@stanleybmanly It’s really hard for me to picture a San Francisco with only 3 all-night diners. They were everywhere in the city back in the late ‘60s – 70s. They were part of the art and lit culture. We would close the Avalon, WInterland or the Filmore, then go down to Lombard, the Haight, or North Beach to eat in some all-night ma-and-pa joint, or there was always the all-night Doggie Diner on Van Ness (I think).
There was a place around the corner in the alley near Ferlinghetti’s Bookstore that was all-night, run by a Russian gypsy lady, she always had a bunch of stroganoff in a big pot—all you could eat for two bucks. I don’t even think the place had a name. There was an all-night hole-in-the-wall around the block from the Hungry Eye that served all you can eat spaghetti, garlic bread and minestroni soup for a dollar.
I don’t think the City would have had a Beat, Head, or much of a literary or art culture without those places, especially those in North Beach. The City was a haven for counter-culture and I don’t think counter cultures survive without all-night venues. Vanguard art, music and literature doesn’t happen between 9 and 5.