John's Grill is giving away free lunch on Election Day

“It's going to be huge because of the presidential election – it's not just about the mayor's election, it's about everything,” said Joe Cotchett, a prominent Bay Area attorney who helped finance this year's event. “Probably every single person will run for mayor, supervisor, assembly, state senate or whatever.”

Cotchett added: “It will be a very civil, very democratic” event. “We’ll have Republicans, Democrats, whatever, independents — everyone is welcome, regardless of party.”

Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco and speaker of the state Assembly, will hold his traditional post and hold court at John's entrance to greet those in attendance.

“I think it’s just a great party,” Brown told The Standard. “I stand there for two and a half or three hours, shaking hands and taking photos. You have to get past me to get in.”

This year, the free lunch and wine at John's will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The tradition dates back to the 1980s, when the buffet was held at the now-defunct Allegro restaurant in Russian Hill, according to political consultant Alex Clemens, who first attended in 1989 as a “minor political consultant.”

“They showed up at Allegro and there were trays of food waiting. “You made yourself a plate and grabbed a glass of wine,” Clemens said. “Most of the people there had woken up at 5 a.m. and had been casting their votes since the dark hours.”

Brown recalled how the event grew in its early days from “just cheap wine, spaghetti and salad, and that's it” to a marquee gathering of San Francisco's political class.