One of the few remaining icons of old San Francisco, is Johns Grill. I first became familiar with it, when my waiter , John Konstin, at Jacks on Sacramento Street bought Johns in the 70s. Here is some interesting background. Nestled in a building two blocks from Union Square and not far from San Franciscos big convention center and major hotels, Johns Grill has been hosting celebrities from all over the world for more than 100 years. It was created in 1908, only two years after San Franciscos devastating earthquake. Indeed, Johns Grill was the first downtown restaurant to open after the quake. It quickly became a bustling anchor in the citys life – hosting a beguiling and lively mixture of politicians, cops, journalists, entertainers, lawyers, business leaders and the just plain curious who wanted to join in the fun, all while eating some of the best food on the west coast. From the time when San Francisco was rebuilding itself and the financial capital of the western United States, on through World War II (the city was the major embarkation point for troops heading to war in the Pacific) and into the heady hippie days of the Sixties
and beyond, Johns Grill was – and still is – the downtown gathering place for those who ran the town and those who wanted to run the town.Inside, todays customers will find period furnishing and dark paneled walls framed with hundreds of photos of movers and shakers (and a sprinkling of the movers and shakers), most of them from the San Francisco Bay Area, but several from the world of state and national politics. On the robust menus, diners have their choice of great steaks, fresh seafood and a variety of salads – try the famed salad named for fitness guru Jack LaLanne.Johns Grill is widely known for its carefully curated menu of salads, steak, seafood, pasta, and sandwiches, all at reasonable prices. The restaurants signature dish is the Sam Spades Lamb Chops, named for author Dashiell Hammetts famed private eye. Hammett, a frequent customer of Johns Grill, had Spade wolfing down a plate of Johns chops, baked potato, and sliced tomatoes. The restaurant has a subtle motif adapted from the Hammett classic, The Maltese Falcon, and theres a statue of the infamous black bird in a case on the second
floor.Some famous patrons are: Marlon Brando, Truman Capote, Sophia Loren, George Lucas, Julia Child, Lauren Bacall, Anthony Quinn, Andy Warhol, Alice Cooper, Herb Caen, Robin Williams, and Joe Montana.I have dined here on numerous occasions, but not in the last ten years. I am looking forward.
