalapeños. The waiting is the hardest part.
Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen
The Mission
The Semite Sandwich is where it's at: crispy pastrami, Swiss, deli mustard, and a fried egg on griddled rye.
Straw
Hayes Valley
Yup, it's a breakfast sandwich with a fried egg, maple-glazed bacon, cheddar, and jack, but on two donuts.
The Melt
SOMA
It's a grilled cheese... with mac & cheese AND bacon.
Pork Store Cafe
Upper Haight
Best hash browns in SF, hands down.
SliderBar
The Castro
Super-crispy Belgian fries with 11 different dipping sauces, including one that's top secret.
Bullitt
Russian Hill
Of all of the world's greatest inventions, Tot-chos is probably the best. It's a tater tot/nacho situation with melted cheese, jalapeños, black olives, pico de gallo, sour cream, and guac.
Rice Paper Scissors
The Mission
Texas French toast with coconut custard, coconut whipped cream, and fresh strawberries. And an adorable tea cup of maple syrup for you to dip it in (or dump on top of it).
Sweet Maple
Lower Pac Heights
This Millionaire's Bacon is extra thick and seasoned with red pepper flakes, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and dark brown sugar.
Trouble Coffee
Outer Sunset
This is the best cinnamon toast you will ever eat. Ever.
Fog City
Embarcadero
Go ahead, dip that Southern fried chicken sandwich in ranch. They'll bring you more when you run out.
La Taqueria
The Mission
Voted the BEST burrito in America.
Craftsman and Wolves
The Mission
The Rebel Within is a soft boiled egg inside a muffin that has sausage baked into it. Yuuuuuuuuup.
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Daisy Barringer is Thrillist's SF Editor and she wasn't joking about those donuts. Bring those... and anything else on this list to her right now, please. Tweet at her @daisy for her address.
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1. Bacon Bacon
205 Frederick St, San Francisco -
2. Happy Donuts
3801 24th St, San Francisco -
3. 4505 Burgers & BBQ
705 Divisadero, San Francisco -
4. Farmerbrown
25 Mason St, San Francisco -
5. Elite Cafe
2049 Fillmore St, San Francisco -
6. Brenda's French Soul Food
652 Polk St, San Francisco -
7. Plow
1299 18th St, San Francisco -
8. The Cavalier
360 Jesse St, San Francisco -
9. Rose's Café
2298 Union St, San Francisco -
10. La Urbana
661 Divisadero St, San Francisco -
11. Zazie
941 Cole St., San Francisco -
12. Pinkie's Bakery
1196 Folsom St, San Francisco -
13. Nopa
560 Divisadero St, San Francisco -
14. Mama Ji's
4416 18th St, San Francisco -
15. Wayfare Tavern
558 Sacramento St, San Francisco -
16. Marina Submarine
2299 Union St, San Francisco -
17. Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen
3150 24th St, San Francisco -
18. Straw
203 Octavia Blvd, San Francisco -
19. Pork Store Cafe
1451 Haight St, San Francisco -
20. SliderBar
2295 Market St, San Francisco -
21. Bullitt
2209 Polk St, San Francisco -
22. Fog City
1300 Battery St, San Francisco -
23. La Taqueria
2889 Mission St, San Francisco -
24. Craftsman & Wolves
746 Valencia St, San Francisco
You'll be able to smell the wafts of perfectly-cooked bacon at this Cole Valley hub from miles away. From flavored bacon sandwiches to cookies dipped in chocolate & coated in bacon bits, there's no way you can go wrong.
Happy Donuts keeps it simple with tasty breakfast sandwiches and croissants, cheap, perfectly made glazed donuts, and other pastries and sandwiches that are available 24/7.
An offshoot of the original 4505 Meats, this burger and 'cue shack is one for the Divis books. This butcher-owned and operated spot takes meat and barbecue seriously, with loaded platters of pulled pork, smoked ribs, and hot sausage, and quarter-pound grass-fed burgers. No matter if your main is in the form of a sandwich or platter, don't overlook the fixin's -- the fried mac & cheese with a hot dog inside is an insanely delicious creation.
This super-popular Union Square spot sets the San Francisco standard for Southern soul food with an upscale menu of BBQ baby back ribs, biscuits and gravy, and cheesy grits. Most notable is the chicken and waffles, also served at sister joint Little Skillet. Bottomless weekend brunch is Farmerbrown's most popular time, and if you don't make a reservation, your best bet is to put your name down and get a head start on the mimosas at the bar.
Nestled into Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights, the handsome, wood-laden Elite Cafe is beloved for its New Orleans-inspired brunch and dinner menus, which feature dishes like breakfast biscuits with fried ham, chicken jambalaya with squash and turnips, crawfish etouffee, and duck gumbo. Make sure you save room for the bacchus, a giant bananas foster sundae with crème fraiche ice cream, chocolate pearls, toasted coconut, and walnuts. In addition to Creole classics, there are exceptional cocktail standbys like a Hurricane, a Sazerac, and (of course) Bloody Marys at brunch.
Two words: crawfish beignets. We could stop there convinced you’d still check out the brunch at this Tenderloin soul food eatery, but we’ll go on. Get the beignet flight, so you can also sample the classic, chocolate, and Granny Smith apple varieties. The massive menu has more than just fried treats, though. You can chow down on Creole-style favorites like gumbo, shrimp and grits, and andouille omelettes. The brunch wait can be long, but we promise it's worth it -- especially after you try a Creole Bloody.
This Potrero Hill gem has been a brunch standby since 2010 and makes some of our favorite eggs Benedict in the city. Be prepared to wait, though -- this small space doesn’t take reservations and can rack up two-hour wait times on the weekends. But once you’re seated with a fresh mimosa and those light-as-air lemon ricotta pancakes, you'll quickly forget the time you spent in line.
