Over the weekend, my friends and I made a stop at Kowloon Tong Dessert Cafe in the Richmond District. Stepping inside, you’ll find yourself in a cozy cafe serving a variety of Hong Kong-style snacks. It feels very “locals-only”, and I was curious how my friend even found it in the first place. A few months earlier, he had been on the hunt for some late-night dessert, but outside of sit-down restaurants and bars, most cafes and dessert spots were closed. He eventually discovered Kowloon Tong, which became part of his late-night snacking routine. My friend mentioned that he’ll run into a lot of high schoolers just hanging out there because it’s one of the few places open late that isn’t a bar.
One of my favorite things about living in a city like San Francisco are spaces like these. The entire city feels like an extension of my living room. Instead of investing in an espresso machine, I can hang out at a neighborhood coffee shop, do some work, and read a book. These spaces make the city a fun place to live, and they play a very important role in community life.
In his book, The Great Good Place, urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg first coined the term “third place.” He describes three places, the first place being home and the second being the workplace. Third places are spaces where you can relax, meet new friends, and run into acquaintances; these are spaces like coffee shops, churches, parks, libraries, and more. They are places where you can do work, share ideas, and build friendships.
Probably one of the most influential third places is the Viennese coffee house. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries leading intellectuals, artists, and writers would spend time at these coffee houses to meet, write, and snack on some strudels. Here you might run into neurologists like Sigmund Freud, architects like Adolf Loos, and revolutionaries like Leon Trotsky. In the 18th century outside of Austria, coffee shops were centers for discussing Enlightenment ideals, helping spark the revolutions that would sweep France and the United States.
Today in San Francisco, you may instead find an investor talking to startup founders at Philz Coffee. You’ll still get to hear political discussions though, perhaps at a place like Manny’s which operates as both a community space and restaurant. Families can get together to play card games and Mahjong in Portsmouth Square. And of course, friends can always get together for a drink and board games at a place like The Game Parlour.
So it can be a bummer then when late at night there are limited third places to choose from. Sure there are bars, but sometimes you want a more relaxing space outside of the home. In college, it was nice having access to common rooms and study halls, where you could read and work with people late into the evening. While coffee shops close early in San Francisco, you’ll find that cafes are still crowded in the evenings in cities like Seoul or Mexico City.
But I can see why places like these close early in the United States. In his book Bowling Alone, political scientist Robert Putnam describes the decline of traditional third places as people spend more leisure time in solitude online. There might not be enough demand for these spaces as people socialize on the web. And during the lockdowns, our entire lives were lived digitally. Lower demand in San Francisco may also be a function of lower density compared to larger cities like New York that still see sufficient foot traffic in the evenings.
But as Covid-19 wanes, I have hope for the resurgence of third places beyond bars and sit-down restaurants. While remote work has changed our working lives, in San Francisco 61% of workers would still like some facetime. Parks are crowded again and Manny’s event calendar is filled with in-person events.
One day, I hope to see more relaxed late-night third places in San Francisco. More casual spaces where people can get together in person would do wonders to mend some of the toxicity we saw online during the pandemic. For now though, I know that if I need a late-night place to chill, I can always grab a bowl of sesame and almond paste at Kowloon Tong Dessert Cafe.
kowloon!! love it