Video Cafe

I am writing this reveiw simply to remember… I used to get off at 2am and every once in awhile my boyfriend and I would frequent the place for their awesome egg rolls. Its kind of ironic that a place can bring up so much child hood nostolgia from its décor and at the same time be nostolgic in its own exsistence or now rather non exsistence. It was an awesome place to catch a bite late at night without spending a fortune. The people who worked there were also very kind. I dont know if there will ever be another place like it…

I loved this place. Where else can you watch movies and drink a Thai iced tea while eating scrambled eggs and french fries?
Obviously I was part of the late night crowd. This was one of the best people watching spots in the city. Hipsters, old folks, foreigners, etc etc etc. Snarky waitresses. Video Café, you are missed.

I lived down the block from the Video Café in its final year of business and would often go for takeout on my days off and take friends there for late-​late-​night grub. The staff were lovely and always nice to me. This was the only place in the City where I could order steamed rice with my usual bacon and eggs, a substitution that one of the women on the staff came to recognize as sort of «my thing» after a few visits. I don’t live on 21^st anymore, and I miss this place a lot. I really hope that the former staff have found good jobs, maybe with less demanding hours.
Thanks for the memories, Video Café!

I really sad to hear of it’s closure. The only reaason I even found out was because I was driving down Geary with a friend, on my way out to the beach area, and though about stopping there to eat. As we passed by, I saw it was closed. I was hoping the owner was just remodeling or upgrading but alas, no such luck. I brought out of town friends, my boyfriend, by myself, my photographer friends. *sigh*
24 Hour Video Café was my fave late-​night and early morning spot. *sadness* It will be missed. i really hope the find a way to come back.
Oh, and the food was good. They gave you a plate-​full for your money.

I guess my review is moot since its now closed. :(
This WAS one of my favorite post bar hop, post nightclub, post rave, post concert, post movie date spot. I’ve been going to this place since the days of VHS when they had a video rental store adjacent to the diner. I’ve watched so many bad movies there and a few good ones too but I was always entertained and fed well when I went there. RIP Video Café — you will be missed.

I was shocked to hear that Video Café had closed — no signs leading up to the closure. I’m going to miss Video Café. I always experienced friendly service. I enjoyed their breakfast and hot coffee here, they kept your cup full without trying to flag them down for more. You could get breakfast ²⁴⁄₇ too!
Depending on the day or time, they would broadcast movies, sports events or the news — don’t know of any other «coffee shop» that does that. This place was like a favorite old shoe, relaxed and comfortable.
I hope another similar type restaurant opens in this same location. All the best to the staff who may be unemployed now.

Walked by the other night, and I saw it for myself — Video Café is shut down. I have to admit, it’s a little sad to see the doors locked and all of the lights and TV’s off. Video had been around for as long as I can remember, and I’ve never seen the place closed.
Back in high school, it was one of the few places around that was open late at night to grab a bite. Outside of the fact they were always open though, Video was never the kind of place you should go to. The food wasn’t all that great (when sober) and the service was usually gruff and wanting. Going there to eat during normal business hours was vastly different than going there at 3:00am and you’re trying to get over your buzz. When you have just about every other option available to you, Video should never have made your list of spots to consider. At all. Ever. Period. Once, when a couple of friends and I were trying to decide on a place to get a quick lunch, one of them suggested Video Café. We started to laugh… until we realized he was actually serious (side note: I think he gets scared to make suggestions now… haha).
Two stars total for those times we sat and watched movies, for the nights we were there to sober up, their coffee milkshakes and their hours. In a weird sort of way, I’ll miss Video Café… but really, not too much.