An upscale pub-style joint in Soma from the folks behind Park Tavern, Marlowe, and S&R Lounge, The Cav serves a British-themed menu with hearty standouts like venison tartare; a bacon, caramelized onion, and cheddar burger; and Shepherd's pie.
Rose's Cafe is a quaint, mom-and-pop café in Cow Hollow with comforting Italian flare. Its extensive brunch has made it a neighborhood staple for years, but it's also great for a family meal or a low-key date. The daily changing menu has a little bit of everything, but Rose’s breakfast pizza (which can come with egg, arugula, or prosciutto) may be its most popular item to-date. If a smoked salmon breakfast pizza doesn’t appeal, come back for a fresh seafood dinner and some hand-made pasta.
A Western Addition Mexstaurant with a mescaleria INSIDE of it, Urbana's got eats like a surf and turf of Dungeness crab and ribeye, plus their deconstructed take on churros.
Since 1992, this petite French bistro has been a San Francisco brunch institution, where locals and tourists alike have gathered to enjoy awesome dishes in an intimate and quaint setting. It's a Cole Valley neighborhood gem that has countless meals worth lingering over; from its multi-level back porch/garden to its dog-friendliness to the awesome Croque Monsieur, Zazie is a spot that has added permanent character and charm to the city.
This little SOMA bakery only makes donuts on Saturday, but they're worth the wait and the trek. Flavors vary, but if the cinnamon sugar is available, make sure you get one. Or two. Or seven.
Nopa is a San Francisco institution that does everything really, really well. It's the best brunch in Western Addition and one of the best in the whole city. Its burger is perfect with pickled onions and French fries, especially when eaten at the bar. It's a one-stop-shop for a date, a birthday dinner, or dinner with your parents. Plus, the kitchen is open until 1 AM for a full dinner. Yeah, this place wins at everything.
A dim sum palace with all of the classics, including a porcupine-like deep-fried shrimp ball and a steamed egg custard bun that is DIVINE.
Wayfare Tavern, owned by Tyler Florence and helmed by Executive Chef/Michelin Star-earner Joey Elenterio, feels like a private club/gastropub with its extensive dark wood and leather finishes. It's known for its “ridiculously good fried chicken,” but be sure to taste other seasonal menu must-haves, such as the baked macaroni and cheese, the burger, and the deviled eggs. Pro tip: make a reservation to sit upstairs, where it's a bit quieter.
This Cow Hollow sammy shop has been making near-perfect subs since the '80s, and their bread is always perfectly toasted, their veggies precisely sliced, and don’t even think about foregoing the “secret sauce”.
If it's a little difficult to make it from your office to the deep Mission-located Wise Sons, you are in luck, because this pastrami paradise has started a delivery service using TCB Courier that -- provided you make a minimum order -- delivers to the less-deep Mission with no extra charge and Downtown for an extra fiver.
Straw is an over-the-top-playful, carny-themed eatery imagined by a quartet of former Outside Lands concession-eers, with a festive 30-seat interior anchored by a booth built from an actual Tilt-a-Whirl car, plus framed Coney Island photography, light fixtures made of Exeter Mason jars, and a bathroom full of funhouse mirrors, also what Kirstie Alley calls normal mirrors in an effort to avoid a shame spiral.
This notorious SF spot is known for its crazy-delicious brunches at either location. Get down with a number of locally-inspired plates, or get sipping on some super tasty 'tails.
Slider options count the D-Lux (Kobe beef w/ Swiss, pickled onions, little gem, chipotle ketchup, truffle aioli), the 3 Alarm (w/ habanero pepper jam, sliced serranos, pickled jalapenos), and the Hot Chick (ground chicken w/ a serrano/garlic/lime/tomatillo patty, and crushed tortilla chips on a multi-grain bun) -- all of which can come with regular, garlic, truffle, or sweet potato fries in a solo-sized "regular" or a catcher-from-Sandlot-sized "family".
Bullitt's got a finely designed interior to match the retro coolness of the Steve McQueen flick it was named after. Sporting a sheet metal bar with low-hanging Edison bulbs and fine wood paneling, this Russian Hill district favorite's got and endless supply of bottled beer and food just as laid-back as the crowd who frequent it with a small selection of bar bites ideal for hardcore cheese-lovers. From the thick beef burgers, to the nachos, to the widely beloved tater tots, everything's covered head to toe in the stuff.
When Chef Bruce Hill (Zero Zero, Bix, Picco in Larkspur) decided to take over and remake the legendary Fog City Diner, it was a calculated risk. After all, the diner was a legend. But his revitalization was spot-on, and the burger he brought to this party (which he has claimed would happily be his last meal) is easily one of the best in the city. The combination of the smoked tomato aioli, house-made American, thin patty, dill pickle, and onion create what in many ways is the perfect version of the upscale diner burger. Even better? You can get the burger and the rest of the menu plus cocktails like a raspberry-based Negroni from 7am 'til 2am.
This no-frills taqueria is home to the best burrito in America. The Mission-style burrito has a healthy dose of meat, cheese, beans, homemade hot sauce, salsa, and no rice. The place has been around for 40 years and if the daily long lines are any indication, they're doing something right. Ask for your burrito "El Dorado-style" to get your rice-less bundle of joy thrown on the grill until the outside is golden brown and the inside has melted to perfection.
This communal-equipped, industrial-looking noshery is anchored by a 20ft display case behind which hang pictures of a torn-in-half plane and an abandoned van on an island... almost makes you wonder if they got LOST.