A new report is backing up what some diners have long known about San Francisco.
The city features some of the best food options, but chances are diners will have to be eating early. New data shows the average final seating at San Francisco restaurants is earlier than most big cities.
Restaurant owners who spoke to NBC Bay Area on Wednesday said the early dining has been this way in San Francisco for decades, but also admit it may have gotten even earlier post pandemic.
The restaurant owners said a lot of factors go into setting their hours.
New data from food magazine Chef's Pencil may help explain why business usually slows down as the sun retreats in San Francisco.
The magazine looked at reservation data for nearly 100 cities and found San Francisco has a median final seating of about 9 p.m., which is earlier than other major cities like Los Angeles and New York.
Laurie Thomas with the Golden Gate Restaurant Association said the prime dining slot in the city is probably around 7 p.m. She commends those in the city, and others, who are pushing for more nightlife in San Francisco.
And that push is real with the city preparing to add the first Thursdays event in the mid-Market neighborhood and offering up to $50,000 to more than a dozen entertainment and nightlife organizations working on other nightlife events.
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