Back when I was underage, I often took my dad’s car out after hours (yeah, I’m admitting this now; pretty sure the statute of limitations has passed). Not because I wanted to get into anything wild and crazy, but because my parents weren’t all that enthusiastic about unnecessary things like driving lessons at that age, and I agreed. I figured in my genius 14 or 15-​year-​old way that the best way to learn how to drive was to actually get behind the wheel of a car and just do it.
At night.
In San Francisco.
(I know, right? WTF. Teenagers!)
Disclaimer: I am 29 now and save for a completely isolated incident where a parking lot boulder somehow materialized next to my right side mirror at a Jack in the Box, I have never *knock on wood* been in any kind of fender bender or totaled a car. Practice counts for something, regardless of the method, and I am living and fully insured proof, dammit!
ANYWAY, to make a long and potentially more incriminating story short, Video Café was one of the places I frequented, both because it was easy to find and it was open the hours I was able to get away with taking the car out.
Don’t remember much about the food but it was kind of fun to feel like I was eating a greasy meal in the middle of someone’s local video store.
Thanks for the memories!

There’s very few places like these nowadays and I’m also sad to see this place go. Gonna miss lounging around watching movies late at night.
The food was alright, but I didn’t really go for the food. It’s just one of those places… kind of like a hole in the wall where you can just spend precious memories with friends and loved ones.
Considering how there’s more and more places closing down, it’s hard to imagine any place looking to rent this area soon. Sad face.

It is official. No more Video Café, bummer. Could always count of them to be open late, and to get a square deal. I will miss it.
Yeah, it had its’ drawbacks, but served a need. Now, where to go late night in the outer Richmond? I work in the industry, and understood what was being offered. Sounds like a few of you didn’t.
More condo’s on the way. The city is dying, at least to me. The city is dead now…3eb.

EEK! METHINKS NOT!!!
This review was long coming… Horrible service! Yikes! Why is their mascot a BIG PINK SMILING HEART, when they are not friendly, not appetizing, and not happy? A couple of months ago, my sister and I tried to study and grab a snack at Video Café, but the lady told us we couldn’t read books and also eat at their café. NEWS TO ME… I thought at restaurants you EAT?
Welp, Unilocal,definitely not stepping foot in this place again!

Video Café had somewhat of a cool atmosphere, I must say… with DVD boxes as wallpaper, a multitude of flat panel TV’s playing an assortment of semi-​recent movies, and even a projector and projector screen at the far of the dining room.
To Order:
The Club House w/​salad
–I love bacon, and it had a healthy serving of it! The overall taste of the sandwich was quite good… typical of most club sandwiches you’d have at a deli or restaurant of sorts. The salad is haphazardly scattered throughout the plate, on and around your sandwich, with a small side of salad dressing of your choice. Pretty good.
Soup of the Day — Macaroni Chicken Soup
–It was… very chicken brothy. While it was flavorful… like that of Campbell’s Chicken Soup, the chicken somewhat dried things up. Shreds of overcooked chicken breast were sprinkled on the soup, making good use of my teeth to chew on erasers… I mean, chicken.
The waitress was very nice… with big smiles and lots of enthusiasm to serve us. It was nice to see.
Oh, and our waters never saw the bottom of the cup. +1!
4 Stars for a slightly better than average dining experience.

All the servers were perfectly friendly and happy and the hashbrowns were crisp but the feeling that I got there was just awful. This place depressed the heck out of me and nearly ruined my morning. I don’t know why. It’s just… so…depressing…
Maybe because it was fresh and sunny out and dark and greasy inside? I don’t know. I was in a perfectly good shape before going there. We’re respectable parents these days so theres no Sunday morning hangover to blame. It wasn’t the food, or the servers. I don’t know what it was. So don’t ask to meet up with me there. I won’t go. Sorry.

All of Video Café’s pizazz comes from them being open 24 hours. Well, my friends, I’m sorry to say that they are only open 24 hours on the weekends now and until 3am Monday-​Thursday.
I mean, I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little angry about this. Maybe not this year, or next year, but eventually my birthday will be falling on a weekday. And where am I going to get a grilled cheese to satisfy my birthday drunchies at 4am? NOT at Video Café!!!

