Orphan Andy’s — the storied Castro diner that has long been a refuge for stumbling clubgoers at the end of the boozy night out — has been publicly listed for sale.
Known for its round-the-clock breakfast options and chicken-fried steak drenched in a pool of gravy, Orphan Andy’s is being offered for $250,000. The diner lists $165,600 in average monthly revenue for 2024.
“That’s what we’re here for. Bring us your tired, your poor, and we’ll do our best,” said owner Dennis Ziebell. “One of the things people like about Orphan Andy’s is that we’re here for you after your hours of partying and having fun.”
Ziebell, who opened the restaurant in 1977, said a deal may happen quickly. An interested party has been in touch.
“I think we’re gonna get exactly what we want in a buyer, which is keeping all the employees and keeping it as a diner,” Ziebell said. The business has been privately listed for sale for about a year, but he is publicizing the offer in an effort to accelerate the process.
Ziebell, who owns the restaurant with his business partner and husband, Bill Pung, is 75 and wants to retire. The couple, who live in a unit above the diner, intend to travel and work on personal projects, including a book drawing from Ziebell’s half-century in his adopted hometown.
Ziebell said he intended to sell five years ago, but the pandemic put a pause on the plans while rapidly shifting the economics of running a business in the Castro. Foot traffic declined, while street conditions deteriorated and homelessness surged.
The diner survived thanks to government aid and the loyalty of regulars.
Not every nearby business was so lucky. Chadwick’s and Copas closed in recent months. A block from Orphan Andy’s, seafood restaurant Fisch & Flore, open less than a year in the former Cafe Flore space, was put on the market for $795,000.
Patrick Totah, the listing agent for Orphan Andy’s, said it’s a rare opportunity for a buyer to take over an established business and neighborhood anchor.
“It’s more than just a normal business; it’s an institution,” Totah said. “Plus, I love the location at the corner of Market and Castro.”
The Castro, which has started to recover from the nadir of the pandemic, is still contending with post-Covid trends, including a decline in international tourism and a population that parties less and orders in more.
Like other late-night dining institutions, such as Pinecrest Diner, Orphan Andy’s cut its 24-hour schedule on weekdays. There wasn’t enough business to support it.
“The Castro has been through a bit of a transition. Everyone always says, when is this going to return to normal?” Totah said. “At some point we have to say maybe normal is what it is right now.”
Adding to restaurants’ woes is the fact that the Castro Theatre has been closed for renovations since early 2024, limiting the number of big events in the neighborhood. The theater is scheduled to reopen by the end of the year.
Ziebell came to San Francisco in the 1970s as a hitchhiker from Nebraska looking for a metaphoric place of self-acceptance.
He tracks his nearly 50 years running Orphan Andy’s through the history of the Castro: discrimination, the Civil Rights Movement, the disco era, the AIDS crisis, the tech boom, the pandemic, and now what he sees as a fight for justice under the Trump administration.
“Being here helped us to establish more of a concept of who we are as actual human beings, not just thinking we’re going to be the faggots that are going to be attacked walking out the front door,” Ziebell said. “I feel so blessed to be here, especially for gay people: The first thing you see in the neighborhood is the flag flying. Now more than ever, it’s urgent and important for us to maintain that.”
Ziebell doesn’t party as much as he once did and is on a restrictive diet of mainly fruits and vegetables. But he waxes poetic about Orphan Andy’s chicken and vegetable soup, chili, and damn good tuna melt.
He jokes that he’ll be telling the new owners downstairs to keep the volume on the jukebox down.