It’s a San Francisco Election Day tradition unlike any other: The City’s political candidates break from trying to defeat one another to eat carbs together.
San Francisco politicos across The City’s ideological spectrum will once again toast glasses of wine and feast on chicken and pasta at former Mayor Willie Brown’s Election Day luncheon at John’s Grill on Tuesday afternoon.
“It is really just a fabulous opportunity for all of the political junkies and anybody wishing to hear or watch them to get together,” said Brown, 90, who has hosted the event the afternoon of nearly every election since 2015, give or take a few of the smaller primaries. “We all try to figure out who is going to win and we all try to justify why we think a particular person is going to win.”
In a two-and-a-half hour window on Election Day, John’s Grill becomes the hub of San Francisco politics . Staffers, candidates, volunteers and people disconnected entirely from politics who just want a free meal, annually cram inside and outside the restaurant, flooding an entire block of Ellis Street.