At 2:30am on a Sunday morning, the status updates of most adults would probably fall into one of the following two categories:
(1) entering deep REM sleep and commencing vivid dreams — fantastical, nightmarish, or downright weird in nature
(2) hunting for a Fourthmeal after a 11:50pm movie showing /​friend’s birthday bash /​«just another night out» (pick one)
Those on Team 2 may very well end up in the Richmond ‘hood at Video Café, settling for a burger or an omelet that is otherwise «meh» by all traditional standards, but for some reason hits the spot just right with the sunrise just a few hours away from its morning debut.
Ah, memories.

This place is a GEM!!! Tell me folks, how many spots offer very good diner food, 24/​7, 365 day a year AND rent DVDs and sell ice cream? Video Café does, that’s who!
Embarrassed to admit I have been coming here for a loooooooooooooooong time! we’re talking almost 2 decades! I only tend to come here when we’re closed some of the finer Irish pubs in the Richmond… ie. Abbey Tav or ’ The ’32 or The Plough or Tradr Sams… and in dire need of some «stabilizing» late night dining to counteract the effects of too many pints and shots!!!
Very solid breakfast platters! Eggs and bacon and brown and toast! 4 stars!
Pancakes/​french toast: 4.5 stars!!!
Espresso Milk Shake and onion rings 5 STARTS
Thai food? 3 stars… it’s ok, just barely ok! I love Thai food but not at that hour with that much alcohol! And when I am ready for Thai, there are millions of other places to go!
Many plasma screens ALWAYS showing a movie! Always! Have never been there and NOT had movie on! Love that! Movie posters all around!
There’s a free little parking lot and if you time your arrival just right (get there by 1:30 — 1:45 am) you can have a parking space in the lot or on the street… arrive AFTER 2am and you will be competing for parking and a place to sit with every other party person who found their way to the Video Café!
Service is a solid 4 stars! Certain servers are a bit better than others at tolerating with the masses of people in very stages of inebriation!!!
Bathroom is always clean!
Next time you find yourself in need ot grub in the wee hours of the morning, check this spot out!

Nothing is more comforting than stumbling into Video Café at 2 or 3 AM and being greeted by the ever so chipper SAK!
I started coming here when I was 17 years-​old when they still had the big tube TV after a late night of doing much of nothing since I wasn’t able to legally drink. My usual order was the Espresso Float. A huge sundae glass filled with dark, rich espresso dunked with a generous slab of vanilla ice cream. I can still remember it like it was yesterday, the slight bitterness from the espresso paired with the rich sweetness of the ice cream was decadent and the perfect nightcap for the night.
Pass forward 11 years and I find myself staggering (feet in pain) to Video Café on a weekly basis after a night of clubbing. Because I turned into a caffeine-​sensitive insomniac, I no longer can handle the Espresso Floats.
Below are some of the things I have ordered:
*Cheeseburger w/​Fries: The burger is always cooked correctly and to order. The beef patty is generous (perhaps 8 oz after shrinkage) and is nestled between a fresh sesame bun with fresh lettuce, tomato, and onions. The beef patty itself is tender, well-​seasoned and the char marks from the grill give it great smoky flavor. The fries are steak fries. Normally, if not fried properly steak fries tend to be soggy. But, Video Café’s is super crispy on the outside and nice and pillowly soft in the inside.
*BBQ Pork Ribs w/​Steamed rice (from their «Thai Me Up» menu): YUMMY! The ribs are BBQ’d perfectly and the meat is so tender it falls off the bone. The sweet chili sauce is a perfect complement to the well-​seasoned meat and provides a sweet savory flavor combo.
*Angel Wings: This is just ok and would pass on this order going forward. There are 6 small wings which are fried and then tossed in sweet chili sauce. The wings have little meat and are overcooked.
*Chicken Sausage and Eggs: Since being on a lo-​carb diet, this has been my go to meal lately. Two chicken sausages grilled w/​sunny side up eggs. The sausages are quite large in size (5 inches) and you can taste the sage and fennel. The eggs are always perfectly cooked with the yolks still runny, just the way I like it. The perfect bite = piece of sausage, egg w/​runny yolk, ketchup, and black pepper. Flavor combo of spicy, sweet, savory, and creamy… YUMMY!
SERVICE: Our boy Sak who is total sweetheart, he always takes care of us as soon as we walk in the door. He greets us with a smile and already knows some of our orders by heart (if we don’t change it that day). Even when it’s crowded, he never seems phased and will still have a BIG grin on his face. My friend’s don’t even have to raise an eyebrow for coffee refills because he’s right there with a fresh pitcher when their cup is getting low,
AMBIANCE/​DÉCOR: Typical no-​frills diner décor with tables and booths. They now have 3 flat screens with rotating DVDs on screen. Even though I never pay attention to what’s playing, the movies and all the movie posters that surround the wall adds an eccentric feel to the typical diner experience.
Since it’s open 24/​7, you get your night shift workers during the weeknights which tends to be more quiet. On Fri/​Sat and Sat/​Sun, you get your drunken clubbing crowd and it tends to be much busier esp after 2 AM. The best time to come is right before 2 AM before most of the clubs let out.
Until my clubbing days are over in say… Ooo, 2 years, when I topple down the hill, I will be coming back here over and over again…

