18 Cozy Places to Eat and Drink Outside in San Francisco. The Bay Area native, a former Chronicle paperboy, has worked at The Chronicle since 2000. Free shipping for many products! The must-order item at the no-frills, yellow-walled restaurant is the tea leaf salad, a textural delight made with fermented tea leaves, fried garlic, dried shrimp, sesame seeds, lemon, green pepper, and roasted peanuts. Just like the original photograph the art project sits below the Cliff house along Ocean Beach in San fRancisco, Calif. on Sept. 5, 2008. Oops. San Francisco, CA 94124 (415) 826-4880 More Information This old school favorite is located in the Bayview District of San Francisco and has been home to the city's best clam back since. An alternative explanation is that Coppa asked the artists to draw on the walls and that he chose red as a good backdrop. The landmark vegetarian restaurant opened in 1979 as part of the SF Zen Center. Ham & eggs by any other name Good eaters: Josephine Hull Name trouble: Aunt Jemimas Reflections on a name: Plantation Dining on a roof Restaurant-ing on wheels Dinner to go Drive-up windows Dining during an epidemic: San Francisco Good eaters: bohemians Dining during an epidemic Fish on Fridays Image gallery: breaded things Lunching in a laboratory Women drinking in restaurants The puzzling St. Paul sandwich New Years Eve at the Latin Quarter Chinese for Christmas Turkeyburgers Themes: bordellos Finds of the day Early bird specials Franchising: Heap Big Beef Bostons automats Coffee and cake saloons Women chefs not wanted Entree from side dish to main dish Anatomy of a restaurateur: Woo Yee Sing Lobster stew at the White Rabbit Restaurants in the family: Doris Day Almost like flying Eye appeal Writing food memoirs Anatomy of a restaurateur: Ruby Foo Soul food restaurants Effects of war on restaurant-ing Behind the scenes at the Splendide Take your Valentine to dinner Lunching at the dime store Square meals Tea rooms for students Christmas dinner in the desert Green Book restaurants Dirty by design Clown themes Basic fare: meat & potatoes Dining with Chiang Yee in Boston Slumming Picturing restaurant food Find of the day: the Double R Coffee House Delicatessing at the Delirama Restaurant design and decoration Dining on a dime Anatomy of a restaurateur: George Rector Catering Dining in a garden Sawdust on the floor Learning to eat (in restaurants) Childrens menus Taste of a decade: the 1830s Check your hat How Americans learned to tip Image gallery: eating in a hat The up-and-down life of a restaurant owner Dressing the female server The Lunch Box, a memoir Crazy for crepes Famous in its day: The Pyramid Dining & wining on New Years Eve High-volume restaurants: Hilltop Steak House Famous in its day: the Public Natatorium Turkey on the menu Getting closer to your food Between courses: secret recipes Find of the day: Aladdin Studio Tiffin Room Americans in Paris: The Chinese Umbrella No smoking! In July of that year a Sausalito woman hired detectives to shadow her husband who was enjoying a romantic dinner at Blancos in the company of another woman. 1983 The Food Marketing Institute reports that 2/3 of all fish consumed in the U.S. is eaten in restaurants. Pictured: Former owner of Red's Java House Tom "Red" McGarvey stands in front of the port side cafe during the latter years of ownership. Poodle Dog: Not only was the French food at this five-story 1800s restaurant hailed as the best in the city; there were dining rooms with beds, so stuffed customers could sleep off their wine-drenched meal. ], -- Trash, garbage, and waste Americas literary chef The smrgsbord saga Meals along the way Dinner in Miami, Dec. 25, 1936 An early restaurateurs rise & fall Runaway menu prices Thanks so much! Years later, in a Poughkeepsie NY newspaper story of 1878, Mark Winn would blame the failure of his San Francisco restaurants on employees who robbed him. Somehow Levy resurrected the business, getting through the Depression, and then sugar rationing during World War II. The first Original Joes opened on Taylor Street in 1937 by Tony Rodin, who was grandfather of current owner John Duggan. For either a power lunch or a romantic night out (make sure to sidle up to the fireplace for the full effect), pair Greek classics like dolmathes and moussaka with a glass of crisp white wine. Jessica joined the Gate in 2013 after spending more than five years as an editor and reporter covering hyper-local news in Marin County. To use social login you have to agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. You are about to land at the right site. Eddy & Mason Sts. The operator of a booth selling crepes at Illinois county fairs reported that hardly anyone bought them and that some fairgoers referred to them as creeps or craps. The menu changes daily, but stick to the seafood, especially since they never serve frozen fish here. Your email address will not be published. San Francisco in the 1970s was a global hub of culture. It had been partially modernized. It opened in 1949 and went through several owners before current owner Joe Betz (pictured here in an unbelievable room of meat at the restaurant) took over in 1985. A row of stenciled black cats at the original location, by Xavier Martinez, was inspired by Le Chat Noir in Paris, the city where Martinez had studied painting. The exception was Crepes Suzette, thin, delicate pancakes with an orange-butter sauce and liqueurs that were often dramatically lit aflame at the diners table. With country French decor, servers in folk costumes, and names such as Old Brittany French Creperie and Maison des Crepes [pictured at top, Georgetown], diners were imaginatively transported to a delightfully foreign environment quite unlike the brand new shopping malls in which many creperies were located. 