1980s San Francisco

Doggie Diner

Posted on by dc1517

If you grew up in San Francisco, or anywhere in the Bay Area for that matter, you will remember the chain of hot dog stands notable for the massive bow-tie wearing, chef hat sporting dachshund head looming high above. This was the long-gone, beloved Doggie Diner.

Sloat at 46th Avenue, across from the Zoo

Doggie Diner was born in Oakland on San Pablo Avenue in 1948. Known for their delicious hot dogs (of course), they also had superb burgers, fries, shakes and pastrami sandwiches. By 1963, owner Al Ross had 15 locations- 12 in the East Bay and 3 in San Francisco.

It wasn’t difficult to spot a Doggie Diner location since each one had a giant rotating fiberglass dachshund head that stood outside each restaurant.

These three doggies are on display on a flatbed, usually parked on Treasure Island

From 1948 to 1986 they had a total of 30 locations. It seemed like every neighborhood in San Francisco was represented in the 1960s and 70s.

The Doggie in my old neighborhood, the Excelsior, was at 4701 Mission at Persia (where Yick’s Liquor relocated to and has been for years), but almost every area in The City was graced by that iconic dachshund with the chef’s toque perched on his canine head.

I specifically remember this location for it’s photo of Riordan High School classmate Terry Sturdevant, and San Francisco Giant Legend Willie McCovey after Terry won a hot dog eating contest as a grammar schooler. During the height of the restaurant chain’s popularity, McCovey, alongside other Bay Area sports legends like the Raiders’ Jim Otto, frequently served as a celebrity judge for Doggie Diner’s high-profile hot dog eating contests.

18th and Mission (Greg Gaar Photography)
Van Ness and Golden Gate (where Opera Plaza currently stands) Susan Ehemer/The Chronicle 1978
3rd Street at Townsend, across from the Southern Pacific Depot (notably Pac Bell/AT&T/Oracle Park is years away from existence, but the Lefty O’Doul Bridge is fully functional)
SP Depot, before it’s demolition and relocation a few blocks West in 1976. That DD lasted probably another 10 years.
Mission at Army St (Caesar Chavez) near the former Sears Building
Another shot on Mission, looking West up Army St (Bernalwood.com)
Geary at Arguello

The Doggie wasn’t beloved everywhere. In 1975, with strong NIMBY pressure from local merchants and residents, they were denied a permit to build at the corner of 19th and Irving (where a Starbucks currently resides).

In 1981, San Francisco powers-that-be passed a city ordinance outlawing rotating signs, and that was the beginning of the end for our dear doggie beacons.

When San Francisco hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1984, the Sunday combination Examiner/Chronicle posted this strange guide to visitors with a cop fetish that featured Doggie Diner prominently (giving not-so-glowing reviews on the cuisine. Hey, Jackass! It was a HOT DOG STAND! And, not to nitpick the snarky column, but “TJ Hooker” was set in a fictional L.A. city. Maybe “Streets of San Francisco” might have been a better choice…)

After years of serving up delicious hot dogs (no matter what that “hilarious” convention guide said) the DD couldn’t keep up with the hottest and fastest growing big chain fast food burger barns- McDonald’s and Burger King. The final final at 10th and Mission Streets (and one in Alameda) was shut down in May of 1986.

Doggie Diner super fan, car salesman Kip Atchley made a heroic effort to reincarnate the beloved hot dog stand in 2019. He had a partner, financial backers, but unfortunately, his dream never quite came to exist.

Kip Atchley

Last post on his Doggie Diner website was from June of 2022 and according to that post, it seems that Mr. Atchley had health issues that had him step away from his dream of opening a reproduction of the Diner. But his website remains: (click the DD logo to visit his page with archives)

Doggie Diner Logo


 He’s not the only super fan of Doggie Diner: here is another page dedicated to the memory of the delicious hot dog depot, the dachshund, and all things in between. https://doggiediner.com/

For those of us that loved Doggie Diner, maybe this Farley comic strip expresses how we all feel…

Strange Death at the World-Famous Condor

Posted on by dc1517

North Beach, San Francisco, CA July 1973 (Wikipedia)

Broadway. Once the epicenter of adult entertainment in San Francisco (well, at least in the early 60’s through the 1980’s) where today you’ll find most of the nightclubs, bars and restaurants boarded up, closed, or just a weak memory to that lively, loud, neon-lit heyday.

At the bustling corner of Columbus and Broadway still stands the “World Famous” Condor Club. Or should I say “infamous”. According to the brass plaque affixed to the brick facade, The Condor was “Where it all began” as the birthplace of topless (and bottomless) entertainment.

On June 19, 1964, soon-to-be legend Carol Doda would make history by donning a topless monokini, descending from the ceiling on top of a white baby grand piano, and shook her then un-ample breasts to a groovy rock tune for an appreciative horny audience. Instant big hit, to be copied by clubs up and down Broadway, and around the country.

Carol atop the piano (Gordon Peters, Chronicle 1964)

Carol underwent silicone breast enlargements (one of the first to do so- from a 34B to 44DD!), insured them for 1.5 million with Lloyd’s of London, suffered multiple indecency arrests by SFPD’s Vice Squad (and was cleared of all charges), gained lots of press for herself and the club nationally and internationally.