(See pics)
So I saw this place a couple weeks and was intrigued by the name so I came back to check it out…
This place is also known as Thai me up. So very cute! It has old movie posters like the Godfather, Don Juan and other faded ones up in the high ceilings walls. Even some of the rental DVDs were a bit dusty looking. Very nostalgic!
I only came here for a quick bite as I was planning on a bigger dinner later on, which did not happen as I found out my friend Jason would be on CNN that I needed to rush home to check it out…
Onto the food, fried calamari was very properly deep fried with good sour sauce (was it Thai sauce)?
And the Espresso float (affogato di gelato) was very big and very delicious!
They open 24 hrs and play movie at 10pm and throughout the night! Now this is the place to hang out!

The Video Café is kinda like the San Francisco version of «Nighthawks», that iconic painting by William Hopper of the forlorn customers at an all-​night diner (
). Going there at 11PM, you are bound to see an eclectic set of people within the haphazard layout of booths and tables. When I went one night, there was a clutch of shrieking Asian teens at one booth, a morose drug-​addled runaway at a center table, a lonely senior nursing a cup of coffee toward the back…
The place lives up to its name. Rows of posters are plastered on the walls. The faded ones on top are from the 1980’s, while the cleaner ones are from a decade back or so. There are three TV sets showing a DVD of some obscure thriller I’ve never seen (…and if I’ve never seen it, then that is really obscure… oh wait, there’s Ernest Borgnine!) The menu is standard diner fare but done reasonably well for a greasy spoon.
I’ve had the burger here and most recently the $ 5.95 Super Sundae. Where else can you get a Super Sundae at 11PM in the city… with nuts and a maraschino cherry even? There’s a spry elderly waitress, not an amiable smiler, but she’s obviously been here since Methuselah. It’s worth the trek to the Richmond if you’re really hungry at midnight… not famished, not peckish… just HUNGRY!
FOOD — 3 stars… burgers and some teriyaki concoctions… oh yes and that Super Sundae… with nuts and…
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… not tidy enough to be quaint, but the booths are big enough
SERVICE — 4 stars… like clockwork… and the pickings for 24-​hour anything are slip in this daytime city of ours
TOTAL — 4 stars… when you’re hungry after Conan O’Brien or at least Craig Ferguson… oh hell, they get four stars for being open 24 hours, OK?

I haven’t been here in a while. They’ve remodeled and added new things on their menu. Yes, their menu has more than ten items now! I’m not much of a diner fan, but Video Café has a cool concept of movies playing while you eat, it’s 24 hours, and they have lychee milkshakes. Where else can you get that?
JONASAPPROVED!