Got $2.75 Million? You Could Buy This 160-Year-Old San Fran Restaurant
San Francisco’s oldest continuously operating restaurant is on the market—with a shot of clam juice.
If, by some strange stroke of luck, you've got some post-vaccination money to burn, I have a unique investment opportunity for you: the Old Clam House, a 160-year-old San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood restaurant, has been on the market since May. Owners Jerry Dal Bozzo and Dante Serafini are retiring, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. (For what it's worth, the Chronicle article is behind a paywall, but sister site SFGATE also has the news with no login required.) This is it: your chance at restaurant stardom. You just need to shell out approximately $2.75 million, which covers the business, liquor license, and building. A steal, if you ask me. They're also selling their other restaurant, the Stinking Rose, known for including garlic in all of their dishes, including their ice cream.
San Francisco local Dal Bozzo reportedly purchased the restaurant in 2011, and now he's ready to pass the torch to another restauranteur. "I'm going to be 81 in a couple of months," Dal Bozzo told the Chronicle. "We've been in the business for 30 years and hopefully a fresh face will now come on." Dal Bozzo told the Chronicle that their first choice of buyers are "those who want to preserve the iconic establishments as is." Dal Bozzo also hopes the new owner will rehire some longtime staffers who lost their jobs when the restaurant shuttered during the pandemic.
The Chronicle reports that the Old Clam House was built in 1861 to serve waterfront workers, and it's San Francisco's oldest continuously operating restaurant. The longevity is likely due to the restaurant's virtually untouched antique charm (the bar area features a vintage Jaguar somehow adhered to the wall). It may also have something to do with the fact that, per the Chronicle, every single patron is served a shot of clam juice. Now, that's hospitality.