Joe's was originally modeled to look like a cable car.

Joe's Cable Car was a burger restaurant located in the Excelsior on Mission and Silver. It had been around since 1965 and has undergone a significant amount of construction, mostly to add interior size, since its inception as a small cable-car shaped restaurant.  The restaurant is set to close down forever on March 16, 2014.

Joe grinds his own fresh chuck every day, and uses USDA choice beef exclusively. The restaurant has several historical cards at each table explaining the history of the establishment and talking about food quality and complaining about the American fast-food trend.  When they opened in 1965, burgers were $0.40.  When closing in 2014, their burgers were $11.