If SF is so diverse why isn't it reflected in its food? (San Jose: apartments, hotels)

[luau]

SF is supposedly more diverse than LA, but why is good/diverse/healthy food so hard to come by 24/7? In LA I could either walk or get delivered to me almost any kind of cuisine there was, brazilian, cuban, or even breakfast at 2am! Here? Forget about it. Restaurants close at 10pm. I miss being able to walk into Canter's Deli and get a delicious, fresh, handcarved sandwich. I miss going to Versailles and getting a delicious rotisseries chicken. There's a lack of healthy restaurants here too that aren't vegan. And why can't I get breakfast at 1am?

[sav858]

Canters isn't "healthy".

[Carlite]

Presumably because of the prominence of the entertainment industry, parts of LA keep later hours than San Francisco. That's just part of the cities' character. In some locations in San Francisco, residential neighbors have prevented restaurants from staying open late. I don't know where you're living, but you may want to move closer to Union Square and Chinatown if possible, they have the largest concentration of late night restaurants. When they are open, San Francisco's restaurants are as good as anywhere.

[luau]

Originally Posted by Carlite

Presumably because of the prominence of the entertainment industry, parts of LA keep later hours than San Francisco. That's just part of the cities' character. In some locations in San Francisco, residential neighbors have prevented restaurants from staying open late. I don't know where you're living, but you may want to move closer to Union Square and Chinatown if possible, they have the largest concentration of late night restaurants. When they are open, San Francisco's restaurants are as good as anywhere.

Thanks for the intelligent response. I actually would move closer to union square because its closer to the office but I don't think I can afford to. Isn't the Chinatown area dirty though?

As for the quality of the food, I don't think so. I mean I don't normally go to the really posh $100 per plate restaurants so I can't speak on that but for normal food I think LA is better. I know this isn't healthy but I loved me some Roscoe's Chicken and Biscuits once in a while. As for healthy stuff LA had plenty of organic juice bars and delicious grills. The only good food I've eaten in SF is Chinese.

[04kL4nD]

Uh, I thought you were from San Jose, but just moved to the city...

[luau]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

Uh, I thought you were from San Jose, but just moved to the city...

mod cut I grew up mostly in South Bay AS A KID, and AS A YOUNG ADULT worked in LA. Now I am an OLDER YOUNG ADULT and I work in SF. Does that make sense?

[Carlite]

Chinatown itself doesn't have that much great housing--a lot of it is in older residential hotels. My understanding is that Chinatown is mostly occupied by older people and new immigrants. But there's lots of apartments in neighborhoods around Chinatown, like North Beach. North Beach probably also has more late night activity than most area, but nothing around there is cheap.

You've named a couple of cuisines--Jewish deli and Southern--where LA has an undeniable edge over San Francisco. You might want to try Wise Brothers Deli on 24th St. and see what you think, it's kind of a new wave deli. Actually, Oakland has a number of good Southern restaurants if you ever get over there. Where LA shines is Chinese, Japanese, Italian, California Cuisine, Vietnamese (better than anything in the core of LA, though only San Jose has a concentration of restaurants comparable to Little Saigon). There are some cuisines that San Francisco does well, like Mexican and Korean, but doesn't have the massive numbers that LA does. There are also a fair number of brewpubs in SF, some of which have high quality food.

[Isebiel]

Yeah, there's not much open late of any sort of cuisine. I'm not sure it has much to do with diversity.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Isebiel

Yeah, there's not much open late of any sort of cuisine. I'm not sure it has much to do with diversity.

Why does a business not stay open late? Probably the same reason a business does anything: Turn a profit. If staying open late in SF loses money, the owner doesn't keep it open late.

One possible reason:
In such a compact, densely populated place like The City, the later a bar or eatery stays open, the more it exposes itself to a population that gets increasingly sketchy as the night rolls on into the wee hours. (Ask anybody who's worked graveyard at Denny's, for example).

[sav858]

Originally Posted by luau

I know this isn't healthy but I loved me some Roscoe's Chicken and Biscuits once in a while.

You mean Roscoe's Chicken and WAFFLES?