Fog City’s hangover cure
For decades the Ramp was a true hidden Dogpatch gem—an out-of-the-way waterfront dive with an irresistible charm and sense of history. It was just as the poet Ralph Gutlohn said: “It’s such a relief to see something that’s not fixed up in this city, that’s just left the way it is.”
It was the kind of place you could surprise someone for a private afternoon date: “I’ll take you somewhere I’ll bet you’ve never been—and by the way, you can bring your dog!” And then you’d zip down Third Street to China Basin, and over average food, you’d sit together outside at a lacquered table, feeling the saltwater breeze, with the pelicans and the boats on the bay in the background.
Info
Address 855 Terry A. Francois Boulevard, San Francisco, CA, 94158, www.theramprestaurant.com, +1 415.621.2378 | Public Transport Light rail: T-Third (3rd St & Mariposa St stop) | Hours Daily 10am–9pm| Tip The Ramp offers live salsa music and dancing every Saturday or Sunday afternoon from May to October.
The Ramp opened in 1950 and started out as no more than a bait shop. It expanded to include a bar offering no-frills snacks, and eventually became a casual dockside restaurant. And, of course, there was always the nearby ramp, from which anyone could launch their boat into the bay. Patrons included sailors, sanders, fitters, and electricians—all the tradespeople readying boats for trial.
In the 1980s, Donald K. White, a local business writer, penned a regular newspaper column about lunch with two invented characters, George and Adele, and their French poodle, Sir. It was a conceit to educate people about the stock market. Often, White’s fictional meals took place at the Ramp.
In the nineties, the bar became more widely known, and most recently it was the backdrop for a comical double-date scene in the 2013 Woody Allen movie Blue Jasmine, starring Cate Blanchett.
Perhaps not quite the well-guarded secret it once was, the Ramp remains a favorite haunt among San Franciscans and is far off the beaten tourist path. The Sunday brunch is known locally as a tried and true hangover cure, and the classic order is a Bloody Mary or Ramos Fizz with either Huevos Rancheros or Eggs Benny.
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