America's Oldest Italian Restaurant Has Been Serving San Francisco For 140 Years

You might've heard that most restaurants fail in the first year. That's a myth. The average restaurant survives six years, and a decent percentage are still kicking at 20. Few restaurants can survive for nearly a century and a half, though. San Francisco's Fior D'Italia, the oldest Italian restaurant in the United States, has beaten the odds. The restaurant, which originally opened May 1, 1886, is just shy of its 140th anniversary. 

Fior D'Italia's current Mason Street home isn't its original location. Still, the spot exudes old-school ambiance with neatly-folded napkins and live music four days a week. Its Northern Italian menu includes creamy risotto, hearty meat dishes, and plenty of mushrooms. 

21st century San Francisco restaurants can't survive without charging 21st century San Francisco prices, and Fior D'Italia is no exception. Standard prices range from $9 for a plate of roasted potatoes to $100 for a Porterhouse steak, with most items hovering in the $20–$40 range. The restaurant occasionally brings back its 1886 menu, though, with prices ranging from $.05 to $.30 for milestone anniversaries. 

While the East Coast is home to a smattering of restaurants that have survived centuries (plural), few West Coast restaurants are as entrenched in American history as Fior D'Italia. New York may be known for its Italian American cuisine, but San Francisco's food culture has been shaped by Italian immigrants, too. Fior D'Italia speaks to the West Coast's semi-forgotten Italian communities, and to San Francisco history as a whole.

Fior D'Italia specialized in Northern Italian cuisine from the start. Its founder, Angelo Del Monte, was born and raised in Northern Italy. In 1880, at age 19, he moved to California to try his luck in the gold rush. He didn't last long in the mines. Instead, he picked up restaurant work and made enough money to buy his own — albeit under a bordello — by age 25. 

A fire leveled the location in 1893, and Fior D'Italia moved to a more upscale spot. In 1906, the building was destroyed by the infamous San Francisco earthquake. The restaurant set up shop in a shack days later. Allegedly, it was the first San Francisco restaurant to reopen after the quake. 

When Fior D'Italia shuttered in 2012 thanks to financial difficulties, Philadelphia foodies were quick to celebrate. The closure meant Ralph's, a Philadelphia restaurant founded by Nepalese immigrants in 1900, was officially the oldest Italian restaurant in the States. The celebration was premature, though. Longtime chef Gianfranco "Gianni" Audieri stepped in to buy Fior D'Italia, and it re-opened six months later. 

Maybe it's the quality food, maybe it's the San Francisco community, or maybe longevity was in Del Monte's blood. His son, William, nearly lived to see the restaurant's 130th anniversary. William Del Monte was the last known survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake when he died, days from his 110th birthday, in 2016 — but through Fior D'Italia, his family's legacy lives on.