Why is it that San Francisco California Clubs and Restaurants close so early?

Question

Besides having to abide by a California state law that mandates clubs must stop serving alcohol by 2:00am, in most clubs the owners literally start "kicking out" the patrons at 1:30am, regardless of whether is a weekday or weekend and the exit scene is quite nasty. There is no current "entertainment district" in the City of San Francisco that would extend the hours of operations for clubs to remain open perhaps until 4:00am on weekends. If San Francisco is to compete for tourism in a global economy, then it should start enacting laws more open and less "structured" and begin evolving as a major city should be. It's a shame a citiy like San Francisco provides a image of not being flexible and accomodating to it's own citizens and to the thousands of tourists it receives from all corners of the world. SAN FRANCISCANS WAKE UP-

Answer 1

We like to arise early to see the sunrise.
The late night and all night places are a local secret.
Tell the legislature!

Answer 2

Sorry, but I don't see a problem here. We have no desire to become another Bangkok.

San Francisco is first and foremost a business/professional city where people live and work. Unlike New Yorkers who start rolling in around 10:00, most start work here by 8:00 a.m. Tourism is definitely secondary on our priority list, we marginally tolerate it for a little extra revenue as long as we can contain it to reasonable hours in certain areas of town so its not a nuisance and doesn't ruin the natural peace and beauty of our environment. We have no wish to increase noise pollution, drunk driving problems, drug problems, ugly modern neon displays, and the like.

So to be perfectly direct, we don't want to attract more party people to come here. If you are looking for an all night party, go to Vegas or Disneyland, please don't come to our home.

Answer 3

San Francisco's got nothing on Boston. I moved there from New York and like many New Yorkers do, left my apartment at midnight for a night out and arrived at the club at 1:00 am just in time for the END of last call. To further complicate things, the Boston public transportation system shuts down at 12:30am forcing night owls to go home before the clubs shut down unless they can walk home, have a car or can afford a cab.

It's because of antiquated blue laws the prohibition era and even earlier that are still on the books that city legislators never bothered to change. In Boston the law was (and may still be) that taverns and pubs had to close by 12:30 and nightclubs by 1:00.

Another bit of culture shock in Boston...you have to go to a liquor store to buy even non-alcoholic beer (since liquor stores are closed there on Sundays, you can't even buy beer in Boston...a huge college town which meant college students were flocking in droves to the few towns in Massachusetts where the blue laws didn't apply and even to the New Hampshire state liquor store just across the border, though all this may have changed by now, I moved back to New York 7 years ago for unrelated reasons. (At least you CA folk can get a bottle of wine in the supermarket...not so for the Yanks).

Live it up until 2:00 am San Francisco and pity your Boston brethren who have to uproot themselves from their barstools at 1 am.

Answer 4

I had also asked the same question 2 times, and didn't receive a proper answer

Answer 5

You can always go to Denny's

Answer 6

people on the west coast have poor work ethic

Answer 7

Was curious on the answer to this as well