Lucky Penny

*CLOSED* Sad to see this establishment go. A good number of people relied on this place at 3am for greasy food to cure too much drinking. A guaranteed parking spot too because this place was never all that popular.
I remember a story of how this place apparently charged $ 6 * 2 = 12 for two glasses of red wine. The server shamelessly poured two glasses and left the rest of the bottle at the table still with her head held high. Charles Shaw two buck chuck. And the wine is so cheap and nobody else is going to order red wine so why not leave it? They are right by a Trader Joes… good move, huh? Sad you didn’t think of that yourself.

I am soooo sad Lucky Pernny closed. Food was always what I wanted a noon, 6pm or 3 in the morning. Good bye.

SF doesn’t have many 24 hour dining options, other than some fast food and a few donut shops. And today graveyard shift workers and drunkards lost another one (Bagdad Café closed in 2011), Lucky Penny (formerly Copper Penny) is CLOSED. This 50’s style diner will be replaced by a 7 story condo. Those future residents will probably love the benefit of having Trader Joe’s next door and a Target store just across the street.
As a teenager I got to dine at LP many times after work (summer jobs) or after watching a movie at Kabuki Theater long ago, because there was nothing else. Except for eggs, all the ingredients were probably made from canned or frozen food. Usually I’d get a soup of the day with a club sandwich or a daily special. I remember clearly how the waitresses on duty (usually 2) were often more attentive to groups (large check = bigger tip) and ignored solo dinners. So I don’t have any fond memories of this place (no bad experiences either).
SF’s remaining old school style 24 hour diners are Orphan Andy’s, Sparky’s, and Lori’s Diner. In my opinion, none of them are any good. And I’ve always avoided Pinecrest Diner, because of the double murder that happened there. Anyways, most Unilocalers I trust say PD sucks, so no need to try it.
On the other hand, late night cops like to dine at Café Mason. So it may be the only decent 24 hour place in SF. Never been there, so I can’t confirm if good, or maybe only cops get good food.

Lucky Penny was a late evening dining choice decades ago. don’t remember anything negative re dining experiecne.
just remembered asking the server did they serve chow mein?
yep, i was clueless in my youth.
’

As good as it gets — last day is Thursday’s Christmas Eve.
…
…
Best crunchy fried chicken lunch today; minestrone soup, spaghetti, crisp veggies, rolls & butter.
End of an era.

The Lucky Penny has been a great spot for my son and I to PARK, always get our corner table and chill from the hectic SF scene. Its not organic, local, popup or have an app but it provided a relaxing place to have comfort food and a break. Sad to see it go!

I’m so sad to see this place go! Many fond memories. I food was the usual dinner type items and I’ve ordered quite a number of them in the past. Why can’t the new building include this business in their plans? It is beloved… :0(

Sadly, the end of an era nears.
Reading about their impending closure, (confirmed ¹²⁄₂₄^th last day), my friend and I made a point to stop here for at least one last meal.
My history here goes back to my formative years in the ’70’s. Back then, eating western food was a treat and this is a convenient stop after a Kaiser medical appointment or, in those days, shopping at the Sears across the street.
This became a regular breakfast spot for us in the past ten to fifteen years; parking was a big determining factor with the growing issues in SF these days. Trader Joe’s is now next door which escalated this issue.
My go-​to here is their corn beef hash, Sunnyside up eggs, English muffin dry. Don’t expect a culinary experience here, just good old time diner food, hence all of the post party hangover reviews given that they’re open 24 hours. If we came for lunch, we’d often share something else like a Patty melt or, this time, their fried chicken meal (
)… note that the chicken is a bit smaller than normal… but it came with a choice of soup or salad (Monday was corn chowder), two dinner rolls, and the side choices were spaghetti, French fries, or mashed potatoes (opted for double veggies instead).
My favorite memories here were having my first veal Parmigiana at the ripe age of ten. I remember having weekday breakfast or brunches with my best friend’s two kids (fur babies.) who sat in the car, windows open and preferably shaded, as we ate in full view of them.
That’s what places like this are about and, sadly, soon that’s all that will be left… memories. So, if you want to rekindle some of those memories, make sure to stop in by Christmas eve! That will be your last chance.

Since I was young, I’ve passed by this place many times but was never interested in going in. We wanted late night eats and decided ok this is the night I’m finally going to step foot into Lucky Penny!
Lucky I was NOT!
First thing sitting down, I noticed the huge holes on the seats. Then I hear a worker screaming in Chinese, roach! Roach!!! Get it!!! Holy crap! I freaked out already.
We ordered and I got hashbrown and pancakes, yep we stayed still and ate. I had my legs up and off the floor, scared a roach might crawl up.
While eating, I see from the corner of my eye a black thing rinning fast!!! Ahhhhh!!! MOUSE!!!
All my friends and the workers laughed! The ladies working there were just laughing and freaked out themselves!
I would think how can this get worse? Oh it does!
This guy walks in he then starts screaming, jumps into a seat and says holy shit it was huge!!! He saw a huge rat! Ahhhhh… That’s when I ran the hell out of there too!
Disgusting!!!

Heard terrible things about this place. Was locked out of my house so I decided to check this place out for myself while I was waiting for my roommate to get home. One look at my breakfast plate and I knew I wasn’t going to eat it. I paid for it and brought it home so my friends could see for themselves how bad the food was. Burnt bacon, dried scrambled eggs and stale toast. We laughed at how terrible it was. Never again.

