171-Year-Old San Francisco Restaurant Will Close Until Indoor Dining Resumes

Tadich Grill, the classic San Francisco restaurant that’s been serving fresh seafood, slabs of beef, and other stick-to-the-ribs fare since 1849, announced Monday that it will temporarily close this Friday. It won’t reopen until indoor dining is again allowed in San Francisco, it says — and with that date up in the air, diners should probably order Tadich’s beloved crab cakes, cioppino, and bread pudding while they can.

Tadich is notable for a slew of reasons: It’s the oldest continually running restaurant in SF; it’s reputedly the first U.S. restaurant to mesquite-grill its seafood; and, at the beginning of the pandemic, it famously announced that it would do its best to keep every worker on the payroll. Speaking with SF Gate, members of the Buich family, which have owned the spot since 1928, said that “we’re willing to go into our personal savings accounts to make sure our employees are paid,” and that they’d contribute their earnings from their day jobs to support the family business.

It appears that the losses Tadich suffered as a result of the pandemic were more than even those personal contributions could bear. Though the restaurant swiftly moved to offer takeout and delivery service, in hopes that those orders as well as gift card and merch sales would “help us ride the wave as we chased the date for re-opening” of indoor dining, the restaurant said via Instagram. (Eater SF’s request for comment from Tadich Grill has not been responded to as of publication time.)

But with indoor dining on indefinite hold in San Francisco, and shut down for all of California until August (at least), it appeared that Tadich couldn’t keep hanging on. “As you’re aware, that date continued to change and today we have no visibility into when that day will come” the restaurant writes. In addition, though the restaurant received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, those funds have “dried up and without additional government aid, we’ve made the difficult decision to temporarily hit pause.”

According to the restaurant, its last day in business — for now — is Friday, July 31. After that, the restaurant says, they’ll be sitting things out “until we are able to re-open for indoor dining.” “When that time finally comes,” Tadich says, “we will be eager to serve you your long-time favorites in a dining room optimized for your health and safety.” Until then, orders can be placed here for local or national delivery, and curbside pickup is available via Tock.