But who remembers maybe the most bizarre episode ever to hit Broadway? The time in 1983 that James Ferrozzo, known around North Beach as Jimmy the Beard, bruising Condor assistant manager, was found dead, stuck between the ceiling and the white baby grand piano that lowered and rose from the ceiling. The very same one that Carol debuted her topless routine 20 years earlier.

And pinned underneath The Beard, alive, fully naked, and truly freaked out, was 23 year old Mitchell Brothers Theater performer Theresa Hill.

According to the Examiner, the marquee promises of “Live Sex Acts” on stage were apparently in full effect after-hours as Jimmy and his girlfriend Theresa reclined on top of the piano. It’s possible that Jimmy accidentally kicked the switch that operated the piano lift (which crawler very slowly upward) and, distracted as the couple might have been, it was too late by the time Jimmy’s 240 pounds, and Theresa’s 110, got sandwiched between the baby grand and the ceiling.

Factualities, Louis R. Biro, 2011

They were discovered around 7am when a janitor had to bust a door down, saw Jimmy’s big leg stocking out from the ceiling. Theresa was, to put it mildly, somewhat distraught. (She was panicked!) They didn’t free her for another 3 full hours!

The coroner said the big man died of asphyxiation. The SFPD Homicide Inspectors said “it looks accidental…” but declared that the club was a mess, looking like a brawl had taken place earlier in the evening. No one ever found out if foul play was involved. But…it was Broadway in the 80’s. Who knows how hard they tried to investigate. Jimmy was beloved by many, “a good guy”, “real cool”, “the girls liked him”. But it was said that Theresa was escaping some violent past, some legal issues. And Jimmy was considered a brawler. So your guess is as good as mine.

But this one has to go down as one of the strangest deaths in The City, a place with a history of a lot of odd deaths.

Anyone interested in a stroll around Broadway with a former saloon keeper (Dick Boyd, owner of Pierre’s), check out the videos https://aahour.net/2021/06/05/broadway-north-beach-san-francisco-pt1/ and https://aahour.net/2021/06/07/broadway-north-beach-pt-2/ where we discuss The Condor, Finnochio’s, Enrico’s and a lot of the long gone clubs from the heyday.

The Boarding House

Posted on by dc1517

Growing up in San Francisco in the 60’s, 70’s and on, the music scene was pretty epic. Everyone remembers the Winterland Ballroom and the Fillmore as they hosted the greatest rock acts of the era. But to me, for the most eclectic, varied, entertainment option in town, we headed to Bush Street to a small live theater venue called The Boarding House.

The Boarding House at 960 Bush Street, on Lower Nob Hill, was known by many names since it opened as a theater after the 1906 earthquake and fire, most recently Doug Weston’s Troubadour North (a sister to its famous Sunset Strip sibling in West Hollywood).

But in March 1971, David Allen who ran the hungry i for Enrico Banducci, and helped launch the careers of Barbra Streisand and Lenny Bruce, opened this amazing showcase for upcoming music and comedy acts

David hosted the most varied array of musical genres possible. Bette Midler, Billy Joel, Crystal Gayle, Harry Chapin, Neil Young, Waylon Jennings, The Dire Straits, Randy Newman, Jim Croce and many many more played the small concert hall on Bush. With less than 300 seats, there was no other performance venue more intimate than the Boarding House.

In 1975 Melissa Manchester had an up-and-coming stand up open for her: BILL “Billy” Crystal

In 1975, David brought in an act that would become world famous: Bob Marley and the Wailers, with a performance that music critic Joel Selvin dubbed “strange”.

Surreal Marley

We had the pleasure of sitting at a front row table during Steve Martin’s hilarious “Wild and Crazy Guy” performance. He recorded his first three comedy albums at the club.

Great banjo, plus we got the “Arrow through the head” gag up close and personal!

And we also got the thrill of catching young Dolly Parton…with her spectacular acoustic guitar work (with her impeccably long manicured fingernails) and oh that voice!

Richard McCaffrey/Getty Images

…and, the week previous, we caught the smooth cowboy classic Western harmonies of the great Sons of the Pioneers.

The Boarding House had a small restaurant in the basement run by local burlesque performer Magnolia Thunderpussy. The signature dessert was the “Montana Banana”- her erotic version of the banana split- this banana UNsplit, two scoops of ice cream, dollop of whipped cream. You get the picture…oh, there’s the menu….

So many live albums were recorded at the BH… here are just a few:

The Boarding House fell on hard financial times, so a star-studded concert was held at Civic Auditorium

…I do BELIEVE that last performer is ROBIN Williams, who launched his career at The Boarding House

But in 1980, there was a fire, and a developer was buying up property to build condos on that 900 block of Bush. The Boarding House closed in July of that year. They reopened in North Beach, but that club closed in ’82, David passed in ’84. The memories of one of San Francisco’s greatest entertainment clubs is all that remains.

960 Bush Street today. Meh.