SF Restaurant Caught Storing Raw Meat on Sidewalk During Heat Wave

Four logs of raw ground beef and a jar of mayonnaise were photographed sitting on a Mission District sidewalk during a California heat wave, and by Sunday night, the image had become one of the more unappetizing things to circulate on Reddit in recent memory.

Reddit user BubblegumCircus snapped the photo outside Hamburger Project at 598 Guerrero Street, captioning it "Raw hamburger left in the sun on the sidewalk. Ewww! Double Ewww!!" The post drew over 3,700 upvotes and more than 500 comments. One commenter quipped, "Our new premium burgers $34.50 because we cook them with 100% solar energy!" Others were less amused. "I used to work with food inspectors. This is a big no no. You're not even supposed to leave product in areas that aren't temperature controlled unless you're actively using it or putting it away," one commenter wrote.

Owner Tan Truong told the San Francisco Chronicle that due to high demand over the last few days, the restaurant had run low on beef. Because the driver could not access the shop, he left the meat on the sidewalk. Truong said he was unable to accept the order before staff arrived because he was on a plane back to San Francisco. The restaurant shared a screenshot of a message from the driver that read simply: "Hiiiiiii. I don't have time."

The original poster noted that the meat sat outside for about an hour before it disappeared, with the mayo later spotted inside on a counter, though the whereabouts of the meat remained unclear.

Hamburger Project addressed the situation in a statement posted to social media. "This was the result of a delivery driver leaving the product unattended after being unable to access the restaurant — something we would never authorize or accept," the restaurant said. "When our team arrived at the restaurant and found the product outside, it was immediately discarded, as it was obviously compromised by being on the ground, without proper temperature control." Truong called it "a horrible image to have ground beef sitting on the sidewalk," adding that the restaurant has protocols against using products left outside and does not condone the practice.

Hamburger Project told KTVU that it has changed its delivery procedures so drivers are not allowed to leave shipments on the curb, and said it plans to tighten delivery windows and communication with suppliers.

The incident landed in already complicated territory for the restaurant. This is not the first time the burger joint has been at the center of controversy. Last year, Chef Geoffrey Lee was "relieved of his day-to-day duties" following backlash over a viral dispute with an influencer over a review. Lee has since stated he is not involved in the day-to-day operations of Hamburger Project, writing that his removal from those responsibilities by partner Tan Truong was "public and abrupt" and made without his agreement.

For anyone working the line, the situation illustrates a persistent vulnerability in restaurant operations: the gap between delivery schedules and kitchen staffing. A driver who won't wait, a closed door, and a heat wave are all it takes to turn a routine beef delivery into a public health flashpoint.