Red’s Java House

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.