Comments on: San Francisco: Places That Are Gone

By: V. S.

V. S. — Sat, 08 Jun 2024 07:26:08 +0000

An amazing look at the city, in the period I grew up in. Thank you!

By: Mutiny Radio gone & went. | Absurdist Noir

Mutiny Radio gone & went. | Absurdist Noir — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 09:03:05 +0000

[…] or those complicit newspapers, or other record-keepers of the many beloved places that are simply gone. San Francisco has not been the same cultural site it once was, not so very long ago, although many […]

By: JohnnoSF

JohnnoSF — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 03:29:26 +0000

In reply to Jonathan King.

I’ll back you up on that! The original on Kearney (at Jackson) was one of my ‘go to’ spots… just across the street from Wim’s. The ’89 quake damaged it so badly, they moved to Samson Street.

By: JohnnoSF

JohnnoSF — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 02:56:15 +0000

So much beautiful (and turbulent) water under the bridge! Some places I didn’t see in your epic list… but frequented and loved: Limbo (formerly The Billboard Cafe), Luther’s Blue’s Water Bar, Nickie’s BBQ, 508 (@ 508 Haight), No Name Sushi (on Church St), Mitchell Brothers’ Theater, Leticia’s Mexican, Ernst Meyer’s Scandinavian Delicatessen (on Market), Finnila’s Finnish Baths—a.k.a. Finnila’s, Happy Donuts on Townsend, Native American Indian Center, Deaf Club, Valencia Tool & Die, Fun Terminal (@ Trans-Bay Terminal), The Strand Theater (On Market Street), Audium, Café Flore…. and of course there was Wim’s Restaurant (In the base of Francis Coppola’s ‘flatiron building’), named after that great filmmaker… Wim Wenders!

By: Julie Cliff

Julie Cliff — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 21:50:01 +0000

Thank you so much. This brought tears to my eyes. I would love to see a photo of a pub that used to be at 6th and Clement in the 1980s.

By: Marco

Marco — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 16:07:20 +0000

Kams on Balboa has gone as well as Azusa. That little place served the best Japanese food I ever ate. It was the real deal. Tong Kee on Washington for stuffed tofu and chow fun, with a side of Chinese broccoli and oyster sauce. I worked in SOMA back in the 80s and remember Canary Island Diner and Gloria’s Country Kitchen. All gone now. Billboard Cafe on 9th and Folson served a good burger as did Hamburger Marys just down the street.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 30 Jul 2023 06:58:16 +0000

Going back a bit here: Staples House of Donuts, Andy’s (Russian Bakery), The Theater Club, Wong Star Restaurant, Kegler’s Club(?) at the Park Bowl, The Lucky Club, Omnibus Cafe, John’s Playhouse, Ross Records, The Phoenix. These were all on the south side of Haight Street except Ross Records and John’s Playhouse (on the north side).

By: MiMo

MiMo — Sat, 20 May 2023 15:54:37 +0000

Does anyone remember the House of Stools and Bars? It was a local retail store in the 600-700ish block of Divis, and true to its name, they sold stools, and bars.

A friend and I went in one time because we loved the name of the store so much, and were greeted by the owner, a warm African American man whose name was Renee.

They closed sometime around 2007-8, and SF’s stool and bar scene has never been the same.

By: Vici Upton

Vici Upton — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 20:10:28 +0000

Wow what a trip. So many memories. Late 70s I didn’t see the Grand Piano ( Haight St.) on the list. Sure saw a lot of wonderful memories. How about Come Fly A Kite at Ghirardelli Square. My first job was there. Thank you so much for such a memorable body of work!

By: ken toshiba

ken toshiba — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 12:04:13 +0000

Peg’s Place on geary, Nobles on Polk, Happy Donuts on Townsend and i think there was one in Noe. I still miss the Western Cheeseburgers at Doggie Diner. Munchie Burger on Geary was the home of the 10cent horse meat burger(it was later discovered).

