The line snakes out the door on a recent morning at Market Street’s All Star Cafe, where business is brisk for the breakfast rush.
The line never dips below four deep as the two employees working behind the counter greet each customer with a cheerful good morning, knowing many of the regulars’ orders by heart.
“This is two days in a row I’ve been here,” said one pleased-looking apple-fritter buyer to the woman ringing him up. “My god, it’s good.”
At the nexus of Market Street and South Van Ness Avenue, All Star is surrounded by skyscrapers: The sparkling glass of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency building, the giant apartment complex at 100 Van Ness Ave., the luxury housing at The Oak.
How has this tiny, squat building managed to become the building that development forgot? It won’t be, for long.
The San Francisco Planning Department gave the go-ahead in 2017 to the One Oak residential development project for a 40-story, 400-foot tall tower at 1540 Market St.
While the revised proposal, since updated multiple times, changes the balance of retail, parking and residential apartments, the fate of the All Star is ultimately the same: Demolition.
The next hearing for the project is March 19. The cafe owner could not be reached for comment.
“At this time, Planning does not have a specific timeline for demolition of the existing building, as that would occur only after the building permit is issued,” said Candace SooHoo, operations and digital communications manager for the department.
The project sponsor Brynn McKiernan, who could not be reached for comment, would have up to three years from the approval date to obtain the necessary building permits and begin construction.
There’s still a lot of time for bagel sandwiches between now and then, and the All Star keeps shining bright, a tiny light in a universe of supernovas.
With breakfast sandwiches starting at $5.50 and the entire pastry board — including danishes, BBQ pork buns and ham-and-cheese croissants — coming in at $4.50, the prices likely keep people returning.
Plus, there are the hours: The All Star Cafe is one of the few 24-hour operations in the city (another rare round-the-clock operation, the Silver Crest Diner on Bayshore Boulevard, shuttered in 2024).
There’s nowhere to sit in the 900-square-foot, bare-bones All Star: You line up, order, and get out. Your drip coffee is served to you — two flavors as well as a medium roast are on offer — and a number from one to three indicates how much cream you want pumped in.
The most popular items in the morning are the breakfast sandwiches and, no surprise, the donuts and pastries, temptingly lined up under the glass.
Asier B., who works in the area, comes to the cafe every morning for his medium coffee. “They’re super nice, so I like to support them,” he said. “This is a hard corner, and I want them to feel safe.”
“They’re so lovely,” agreed repeat customer Elena Pinnen. But it’s not only the great service that brings her in for her regular cappuccinos. “It’s really good quality,” she said. “I’m Italian, and I’m able to drink it.”
“I’m so glad you’re writing a story about them,” Pinnen said. “They deserve it.”
I’ve passed this place hundreds of times and I always assumed it was gross based on the surroundings. Guess I better try it before it goes.
All Star Cafe shines, from the inside…
Bravo for this coverage, bravo! I’ve been an All Star customer for as long as I can remember. Everyone make sure to try their teriyaki chicken dish!
Will be replaced by luxury apartments and ground floor cafe none of the customers of all star can afford.
The headline amuses me because it’s lasted much longer than I expected! I was, I confess, an enthusiastic supporter of the high-rise planned to replace it in my YIMBY days, and because back then I believed in the simplistic formula Approvals = Housing (= Lower Rents), I never imagined that 9 years after the project was approved, the cafe would still be there. It goes to show financing is just as important to building housing as zoning is, maybe more, and we need robust public investment in affordable housing if we want to keep construction going during a down market. Our local YIMBY groups, it turned out, didn’t really agree with that in practice, which was why I moved on. As for the All Star Cafe itself, I’ve enjoyed the food when I was hungry late at night, waiting to switch from the 90 to the 14.
What have you moved on to? Construction finance management? It sounds like you’re still a ‘YIMBY’ but know and care about the part that no one cares to write articles about.
You may have noticed that the construction of the high rise across Van Ness from the All Star has stalled. Still a big hole in the ground waiting to be filled. And a couple of high end high rises in Oakland went into receivership in the past year or so. The high end high rise residential market appears to be softening.
San Francisco has holes in the ground that are decades old.
Rich people can afford to wait…
Big thanks to The All-Star Cafe for being there, open, in the middle of the night too. I guess cash is as dead as a 24- hour establishment in San Francisco. But they were there to break my $20 out of the ATM when I needed bus fare (and a break from standing alone at the creepy all night bus stop) across the intersection.
That’s an invaluable business and human kindness that, like Fantastico or the Silver Crest Diner, this town doesn’t tend to replace once it’s gone.
The All Star Cafe building also houses the only elevator to the Van Ness MUNI station. They’ll need to do something about that before demolition.
Squat is right! I always wonder how these barnacles survive, and with such incredible humanity, at the navel of the city, while soulless structures replace McRoskey Mattress and the rest.
Love these highlights on small and sometimes forgotten businesses. That said, also excited to see a small, underutilized site, a forgotten corner of the city, gain new life through a long-overdue housing project with 541 apartments, serving nearly twice that number of San Franciscans. Pour one out for the donut shop, but cheers to progress.
Just like the wild rose that grows in my garden, it will never, ever die. I’ve known of it for 69 years. It’s a five petal rose. Not the one that everyone is after. I’ve cut it down again and again. it just likes my garden. That sticker just pops up somewhere else. Respect for this fighter.
I’ll stop in and check it out! I’ve passed by many times. However, that location (along with the infamous Divisidero car wash and DMV) have long embodied the missed opportunities for dense livable spaces in the middle of SF.
All Star benefits orders of magnitude more San Franciscans than housing at that site ever would.