QUESTION: What was the “celebration restaurant” your family ate at when you were a child, and what is it now?
© Copyright 2007 – 2025 Claycord News & Talk
Subscribe to our newsletter!
QUESTION: What was the “celebration restaurant” your family ate at when you were a child, and what is it now?
Subscribe to our newsletter!
© Copyright 2007 – 2025 Claycord News & Talk
Then: hometown buffet
now: Ruth’s Chris Steak House
The Velvet Turtle.
Sounds like a sex move. One neither
party really has their heart in. 😜
West Portal Joe’s in the West Portal neighborhood in the City. It’s located on a corner near
the entrance of the West Portal streetcar tunnel. When I was a kid, they were one of the
best Italian restaurants in the City, and made the best pizza.
Today, it’s called Little Original Joe’s.
Another restaurant was Johnson’s Tamales, located in the City’s Mission district. Who
would have thought that a guy named Johnson would own a successful Mexican
restaurant? The food was so good, even the local Mexicans ate there. Johnson is gone
now, but the memory of his great Mexican food lingers on.
Wasn’t The Chuck Wagon also on West Portal? When I was really young that was a place the folks would take us; they made a mean Shirley Temple.
Did you ever go to Dago Mary’s in (yikes) Hunter’s Point? One of my business associates told us the only way to experience “Authentic San Francisco Funk” was to have lunch at Dago Mary’s. So imagine a bunch of suits down there where the waitresses still wore beehives. Apparently random gunfire from up on the hill was common, although we never experienced it. Great crab cakes.
There was a Johnson’s Tamale Grotto out on Vicente street in the sunset too. It was always a treat for the family having hot tamales for dinner. Always busy was take-out only as I recall.
I remember going to jade garden in walnut creek a lot as a kid. Sadly they closed.
Du’par’s in socal
Ce Ce Oles was our spot. Best Mexican on Clayton road. I miss that place.
Their food was decent if you could get past the stench of their bathrooms that lingered into the restaurant. The bar was pretty active, and you’d always run into the Tori Pines drug cartel along with their hoetas, acting like a bunch of 1%er gangster fools. (only in their dreams)
Carlos Murphys
We did not go out for celebration dinners. We were lucky to have food on the table every night.
Hungry Hunter in Lafayette. It was torn down many years ago and is now the location of a bunch of townhouses.
Now it’s usually Casa Orinda in Orinda.
Great Fried Chicken.
I remember when Hungry Hunter was Mountain Jack’s.
And before that, too.
Ground Round (standard restaurant that served a basket of peanuts, and shells were thrown on the floor). Now, it is a car dealership.
when I was a kid, Bob’s Big Boy was my dad’s favorite restaurant, so that’s where we always went. I remember the day that Ranch dressing first appeared on their menu in the 70’s, my life was changed.
I don’t really remember eating out that much as a kid, I guess maybe Primo’s or Frankie G’s in Danville? Now, I’ve been to Sauced in Danville for a couple of birthdays, which is fun with the axe throwing.
We generally celebrated at home, mom and dad in
early on no DUIs.
But now and then mom would refuse to prepare
dinner so we went to Sals Italian Deli on the
border with Flatbush.
Steaming corned beef sandwiches with pickles
and Sals red horseradish spread.
Cream soda floats for dessert. Damn.
Brooklyn used to rule.
Exposition Fish Grotto on the wharf in SF.
El Papagallo.
No idea what’s over there now.
It’s a Walgreen’s 🙁 The couple that owned El Papa divorced and the wife reopened in the Russian river area …. it was ok but not the same ….closed now
I was a regular customer at El Papagallo & know there were a couple of those restaurants but I’ve only ever been to the Walnut Creek location.
This is interesting, click on “original listing” and see 3 addresses:
*
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/177238104094
Copper Broiler in Walnut Creek where Marriott hotel is now. Also Red Barn for hamburgers way up on N. Main St.
As a kid???? Chuck E Cheese hands down. Now as an adult I would not go there if it was the only place to eat out. It was Round table until about 1978 then this was the place to be.
1970’s: Velvet Turtle on Broadway in Walnut Creek (proms and very special occasions), otherwise Sizzler. Didn’t eat out much.
1980’s & 90s: Ce Ce ‘Oles on Clayton Road (the standby for birthdays).
2000’s Guadalajara Grill in Clayton (stopped after the remodel $$).
2010’s Tahoe Joe’s.
2020’s I shop around by price and ratings–times have changed.
The standby for many, many years: Ed’s Mudville Grill in Clayton.
Lippert’s Ice Cream in Walnut Creek on the corner of S. California Blvd & Botelho Drive.They had something called the Mt. Diablo Extravaganza but I think we only had that a couple of times. It was a lot of ice cream and we tended to be skinny kids. It’s now a pet food store.
.
Pipers in Walnut Creek out by Rossmoor. I believe the building was torn down about ten year ago
.
As teenagers, we’d go to El Charro in Lafayette. The building still exists but I know what’s in there now. The most recent Google street view is from February 2021 when El Charro was still in business.
Yes! The velvet turtle! I would always order the turkey Marsala …. The I learned how to make it myself later on!
second in the list was black angus when it was good.
if it was a sports celebration we would frequent downtown Clayton skippolinis
Spanger’s, they had the best sourdough bread in the entire Bay Area, along with fresh locally caught King Salmon, Dover Sole, Ling Cod, Halibut, and Albacore Tuna, And their Ravioli, Spaghetti meatballs, and Lasagna were all amazing.
When my kids were young and in the Claycord area, our favorite celebration sites were Benihana, CC Ole’s, and yes, even the Olive Garden. Now, when we’re back in the area, we celebrate at Jack’s, The Dead Fish, or La Veranda.
La Cocotte in Clayton.
The food there was wonderful, unforgettable (the creamed spinach crepes were so good).
Now it’s Moresi’s Chop House and it is an equally great restaurant.
A little pricey, but worth it.