Nobody searches "ice cream near me" at two in the afternoon. You search it after dinner, in the car, with someone in the passenger seat who is already halfway to disappointed. So this is not a flavor ranking. This is San Francisco's classic scoop canon sorted by closing time — latest door first — because at 9:40 p.m. the best ice cream in the city is the one that is still open.
Send Karpo the neighborhood you're actually standing in, the time on your dashboard clock, and whether you're walking or driving, and it will tell you which of these counters is still scooping and which one you'll be locked out of by the time you park.
The 11 p.m. tier: Mitchell's and Salt & Straw
Mitchell's Ice Cream, 688 San Jose Ave, is open 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. every single day, and has been scooping since 1953. That combination — seven decades, no dark days, an eleven o'clock close — makes it the single most reliable dessert in San Francisco. It is also the one shop on this list where the tropical side of the menu is the point rather than a novelty: ube, buko, langka, halo-halo. You pull a number, you wait in a small crowded room that has never once been redesigned to photograph well, and that is exactly the appeal. If you are coming from the Mission, Bernal Heights, or Glen Park, this is the default.
Salt & Straw matches the 11 p.m. close at both San Francisco shops — 586 Hayes St in Hayes Valley and 2201 Fillmore St up on Pacific Heights — open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. It is the Portland import, it is the one your out-of-town friend has heard of, and the line at 9 p.m. on a Saturday in Hayes Valley is real. What it genuinely does better than anyone else here is the sample culture: you can taste four things before committing, which matters when the flavor board is full of savory experiments. Go if you want theatre and a late window. Skip it if you resent waiting behind eleven people to try goat cheese.
The 10 p.m. tier: Humphry Slocombe, and a closure to know about
Start with the correction, because a lot of guides still get this wrong: Humphry Slocombe's original Mission parlor at 2790A Harrison St is closed. It scooped its last cone on October 30, 2024. If you have an old bookmark or a friend sending you there, redirect them.
The two San Francisco locations that are open both close at 10 p.m. The Ferry Building counter at 1 Ferry Building runs 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, which makes it the best late option on the waterfront and the only one on this list you can reach on foot from a ferry. The Dogpatch shop at 699 22nd St opens later — 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon Friday through Sunday — and also closes at 10. Secret Breakfast, the bourbon-and-cornflake flavor that built the brand, is still the reason to walk in, and it still tastes like something a bakery would refuse to make.
The 9 p.m. tier: Bi-Rite Creamery
Bi-Rite Creamery, 3692 18th St, is open noon to 9 p.m. every day. Nine is early for a shop that carries this much reputation, and it catches people out constantly — the block outside Dolores Park stays busy well past dark, so the sidewalk energy makes it feel later-serving than it is. Plan for it. Salted caramel and honey lavender are the two flavors the city argues about, and the soft-serve window operates on its own rhythm, so if soft serve is the actual craving, confirm before you commit the walk. One practical note: they take pint, ice cream sandwich, popsicle, and ice cream cake orders ahead, which is the move if you are feeding a group rather than eating on the curb.
The Sunset wildcard: Polly Ann and the Monday trap
Polly Ann Ice Cream, 3138 Noriega St, has been an Outer Sunset institution since 1955 and is the only shop here whose hours change every day of the week. Monday it closes at 8:30 p.m. — the earliest door on this entire list. Tuesday through Thursday it runs noon to 9 p.m. Friday it opens at 11:30 a.m. and closes at 9. Saturday is the long day, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
It is worth the ride out for the flavor count — dozens on the board at any moment, plus a spin wheel that picks for you when you can't decide, which is a genuinely charming way to lose an argument. Just do not treat it as a spontaneous Monday-night idea. The Sunset is also the neighborhood where fog will make an 8:30 close feel like midnight, so build the trip around dinner out there rather than as a detour.
How to actually sequence a two-stop night
If you want more than one scoop in an evening, the closing-time ladder writes your route for you: start with the shop that shuts first and end with the one that shuts last. Bi-Rite at 8, Mitchell's at 10 — both are in the same broad corridor and both stay in the Mission's orbit. On the eastern side, Humphry Slocombe in Dogpatch at 8:30 and then the Ferry Building counter after works if you are already downtown. Reverse either order and you will be standing at a locked door explaining yourself.
What closing time doesn't tell you
Three things. Last call at the counter is not the posted hour — a shop closing at 9 will often stop the line at 8:50, especially on a slow weeknight. Weather moves everything: a warm, clear evening in San Francisco is rare enough that every one of these places gets a queue, and a 10 p.m. close with a 25-minute line is functionally a 9:35 close. And holiday hours are the reliable way to get burned, because the posted weekly schedule almost never reflects them. Check the day you are going, not the guide you read in March.
Tags: #SanFrancisco #IceCreamNearMe #SFIceCream #MitchellsIceCream #BiRiteCreamery #HumphrySlocombe #PollyAnnIceCream #SaltAndStraw #MissionDistrict #HayesValley #OuterSunset #Dogpatch #FerryBuilding #SFDessert #LateNightSF
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Ask Karpo first
Scoop shop hours are among the most volatile numbers in a city. Summer schedules stretch, winter schedules shrink, a slow Tuesday gets cut short, and a heat wave keeps a counter open an extra hour with no announcement anywhere. A list like this is accurate the day it is written and drifting by the following month. Before you drive across town for a specific flavor at a specific hour, text Karpo where you are and when — it checks the door that is actually open tonight, not the one that was open when someone wrote it down.
