A dishwashing job posting out of SoMa is offering $50 an hour, and it has drawn substantial interest. The position, at Pho de Nguyen on 6th Street, covers the restaurant's late-night weekend shifts, running as eight-hour shifts from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays to keep pace with the kitchen's extended dining hours.
As CBS News reported, the restaurant at 501 6th Street currently serves food until 3 a.m. on weekends. That late-night demand underscores why the dishwasher role matters to the kitchen's operations, while the restaurant is offering a $50 hourly rate for the shift.
The eye-catching hourly figure isn't a straight base wage. Executive chef Phong Nguyen explained that the $50 rate includes tips, according to the same CBS News report. The report also discusses high turnover and labor-market conditions.
A Viral Post Meets a Brutal Shift
The job listing, shared on Instagram, attracted more than 87,000 views and 350 direct messages, per SFGate. Applicants have included laid-off tech workers hunting for entry-level income, a demographic breadth the restaurant clearly didn't anticipate when it posted the ad.
Not everyone who applied is cut out for the job, though. Chef Nguyen told the outlet that many candidates lack the physical stamina the role demands, describing the ideal dishwasher as a back-of-house “athlete” who can move faster than the chef himself. The role is not limited to dishwashing: it occupies about half the shift, with workers also bussing tables, cooking, and handling other duties.
How the Pay Compares to San Francisco's Going Rate
San Francisco's local minimum wage rose to $19.61 an hour on July 1, under the city's Minimum Wage Ordinance, which is indexed to the regional Consumer Price Index, according to the city's official guidance. That ordinance requires all employers to pay the city rate to anyone working at least two hours a week within city limits.
San Francisco's local minimum wage rose to $19.61 an hour on July 1, under the city's Minimum Wage Ordinance, which is indexed to the regional Consumer Price Index, according to the city's official guidance. That ordinance requires all employers to pay the city rate to anyone working at least two hours a week within city limits. Even against that backdrop, $50 an hour stands out. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association estimates that dishwashers in San Francisco typically top out between $22 and $23 an hour, the report notes. The local figures above provide the comparison here.
California law also shapes how that money reaches workers. The $50 advertised rate includes tips, making the offer notable in an industry where kitchen staff often see little of the tip money customers leave behind.
From Turtle Tower's Old Storefront to a Sales Boom
From Turtle Tower's Old Storefront to a Sales Boom Pho de Nguyen opened its SoMa location in April 2025, moving into a space formerly occupied by Turtle Tower, a Vietnamese dining staple.
Since then, business has taken off. Chef Nguyen reported that Pho de Nguyen doubled its sales in August, generating as much as $10,000 in daily revenue on its busiest days, the SFGate report states. The restaurant's menu includes dishes like roast duck pho and garlic noodles. Nguyen said the restaurant could pay $50 per hour because business was booming.
The story lands amid wider scrutiny of how Bay Area restaurants treat back-of-house workers. In March, a former dishwasher filed a representative action under California's Private Attorneys General Act against Yountville icon over pay claims, The French Laundry, alleging unpaid wages, off-the-clock labor, and meal break violations. The lawsuit provides context for broader restaurant labor litigation, while Pho de Nguyen is testing a different model in SoMa.
