The buttermilk biscuit sandwich at Devil’s Teeth Baking Company is one of the great joys of Christmas in San Francisco.
The regular version is served with scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheddar. The special comes with pepper jack cheese, avocado, and lemon garlic aioli. Wrapped in tinfoil, it's got a heft to it, and seems like something you might not be able to finish in one sitting. And then…it’s gone. And you are happy.
It’s not that you can’t get Devil’s Teeth’s breakfast sandwich — or the Sunset bakery’s beignets, cinnamon rolls, or shark-shaped cookies — for most of the rest of the year. But they’re better during the week of Christmas, because you don’t have to wait in a line down the block to get one.
“Christmas Eve, we are open but we’re a lot slower than we are on Thanksgiving, for instance,” said Jasmine Lovette, the manager at Devil's Teeth. “Christmas, definitely, there’s less people in the city at that time, and they aren't coming in for as many pastries. There’s not as much of a rush around this time of year.”
It’s a phenomenon that permeates much of the city at Christmas. So many people leave for the holiday that traffic thins out, while parking spots and restaurant tables free up. A startling quiet and calm descends on a city that has a reputation for serenity, but often seems like it’s faking it.
San Francisco’s population was 808,988 last year, but just 40% of its residents were born in California, according to Ted Egan, the city’s chief economist. Many of the expats travel home for the holidays, while wealthier natives often travel. Plus, 42% of San Francisco’s workforce lives outside it, Egan said. That means fewer people coming in each day.
“I don't have any data or insight, really, on where they go,” Egan said. Though no longer a resident, when Egan lived in San Francisco, he said, he shared the sentiment of many who stay put for Christmas.
“It's easier to get around,” he said. “It's a nice time of year, I actually preferred visiting my out-of-town family other times, and staying in the city around Christmas.”
A similar thing happens at Thanksgiving — and, most famously, for about a week at the end of summer, when the last stretch of school break overlaps with Burning Man to empty the city.
Egan has used cellphone data from Placer.ai to analyze the city’s foot traffic in past years, and detected a dip in the city’s population in the days following Christmas. December is also historically one of the lowest hotel occupancy months of the year, he said.
Residents feeling the need to earn, or burn, a Devil’s Teeth biscuit will have a much easier time than usual getting a tennis court at Goldman Tennis Center in Golden Gate Park. The award-winning club, which is open to the public, is normally booked solid a week in advance. But at this time of year, it’s possible to score a last-minute slot; the club closes at 1pm on Christmas Eve, but reopens Thursday, Dec. 26. (The pickleball courts remain mostly booked, as usual.)
Jonathan Bolinao, a native of San Francisco, and a manager at the club, said that many frequent visitors to the tennis club are from other countries, and leave for Christmas.
“San Francisco is a nomadic city,” he said.
Devil’s Teeth, the bakery, will be closed for Christmas, and the day after. But for those who don’t get there beforehand, Lovette said, the weekend afterwards tends to be slow, as well.
“People are out of town visiting family,” she said. “Or stuffed from their Christmas dinners, and aren't looking for a breakfast sandwich — understandably.”
