Bringing in the Light

The news came out recently that Orphan Andy’s, the venerable 24-hour diner on 17th Street just off the intersection of Castro and Market, is up for sale.

The price is a bargain at $250,000. The popular eatery brings in over $165k a month. By the time I send this email out, the retiring owners, Dennis Ziebell and Bill Pung, probably will have found a buyer.

Orphan Andy’s is a set and a character in the Castro, part of a story arc in which a couple see a show at the Castro Theater, get a treat at Hot Cookie, have a few drinks and some surprising conversation at the Twin Peaks Tavern, and decide to continue getting to know each other over chicken-fried steak at Orphan Andy’s.

The Castro Theater neon sign is looking great. Along with the giant rainbow flag on the corner of Market Street, the letters CASTRO are an international symbol of San Francisco as a center of LGBTQ+ culture and life.

But in many ways the adjacent corner buildings that hold Orphan Andy’s and Twin Peaks Tavern are more important in making the Castro the Castro.

Tourists can take their selfies with the flag, maybe find time to see a show at the theater, but the most tangible way to insert yourself into the history of one of the world’s most famous gay-borhoods is to eat and drink where generations of people like you have been able to be themselves, perhaps for the first time.

Both the Orphan Andy’s building (3991 17th Street) and the corner wrap-around building which holds Twin Peaks Tavern (401 Castro Street) and Hot Cookie are more than 100 years old.

They both are architecturally attractive, though the Twin Peaks building had some major renovations from Stick-Victorian to stucco Mediterranean Revival in the 1920s. What makes them significant, however, are the 1970s ground-floor businesses.

In 1971, MaryEllen Cunha and Peggy Forster took over the Twin Peaks Tavern, gave the interior a fern bar make-over, and stripped the black paper and paint off the large plate-glass windows.

The opening of the windows, bringing in the light, is a big part of why Twin Peaks Tavern is San Francisco landmark #264. The act defined a new era in which gay men and women, previously forced into invisibility, made to hide in dark corners by vice cops and violence, were now boldly out and seen.

Next door, Orphan Andy’s had been the Five Corners Greek restaurant when Ziebell bought the business in 1977. Since then, the 24-hour diner has been a welcome step-down stop between dance clubs and sleeping.

Andy’s does not need to bring in light; it is light itself. The Americana comforts of booths with table-top jukebox consoles, red vinyl stools, and plates of carbs are Castro-enhanced by strips and strings of lights, mylar mobiles, Tiffany-style lamps, and disco balls.

My first visit to Orphan Andy’s was as a high-schooler in 1981. We had stayed up all night. About 4:00 a.m., we drove one of our number to his home on Church Street to pick up a needed school book for the classes starting a few hours later. (Have I mentioned that parental supervision was somewhat lax in my youth?)

We then went to Orphan Andy’s for pancakes and eggs.

The ignorance and naivete of teenage-me are embarrassing to relate today. I knew Giants baseball stats inside and out, but had a very loose understanding that Jews existed outside the Old Testament. And although I grew up in San Francisco, gay people were not talked about in my Catholic parish world. What I thought, and was subtly taught, was that they were different, somewhere else, and not people I would know personally.

But there I was, a 16-year-old at Orphan Andy’s, eating breakfast before dawn surrounded by male couples arriving straight from the clubs. Some of these gay men, it occurred to me then, were my classmate’s neighbors.

Later, many of my friends at that all-boys Catholic high school came out, including at least one who had breakfast with me that morning. While idiot-me was eating eggs and discovering people-are-people, what he was thinking? I hope I didn’t say anything too stupid.

It’s not the job of LGBTQ+ people or businesses to make straight folks feel comfortable, but Orphan Andy’s, and later Twin Peaks Tavern, did that for me. In this time where elected officials at the highest level of our government are trying to codify hate and intolerance into our laws and our discourse and erase people from society (again), places like Orphan Andy’s matter a great deal.

Enjoy your retirement, Messrs. Ziebell and Pung. Thank you for creating a welcoming space where someone young and stupid and sleepy can come in from a dark night, be fed, and walk out more awake into a new day’s first light.

Next Week: Online Talk on 1906 Earthquake and Fire

Crossover Woody time with a great virtual program next Friday, April 18, the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake and fire.

Join David Gallagher (of sfmemory.org) and me (of lots of things) online as we use the eyewitness account of James Stetson to walk through the disaster in historical photos.

We will try to save Stetson’s house, help refugees along the way, find some notable landmarks still with us in 2025, and watch a good part of the city go up in flames.

Tickets to the online journey are $10 and support the nonprofit I lead, San Francisco Heritage. Note: Friends of Woody can attend for free! Just use the secret code below, Friends.

Woody Beer and Coffee Fund

You ready? Thanks to donors to the Woody Beer and Coffee Fund, I am prepared to get you... well, a beer or a coffee. Or something else, because why not?

Sources

Moses Corrette, Article 10 Landmark Case Report, #2011.1123L for Twin Peaks Tavern city landmark designation, September 2012. (Great job, Moses!)

John Ferrannini, Castro eatery mainstay for sale, while a nearby food business expands to Southern California, Bay Area Reporter, March 13, 2025.