LET'S EAT OUT: Part 3...Spenger's Fish Grotto

Once upon a time there was a restaurant in Berkeley, California called Spenger’s Fish Grotto that had a history dating back to the early part of the 20th century. The food was abundant and good. The waiters were often as crusty as the wonderful sourdough bread that was served.

As a kid and young adult Spenger’s was a regular Friday night adventure. The wait in the bar for a table could take hours. The place was always packed. When I say packed, I mean people out on the street waiting for a chance to even wait inside. And who knows, you might even see someone famous waiting with you.

Click on either image to see it larger.

I never saw the bar as well lit as shown on this card. It was dark and smoky. Okay, I wasn’t fond of the cigarette smoke, but it was all part of the atmosphere. There were several dining rooms, but my favorite is the one shown here on the postcard, the Teak Room. I can remember sitting at one of those center tables watching waiters buzzing through the kitchen doors. The room was always busy. It was my mother’s favorite restaurant.

I bought this menu and napkin several years ago. I don't know exactly what year this menu is from, but it looks exactly like the ones I remember from the 1960s. I like to think that at some point my mother actually held this menu.

Click on any image to see it larger.

It was a family owned restaurant for generations.

My mother's favorite dish was the “Shrimp Scatter” described as “A platter full of Golden Fried Tiny Shrimp. Served with Cole Slaw and French Fries.” Look at the price. $1.85. A whole meal for $1.85. This included lots of crusty sourdough bread which was a classic with their clam chowder.

If you have memories of this place this napkin will look familiar; the only thing missing is the wet ring your glass would have made while you waited and waited for your table.

Sadly, all things change and the Spenger family sold the restaurant to a corporation. For awhile the place was closed. We worried about what changes would be made. I’ve been back once since it reopened. It looked the same outside, the entrance seemed to be similar, and the bar looked as close as my memory would allow. The dining room we were seated in bore no resemblance to the old place. The wait staff was pleasant, but generic. The food…I’ll never go back. What once was a landmark is now nothing more than another restaurant in a corporate chain of over 80 restaurants across the country. Think Red Lobster, but more expensive.

The shining history that may still linger in people’s minds when they hear the name Spenger’s was created by a family dedicated to their customers. There was no website with headings called “Our Investors” or “Our Culture."

As I’ve said before, support family restaurants. Keep the money in your community and not sent off to a corporate headquarters. Cookie cutter food prepared by people towing the company line means that the MBAs are in charge of everything and look how well that turned out for all of us.

LET'S EAT OUT: Part 2...Vanessi's

Another city and another restaurant that no longer exists. Vanessi’s was a familiar name when I was growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, though I never ate there.

It was part of mid-century San Francisco and a staple of North Beach. For me, North Beach has always been the most interesting part of the city. Most of the hip places from the '50s and '60s are long gone. I haven’t been there in years.

To see a photo of the outside of the original Vanessi’s click here.

In 1936, Silvio Zorzi opened the happening Italian restaurant Vanessi's on Broadway. Counter-side seating around the open kitchen was one of Vanessi's trademarks, as were specialty dishes such as the Chicken Cacciatore and Spaghetti Cabonara. Though Vanessi's was a major hotspot on Broadway for years, in the 1980s new owners moved the restaurant to California Street in Nob Hill. Sadly, slow business in that location led to the restaurant’s abrupt closure in 1997. (SOURCE: San Francisco Restaurants.com)

I also found this interesting piece about Paul Robeson trying to eat at Vanessi’s in 1940. Hard to believe in a town known for its openness and inclusiveness a man would be turned away because of his color.

Wherever he spoke, whenever he was quoted, his theme was about segregation, discrimination, the theme of being put in the position of second-class citizen. After all, here is a man who was twice named All-American in football. An all-around athlete and student at Rutgers University. Then a degree from Columbia Law School. Then famed as actor and singer. He could play the leading role in Othello—and yet he still was a man even up until the 1950s who couldn't go into a restaurant or into the same hotel with other members of the same company.

This became a public issue in 1940. After a concert, he and a group went to Vanessi's, one of the better restaurants in North Beach, in the Italian area of San Francisco. It was a mix of several whites and Negroes including John Pittman, a black newspaperman. I knew Pittman at Berkeley, at the university. He had very light skin and was allowed to walk right into Vanessi's and then the man at the door—the head waiter—said, "That guy in back of you can't come in." He pointed up to Robeson who was probably three heads taller. The group walked out and sued Vanessi's. It became a front-page scandal. Consider the public recognition of Robeson on the one hand, and the insulting behavior on the other hand—all because

of his color! The group sued Vanessi's but nothing came of it. I've been listening to Robeson's speeches in the last few recordings I'd made where he'd spoken. More and more he emphasized a link among people whom the white race considers inferior or second-class or third world. A common bond shared by people who have been put upon by their society or other societies. People of different color or religion. Third-world people. Shearer: Did he actually use the term "third world"? (SOURCE: calisphere)

Surprisingly for a restaurant with so much history I'm not finding much worth looking at other than this photo of customers in 1952.

What's there today? A slick chrome and black marble bar.

You can judge which place will be historically memorable.

And is it me or does this building look like a smiling face that could tell a few tales about what goes on inside?