Supper in Yilan is not a question of where. It is a question of when.
The same street looks like three different places at nine, at eleven, and at one. So here it is by the clock.
Before 9 pm: the night market’s golden hour
Everything is good in this window — and only in this window.
Luodong’s market wraps a full ring around Zhongshan Park; stuffed tapioca balls and herbal mutton soup are the old signatures, and both are best settled before ten, since weekend queues run to eleven. You would be standing in line, not eating. Yilan City’s Dongmen Night Market around Shenghou St and Hemu Rd is smaller, and you need to be there before nine to catch the full lineup.
Su’ao’s Nanfang’ao seafood houses are excellent right now — but that is dinner, not supper. They shut their stoves around eight-thirty or nine.
10 pm to midnight: skewers and izakaya take over
Market folds, second half begins.
The ring around Luodong station is the steadiest bet: 鐵樓居酒Bar-精緻快炒燒烤餐酒館 on Zhandong Rd, 炙火串燒 居酒屋（建議預約) on Zhanqian Rd — the name literally says booking recommended, and on weekends it means it — plus 愚人居酒屋 on Heping Rd and 一燈燒魚本舖 on Changchun Rd. All within a few minutes of the station.
In Yilan City, 夯Bar 串燒碳烤宜蘭店 on Jiankang Rd Sec. 2 and 拉覓 烤魚原民餐酒館 on Qinghe St are the usual second stops. If you want a drink first, the bar guide covers that separately.
Midnight to 2 am: Jiaoxi, and not much else
After midnight, the map shrinks.
What stays lit is mostly the Jiaoxi hot-spring street. 林北烤好串燒居酒屋 on Wenquan Rd carries 2,400-plus reviews and is the veteran here; 亀マウンテン居酒屋 on the same road, plus 串居酒屋 and 福岡串燒餐酒館＆FUKUN CASUAL GRILL BAR on Deyang Rd, still hold people at this hour. Add foot-massage shops running to 1 or 2 am and the street never darkens all at once — the only genuinely late strip in Yilan.
A few places near Luodong station hang on too, but the choice narrows visibly.
After 2 am: convenience stores, honestly
Set expectations low.
This is not Taipei. Past two the county is essentially closed, and what remains is convenience stores. Driving around hunting for an open kitchen wastes forty minutes far more often than it works. If you know you will be hungry, buy in Jiaoxi or Luodong and take it back with you.
Three places where supper is not a plan
Su’ao. Harbour hours — early to bed. After nine the port keeps only scattered lights. Eat the seafood at dinner.
Toucheng. Wushi Harbor’s seafood houses mostly close by eight or nine, and the seaside spots near Wai’ao often shut early in rain.
Yuanshan and Sanxing. Asleep by nightfall; small eateries go dark after eight and most guesthouse areas have no food nearby. Sort dinner before you check in.
The fix is the same in all three: play there in the late afternoon, eat a full dinner, then take the second half of the night back to Luodong or Jiaoxi. Twenty to forty minutes of driving, well spent.
One last thing
Supper here comes with drinks, especially at the izakaya end. But there is no metro, the last buses go early, and late movement runs on cars. Drink, then call a taxi or book a designated driver — easy in Luodong, Yilan City and Jiaoxi, book-ahead everywhere else. Still want to sing after eating? The KTV guide has the rundown.