The Diner!
This is the best humble place in the City to take a date regardless of the hour. It is open ²⁴⁄₇ (even on Christmas morning!), so it is always perfect.
Many a nocturnal adventure has begun with a 4 am call demanding a voyage to The Diner. The food is perfect to begin the evening, or to have right before bed. I wish there was a diner with food this good in my neighborhood. I guess I will have to keep treking across town to it. (Thank goodness that Über runs in the predawn hours!)
The Diner’s weak spot is its limited wine menu. In a way that adds to its charm.
The food at The Diner is very filling. I usually need to take some back home to finish later.
Everyone enjoys coming here, from urban hipsters to friends’ suburban parents. It is a perfect place to make everyone happy.
The Diner! The Diner! The Diner!

I’ve eaten at lucky penny since the 70’s. Service was always great, exception is this old Korean dragon Lady who works from time to time. She’s obviously in need of some extra estrogen being that she’s always complaining about being to hot. She’s quite pissy. Avoid her if you can. Don’t tip her if she’s rude… Now on to the food .it’s always good for my taste. I like real food not the frufru crap tons of SF food spots are selling these days. I avoid the 20 year olds at all costs it feels right and taste good. Try the fresh Hamburger steak with mushrooms and grilled onions. Or the roasted chicken. I’m going to miss this place. Mels might have better décor but I think Mel’s food tastes old like leftovers in my opinion.

The diner served decent grub for the price. I can see where some people may get turned off by the state of the interior, but the tables and seats were clean and I didn’t see anything that would gross me out in comparison to other diners I’ve seen on the road.
Positives: cheap eats, not crowded, polite and courteous service, OMG there’s parking in front
Cons: lighting was rather dim

Absolutely Horrible service.
Was there last night in a party of five of us. We were not greeted for a good ten minutes and when we did the first thing the waitress said or rather snapped at us before anyone had said anything was «No split check»… Okay.
After We all ordered then came the waiting. Roughly 45 minutes before our food came and even then we were missing all kinds of things, milk shakes, bread, drinks, and a full meal. Which she said nothing about and just had us continue to wait. Around an hour of waiting for a few burgers and omelet for food that was subpar at best? Not worth it.
When we were finally finished and still hadn’t received the strawberry shake. She came with the check and had charged us for it but we never receive it. So we went and told her and she scrambled as if she had no idea what we were talking about just to have us wait another 10 mins to bring out a chocolate milk shake… Not the strawberry one we had ordered. Two hours for honestly to God the worst service I have ever experienced, subpar food, and an filthy facility. I would not recommend.

Bad place. Worst customer service.
The lady receiving me at 11.30pm was an older Asian lady and I asked her if there was wifi and she said yes. Then I go sit in a booth and no one comes to take my order for 20 minutes. Then I go to the counter and she mocks me asking me if I want anything but water. That too sarcastic in front of another customer. Then I say that if only someone came to my table, I would order. She says fine. Then I go to my table and she asked me to order. being 12 am in the night, I didn’t want a whole bunch of food, but she forced me to order minimum of $ 13 to sit at the table. I did order something and it was not so good. While leaving, I did leave her a tip, as i didn’t want bad karma, after all we have all been there. But I know I’m never going to that place ever again.

I’ve always come to this restaurant after a night out with friends and with empty stomach. The food here is actually pretty good !! Some of my favorites include the western burger, fried chicken, and spaghetti. As for the service, it’s luck of the draw, but for me, I feel like it’s okay. Not like a 5 star dining experience but a typical diner setting service.
Another star for having parking onsite and open 24 hours !!!

In the Late 90s and College hang out years.
This was my heaven on the other side of the Sunset.
Big 24hour Dinner.
Jumbo Penny! Ate a gazilion of those.
Big budget with a nice crunchy slice of Carrot.
Bang for my buck.
O ion Rings Rock!
New York Steak Burger is good.
Prime rib is great but pricy.
Just came back from being in LA for five years.
Read in the paper that LP has been bought out to be turned into some houses.
The older sweet white waitress passed away of a heart attack shortly after she retired. She was always upbeat and was a slice of 1950s style cheerful American Waitress. Had great energy.
Where else am I gonna go in that late of the hour with plenty of patking?
Many nights of affordable chow down Jumbo penny dreams. Always had a healthy amount of creamy mayo.
The prices are slightly higher then remembered. But Jumbo penny still delivers.
Milk shakes are traditional and on point with an extra tin can to share.
A personal unique home touch dinner.
Never understood the booth charge.
But place was bang for your buck and a great alternative to Dennys.
I hop is overpriced.

The food wasn’t terrible, it simply had no flavor. It was very obvious the onion rings were previously frozen as they tasted like nothing. My coworker had pork chops which were also previously frozen. Meal wasn’t expensive and they have a parking lot which are two positives and it seemed very clean. I wouldn’t go back simply because they have zero passion in cooking.

I had stumbled upon this place on Unilocal as I was looking up for a place to eat. After being on a 6 hour flight hunger mode took over my common sense and lead me to this place.
This place looks old and dingy with unclean utensils. Me and my group of 6 didn’t care anymore and just ordered there. Location was not hard to find as we spotted it from our über block away
The food was just meh for it’s price. I had spent 9.73 for 2 eggs with hashbrown and toast. Kinda not worth it if I we’re to compare what 9 $ gets me everywhere else.
I would not recommend eating here if you are looking for quality

L O L. This is one of those places that seems like a good idea after 2am, and we all know that nothing good happens after 2am.
It’s just your typical greasy, sketch diner with all the regular breakfast and lunch items. The service is kind of terrible actually, but after 2am no one really cares. The cheescake and pancakes here are pretty good. I also liked the mozzarella sticks, they were thawed to perfection and served with a really scary brown marinara sauce with chunks of mushrooms and mystery meat. The chicken nuggets are okay, the BBQ sauce is bleh.
Stick with the regular commonly known breakfast items unless you have really low standards and like zero taste buds.