Written by Julie Zigoris Published Oct. 04, 2023 • 11:00am SF Standard
John’s Grill, the Downtown San Francisco restaurant celebrating its 115th anniversary Wednesday, leans a lot on its long and storied history.
The restaurant has many claims to fame: notable customers from Ronald Reagan to Renee Zellweger, a champagne dressing that became its own brand and the longtime patronage of fitness guru Jack LaLanne, who ate there so often they named a salad after him (seasonal greens with crab, shrimp, avocado, mushrooms and tomato with blue cheese vinaigrette).
But above them all looms the legacy of Dashiell Hammett, the hard-boiled detective writer who immortalized the restaurant in his 1927 novel The Maltese Falcon, a story that became the 1941 film noir classic starring Humphrey Bogart.
John’s Grill in San Francisco Has a 115-Year History Worthy of a Noir Film
Greg
Secretary Bird
