Orphan Andy's Restaurant, San Francisco

About Orphan Andy's Restaurant

A Castro diner at the corner of 17th and Jane Warner Plaza, open since 1977 and two doors down from Twin Peaks Tavern. Orphan Andy's took its name from the old Andy's Donuts, and married owners Dennis Ziebell and Bill Pung have kept it running as an all-hours short-order institution ever since. The kitchen turns out diner staples: hand-pressed burgers, three-egg omelettes, stuffed French toast, chicken-fried steak, a well-known tuna melt, and milkshakes, with breakfast served any time of day. The 36-seat room is pure old-Castro: red vinyl booths, counter seating, Tiffany lamps, and disco balls overhead. By day it draws a cross-section of the neighborhood, and on weekends, when it stays open around the clock, it becomes the post-bar landing pad for everyone spilling out of the Castro's late-night spots.