North Beach's Capp's Corner to Close This Month After 52 Years

The ongoing rent crunch in San Francisco appears to have felled yet another local icon, as North Beach's Capp's Corner announces that it plans to close its doors on April 19th. As the Chron reported earlier this week, owner Tom Ginella has had a handshake deal with his landlords, the Kuo family, for over 30 years, but in a market like this one, nothing gold can stay. The Ginella family sought numerous avenues to keep Capp's open, engaging in months of talks with the Kuos and even getting both Governor Jerry Brown and renowned Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti to call the Kuos' lawyer, but the two parties eventually couldn't come to terms over the Kuos' desire to make Capp's financially responsible for losses and ADA improvements. After assessing the situation, Ginella and his staff decided to cut bait, and announced the closure this morning to Inside Scoop.

Capp's is no one's idea of fine dining, but it's nonetheless beloved for its old-school, family-style atmosphere; regular crowd of barflies; and enormous portions of red-sauce classics like lasagna and linguine with clams, served for under $22 with a salad and a bowl of minestrone. Like its neighbor Beach Blanket Babylon, it's an area institution, filled with memories for many longtime diners, who will undoubtedly be packing the joint in the coming weeks to say goodbye. The Kuos apparently have a new tenant already interested in the space; we'll have more on what's next for Capp's shortly.