5 classic San Francisco restaurants we wish were still around, Our S.F. It is ironic that it made it through Prohibition yet failed just as alcohol was becoming legal once again in 1933. Since 1965, Tommys Mexican Restaurant has been owned by the Bermejo family, who are always quick with a warm welcome. With its hard-to-missneon sign and colorful murals on the busy corner of Van Ness and Geary, Tommys Joynthaslong beenconsidered a gathering place for those in all walks of life. Many locals love to eat at this San Francisco institution before attending the symphony, opera or another event near the Civic Center. The crepes craze, which began in the 1960s, became intense in the 1970s. He bounced around Maine, Boston, New York City, Albany NY, San Francisco, Virginia City NV, and finally back to New York City where he died in 1881. Prime Rib. With honest help, he claimed, I would have been worth a half a million of dollars., But the Winns western odyssey wasnt over after leaving San Francisco. The story says those famous house cappuccino machines are still never used to actually make beverages with espresso. . Does he want somewhere historic with classic old-school San Francisco vibes? Yamalo Sukiyaki House restaurant in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Francisco, California, 1978. . Reds Java House is not to be confused with the similar, equally historic Java House, which is also worth a visit. Before going to California he owned two grocery stores in Boston. It seems that a new trendy restaurant pops up on almost a daily basis. Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in North Berkeley more than 40 years ago, in August 1971. Out of the destruction, came one of the city's best outdoor patios, which still exists today. It has had four owners, but current owner John Konstin and his family have been at the helm for 40 years. See our, By submitting your email, you agree to our, 18 Classic Restaurants Every San Franciscan Must Try, Sign up for the 1982 Having introduced nouvelle cuisine at Ma Maison in Los Angeles, Chef Wolfgang Puck presents "California cuisine" to patrons of his new chic-casual Sunset Strip restaurant, Spago. Here it is served with creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, baked potato and topped with au jus. Borrowing money from a shipmate upon arrival, he began making candy and peddling it in the streets. He wanted to dine out at a very "San Francisco" restaurant. How close we are to bringing lights back. Pictured: The current incarnation of the Cliff House after its 2003 restoration. It was a grand adventure for a high school or college French class or club to visit a creperie, watch crepe-making demonstrations, and have lunch. 17 Actually Worthwhile Tourist Traps in San Francisco. Hartlaub and columnist Heather Knight co-created the Total SF podcast and event series, engaging with locals to explore and find new ways to celebrate San Francisco and the Bay Area. San Francisco in the 1970s was an active and dynamic heart of culture. A few years later they opened another Magic Pan in Ghirardelli Square and Laszlo patented a 10-pan crepe-maker capable of turning out 600 perfectly cooked crepes per hour [pictured here]. The Sal Sancimino family has run the place since 1946 with many nods to tradition. 18 Essential Cocktail Bars in San Francisco. Life in the 19th century was chaotic and unpredictable in so many respects, but the weird and eventful life and restaurant career of the highly enterprising Mark Langdon Winn, with its succession of ups, downs, and strange twists, would stand out in any century. Balboa Caf This quintessential San Francisco haunt has been serving American classics since first opening its doors more than 100 years ago. The parklet is a superb setting for outdoor dining but be sure to step inside to get a peek at the iconic red-and-black floors. In 1917 a plan to add two stories to the restaurant was abandoned, perhaps because of the looming nationwide ban on the sale of alcohol. His family sold it last year, but the new owner, SF native Chris Henry (who also owns Barrel House in Sausalito), A setting in author Dashiell Hammetts "The Maltese Falcon," John's Grill has walls covered in SF memorabilia and photos of famous dinner patrons (the lengthy list is proudly displayed on the restaurants. Expansion began in October 1953 with the opening of an outlet in the Stonestown Mall. The two-story Cantonese restaurantcomplete with a dumbwaiterwas famously home to "San Francisco's Worst Waiter" before closing and moving to a new location on Clay Street back in 2015. The North Beach Original Joes interior emulates the first Joe's, complete with big red booths, but it also has a bit of a modern twist. The retro restaurants menu includes a cocktail list from Original Joes circa 1950 and an expansive menu categorized as old-school Cal-Ital food..