By: John Law

John Law — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 22:02:42 +0000

Wow! My head just blew up. Skimmed through your list. I recognize so so many places. Wow what a lot of work. Thank you for doing that. I got here in 1976 so my list is going to include many the pre-dated you. Apologies if I list something that I missed in your original list. There are more…. For informational purposes only!
-Café Puccini
Best café in North Beach. Burned out six or so years ago.
-Circus of the Soul Bookstore
Birthplace of the San Francisco Suicide Club. On Judith Street and 10th Ave.
-Gorilla Grotto
Successor to Circus of the Soul. An “adult play environment”
-Cafe Pavarillo
Tenderloin standby
-The Boarding House
Bush Street music and theater club
-Roommate Referral Service
Inspired Craig of Craigslist
-Schlock Shop
Upper Grant Street in North Beach
-Poor Taste
Same space as sock Schlock Shop later
-Old Spaghetti Factory
-Clown Alley
-Pall Mall Bar
Haight Street hippie standby
-All You Knead
Haight Street hippie good food
-Lexington Club
Lesbian bar Mission.
-Maud’s
Lesbian bar Cole Valley
-Gus’ Pub
Gay bar Haight Street
-Fantasy Etc.
Fantasy and Science Fiction bookstore on Larkin in the Tenderloin
-Blue Unicorn
Coffee shop upper Hayes Street
-La Rosa
Clothing store Haight Street
-Clothes Contact
Clothing store in Valencia Street
-I-Beam
Rock club upper Haight
-Inner Sunset Co-op

Theaters;
-Straight Theater
-Times Theater
-Sun Sing Theater
-World Theater
-Pagoda Pallace Theater
-Cento Cedar Theater
-Strand Theater
-York Theater
-Powell St Cinema
-Embassy Theater
-Richeliu Theater
-Coliseum Theater
-Coronet Theater
-Surf Theater

By: Craig Jones

Craig Jones — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 12:22:28 +0000

thanks for the walk down memory lane and the revisit to iconic San Francisco creativity.

By: Richard Kerr

Richard Kerr — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 20:36:34 +0000

Was the Blue Unicorn on Hayes Street mentioned? It’s like a cultural atomic bomb hit us!

By: MerryWriter

MerryWriter — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 04:44:25 +0000

The Manor Coffee Shop on West Portal was more than coffee served in industrial restaurant ware china. It served dinner too. Thursdays was Hungarian Goulash night. I thought it was the best I ever had, but then as a kid it was the only goulash I knew about. My mom loved it, so there we went on Thursdays and made sure to get back home in time for The Cisco Kid.

By: Joe Schmelzer

Joe Schmelzer — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 19:28:14 +0000

Hopefully the next gen creates more magic. It was depressing for me to read this. I stopped after about 20 names and I realized I was like 10% through your list.

By: Donald A Gibbs

Donald A Gibbs — Sat, 09 Apr 2022 04:31:31 +0000

Pete’s Oyster Bar on Irving, a tiny place, always packed. You could sit at the counter and study the fascinating almost ballet moves of the cooks working the grill. Came to SF in 1936: tenderloin, Howard St. slum area now gone, then Army St, Mission District and now on Park Hill. Die hard San Franciscan grateful for what you have done.

By: Letizia

Letizia — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 19:44:47 +0000

I’m so trying to remember the name of the Russian restaurant on Steiner where Terzo is now 3011 Steiner. Pane e Vino was there before Terzo but before that in the 80s was this great Russian restaurant. Help please! Also I would add Lipizzaner to your list ( Austrian restaurant on Union)

By: Drew

Drew — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 21:12:58 +0000

Shabby Chic on Filmore was previously Michael’s – which is why they had to cram multiple letters in on the 8 windows above the door…
House of magic on chestnut.

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 03:42:51 +0000

The big one for me was the Casa Loma, I waited 10 years for that place to reopen, got fed up and left town. I don’t see the Red Vic, that seems like a big one, along with the Strand, the Toy LIquidators, Creative Music Emporium out in the Excelsior. And all the Chinatown movie theaters. I actually found this page googling trying to remember the name of that all-you-can-eat spaghetti restaurant in the Castro/Duboce Triangle area. Which reminds me of Azteca, not great but the closest decent burrito to the lower Haight at the time.

By: lilmikesf

lilmikesf — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 16:25:09 +0000

In reply to Kristo Valle.

Thanx for the memories Kristo, I did attend some 80’s era events at the Mab, On Broadway & Trocadero and should’ve included those venues for sure! If I did, can’t believe I omitted them! I remember the Headlines stores, I think Diamond Lils and Oil Can Henry’s predate my arrival in San Francisco and thus being included on my jumbled unordered list, as I didn’t get here til late 80’s. I created it on a whim sort of a minor obsession one weekend where I just kept trying to pull names from the aether I’m writing them down. Now since the pandemic, we’ve had so many more businesses shutter in San Francisco, it’s a daunting task just to keep track of those closures in the last 2-3 years, much less 2-3 decades. Since this list has become one of the more popular pages on my website I should probably revise, make it a more consistently ordered feature so it’s easier for people to search for businesses by neighborhood or particular retail type they are interested in. I certainly appreciate your interest, and I’m glad you took a deep dive into the chaos 🙂