Iconic Pacific Cafe in San Francisco age 52 retires to The Sweet Hereafter

SAN FRANCISCO – 34TH AVENUE and GEARY BLVD

Lee Heidhues 9.8.2026

UPDATED

**A sad scene..the boarded up Pacific Cafe – 9.8.2026**

The blogger was in nearby Andronicos Tuesday afternoon September 1st. The clerk told him Pacific Cafe employees came in at 9PM Sunday evening. The restaurant had run out of fish on its final evening. There were still about 30 parties hoping to have one last meal.

The blogger took one last walk by Pacific Cafe on its final day.

The line of patrons waiting in the cool fog in a line stretching down 34th Avenue on a Sunday afternoon are drinking a glass of the traditional complimentary wine (or two) and waiting to be seated.

**The line of patrons waiting in the cool fog in a line stretching down 34th Avenue on a Sunday afternoon** – Photo Lee Heidhues

**Pacific Cafe diners have traveled to the iconic spot on the last day in typical San Francisco fashion** – Photo Lee Heidhues

It takes a lot of Courage to maintain a successful small business in San Francisco for 52 years.

San Francisco is losing one of its genuine landmark restaurants.

The owners deserve their well earned retirement.

After 52 years serving customers in the outer Richmond District of San Francisco Pacific Cafe will close its doors for the last time on August 30th.

We have dined at this restaurant many times. It’s a sad occasion and a loss for San Francisco.

Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 8.28.2026

In recent weeks, customers have lined up for hours, even longer than the usual wait, for a table at Pacific Café in San Francisco, hoping for one last bite of crab-stuffed petrale sole and a final complimentary pour of wine before the Richmond District mainstay closed.

Co-owners Frank Gundry and Ross Warren recently announced that Sunday, Aug. 30, will be their last day of service, after putting the restaurant up for sale for $195,000 this spring so they can retire. At least one potential buyer is interested in preserving the business as Pacific Café, said Gundry, who started as a waiter soon after it opened in 1974 and became co-owner in 2014. But Gundry, 78, and Warren, 80, aren’t willing to wait for negotiations to go through to retire — nor are longtime staff members, host Roy Manabat, 80, and cooks Jian Huang and Roger Li, who are both in their late 60s, Gundry said. Without a buyer in place, the future of the restaurant as regulars know it remains unclear.

“We’ve been so busy and swamped you hardly have time to get your bearings,” Gundry said. “We didn’t realize how popular we were.”