Red’s Java House

📍 💰 $

The Verdict

"Come at lunch rather than late in the day, and take the double cheeseburger out to the back patio."

What you need to know

The Food

Burgers and hot dogs on San Francisco sourdough. There is a full breakfast menu and a full bar.

The Story

Brothers Tom and Mike McGarvey bought Franco’s Lunch on Pier 30 in 1955 and renamed it. Franco’s had been feeding longshoremen since the 1930s on a breakfast special of a cheeseburger and a beer. The shack survived a 1984 fire that took the buildings around it. Tiffany Pisoni, a San Franciscan, has owned it since 2009.

Piers 30 and 32 have been the subject of redevelopment proposals for over a decade, so the pier’s long term future comes up a lot in conversation. The shack itself is open.

Practical Info

Price: $. Cheeseburger around $10, fish and chips around $20.

Hours: Opens 7am on weekdays and 9am at weekends, and closes around 5pm. It stays open later on Giants game days.

Getting there: On the Embarcadero just south of the Bay Bridge, an easy walk from Oracle Park.

Bourdain: No Reservations, San Francisco, aired August 2009. He had a double cheeseburger, chili cheese fries and a beer, and framed the place as the antidote to Alice Waters.