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ificandream

(10,527 posts)
Tue Apr 12, 2022, 11:38 AM Apr 2022

'Heartbreaking': Iconic Fisherman's Wharf restaurant Alioto's to close after 97 years

SFGATE (San Francisco Chronicle)/Ariana Bindman

At nearly 100 years old, the landmark Sicilian seafood establishment Alioto’s Restaurant will permanently close its doors, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The institution has a rich, storied history in the famous port of San Francisco — and its closure marks the end of a family legacy.

Founded by Italian immigrant Nunzio Alioto in 1925 — and before it became known as a landmark seafood restaurant — Alioto’s was just a humble fish stand. Eventually, it moved into Stall No. 8 at Fisherman’s Wharf and sold lunch to Italian laborers, hence the illuminated No. 8 on the facade of the building. As business flourished in the 1930s, Alioto combined his fish stand with a seafood bar, selling shrimp and crab cocktails and fresh Dungeness crab. It was the very first building on the wharf.

Even after his death in 1933, his family members carried on the restaurant’s legacy: His surviving wife, Rose, stepped in, becoming the first businesswoman on Fisherman’s Wharf. Once she expanded the restaurant in 1938 and established it as a formal restaurant, it became Alioto’s, the institution that proudly served “the freshest seafood, family Italian recipes, and the finest views” for decades to come. It survived a devastating fire in 1957 and served soldiers in World War II, but it hasn’t been able to reopen its doors since March 2020.


Read more: https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/SF-Aliotos-Restaurant-to-close-17069430.php

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Truly sad news. A real landmark in The City.
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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'Heartbreaking': Iconic Fisherman's Wharf restaurant Alioto's to close after 97 years (Original Post) ificandream Apr 2022 OP
Really sad JohnSJ Apr 2022 #1
Geez, I just drove past there yesterday with my visiting brother and offered to take him there. NBachers Apr 2022 #2
I've eaten there a few times over the years, the food was OK but not memorable. Fiendish Thingy Apr 2022 #3
A beautiful place and time. Kid Berwyn Apr 2022 #4
We had a late lunch there after taking the Alcatraz tour. rsdsharp Apr 2022 #5
Ahhh yes. TallMike Apr 2022 #6

NBachers

(18,132 posts)
2. Geez, I just drove past there yesterday with my visiting brother and offered to take him there.
Tue Apr 12, 2022, 11:49 AM
Apr 2022

I didn’t know they were still closed all this time. Add this to the iconic Cliff House which permanently shut down.

Fiendish Thingy

(18,529 posts)
3. I've eaten there a few times over the years, the food was OK but not memorable.
Tue Apr 12, 2022, 12:31 PM
Apr 2022

It had become a tourist attraction owned by a very powerful (former mayor’s) family.

Kid Berwyn

(18,015 posts)
4. A beautiful place and time.
Tue Apr 12, 2022, 12:47 PM
Apr 2022

Even though we were just tourists from Detroit with no reservations, the staff at Alioto’s treated us like royalty. My wife and I enjoyed dinner by the window on the Saturday evening of the Venusian Festival. We had a great time watching the illuminated crews and decorated boats parade by. Dinner and drinks were outstanding. Truly an unforgettable experience.

rsdsharp

(10,130 posts)
5. We had a late lunch there after taking the Alcatraz tour.
Tue Apr 12, 2022, 01:24 PM
Apr 2022

It appeared they were getting ready for the dinner service. When the crusty old head waiter wasn’t giving wonderful service to some hicks from Iowa, he was exhorting the younger staff to “Stop sitting on your brains, and get to work!”

He called our daughter “princess,” and taught her the proper way to twirl pasta. It was my first time having cioppino. My only negative memory is when I think of me turning that thick, luxurious white napkin into an orange rag.

TallMike

(161 posts)
6. Ahhh yes.
Tue Apr 12, 2022, 04:59 PM
Apr 2022

The cioppino experience. I cooked it all over the city way back ij the 80s. Trust me, you were not alone.

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