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Across the country, families open their doors to their restaurants and invite diners in. Whether they serve burgers and fries or mole and gorditas, America's family-owned restaurants all share one goal: to uphold their family's legacy through food, drink, and hospitality. It's not always an easy or recognized job, but these families strive to uphold their legacies through delicious food.
Ketel One, also a family-owned business run by the 10th-generation distiller Carolus Nolet, teamed up with Eater to share 25 of the country's best family-owned restaurants. Whether a century old or relatively new, well-known or obscure, these picks all reflect a spirit of dedication, hard work, and a perseverance of perfection, just like Ketel One vodka.
One of Manhattan’s most storied restaurants has opened and closed several times since it was founded in 1974, outgrowing one space and trading it for another. Through all the changes, though, the essence of Le Cirque, owner (and two-time James Beard Award winner) Sirio Maccioni, has remained stable. “Family-owned and run” is no marketing gimmick at Le Cirque, where Maccioni’s wife and three sons join him in the business. Italian tasting menus offered at lunch and dinner feature dishes created by now-famous chefs — Daniel Boulud and Jacques Torres, for example — who logged years in Le Cirque’s kitchen, making, as Boulud has said, “Le Cirque classics into better classics” for a global who’s who of guests.
Greek immigrant Harry Poulakakos scooped ice cream in Brooklyn and worked as a barman before landing at the iconic Delmonico’s, where he learned the ropes
of the American restaurant business. By 1972, he opened his own spot, the eponymous Harry’s, whose classic steakhouse menu and vibe were clearly influenced by Delmonico’s. In fact, the restaurant so much captured the ambiance and atmosphere of Wall Street that it was written into two famous New York novels: Bonfire of the Vanities and American Psycho. Though Harry shut his restaurant after the death of his wife in 2003, his son Peter, who grew up in the business, picked up the torch. And don’t worry: Harry himself is often spotted at the restaurant, greeting new and repeat customers.
Billing itself as “the oldest restaurant in New York that is still owned by the family that founded it,” as well as the city’s oldest Italian restaurant and the oldest restaurant in the Theatre District, Barbetta has been serving Piemontese classics like carne cruda and bue al Barolo since 1906. It does so in a landmarked dining room that’s all marble tabletops and carved, gilded pillars, floral upholstery, and a chandelier dripping with crystals. They don’t make restaurants like this anymore; Barbetta harks back to another place and era, earning its Old World feel the only way one can — over time.
Before it became known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio, East Harlem was known between the 1870s and 1970s as an enclave for Italian immigrants. One of its most dashing residents, by all accounts, was Louis Rao, who took over the restaurant after the death of its first owner, his father Charles, who opened Rao’s in 1896. Generations of Raos have been born into the family business, which still serves Southern Neapolitan cuisine in exactly the same spot where Charles got his start.
Boca Raton’s The Little Chalet celebrates its one-year anniversary this month, but its family history reaches back more than four decades and 4,000 miles to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where a man named Antonio Augusto Marcellini opened a business called Casa Rustica in 1972. It wasn’t a restaurant — yet — but by 1974, the shop moved to a chalet-style house, and by 1979 stopped selling furniture and pivoted to become a restaurant. Across the years and miles since then, the “chalet” theme has been preserved, and more members of the Marcellini family have joined the business, expanding first to several cities around Brazil, and finally, to Boca Raton. Don’t expect Brazilian fare, though; the menu is European — and yes, there’s fondue.
If the phrase “family-owned restaurant” evokes humble wooden tables, nondescript flatware, and a menu full of comfort food favorites, it’s time to expand your definition to include places like The Forge. Current owner Shareef Malnik (he took over the restaurant from his dad after a fire at the restaurant in 1991) is a globetrotting adventurer and licensed helicopter pilot, who has run with bulls, and ice-climbed glaciers. His travels and taste for the high life seem to have brought a distinct international influence to the menu at The Forge; though locally grown and sourced ingredients dominate, there are plenty of delicious imports, namely Russian Ossetra caviar served with a black currant vodka gelee on blinis.
Florida doesn’t lack for family-owned and -run Cuban restaurants, many of them with fascinating histories, but The Columbia, which opened in Ybor City in 1905, claims to be the state’s oldest restaurant. That’s a lot of time to build a solid kitchen repertoire and a stellar front-of-house reputation. In addition to classic Cuban and Spanish dishes like ropa vieja and seafood paella, there is always live entertainment at The Columbia: A 45-minute flamenco show is put on nightly, except Sundays.
In a city as historic and distinguished as New Orleans, it’s tough to lay legitimate claim to superlatives, but Antoine’s has no qualms about naming itself the oldest French-Creole fine dining restaurant in the Crescent City. The fifth generation of the founder’s family is now running the restaurant, which opened in 1840 and is the birthplace of Oysters Rockefeller. Wars, Prohibition, recessions, and hurricanes haven’t managed to shutter Antoine’s, which remains so popular that it has expanded to encompass 14 dining rooms over the years. House specialties include Cote de veau Rossellini (a veal chop served with duck foie gras mousse and topped with a red wine truffle sauce) and Crabes mous frits (soft shell crab served in a meuniere sauce).
Sundown at Granada ticks all the boxes on the list: farm-to-table dishes, an outdoor patio, craft cocktails, more than 60 beers on tap, and live entertainment. The spot, owned by couple Julia Garton and Mike Schoder, is known to be the spot that really does have something for everyone. Vegetarians and vegans are well catered to here; try the Machu Picchu, a plate that includes quinoa, mashed sweet potato, black beans, peanuts, and greens, or one of their loaded avocados, stuffed with southwest, Italian-style, or Waldorf salad fillings.
Clancy’s opened as a family restaurant in the late 1940s, but with no heirs to take it over, the restaurant was sold to a group of businessmen in 1983 before being sold again to the current owners, two couples who run Clancy’s in tandem. Drawing on both Italian influences and the bounty of Bayou Country, the handwritten, changing-daily menus feature plates like grilled baby drum in a Creole tomato vinaigrette and pasta bordelaise with fried oysters. An extensive bar is a popular place for classic cocktails and small bites.
Seafood has always been central to the New Orleans kitchen, and family-owned Casamento’s contends it serves the city’s best oysters. They’re prepared in every iteration imaginable, from oyster loaves and stews to on the half shell and charbroiled. Opened by Italian immigrant Joe Casamento in 1919, the nearly century-old restaurant is now run by his son and grandson. Make sure you don’t show up on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, though; the restaurant is closed those days, as well as for all of June, July, and August.
Sometimes you need a break from what you’ve been doing to find your true calling, and that was the case for Jeannie Terilli, the owner of this Italian-inspired restaurant in Dallas. Terilli, who started her career in the restaurant business, took a break to try her hand at landscaping. But after digging holes in the blistering heat of the Texas summer, she realized that her place really was at the helm of a restaurant, and so she opened the family-owned and -run Terilli’s in 1985, loved locally for its generous portions and its half-price happy hour cocktails.
Like several of the restaurants on the list, this one lays claim to several superlatives, including that of the oldest family-owned Mexican restaurant in Dallas. The Dominguez family opened the first Tupinamba restaurant in 1947, after its patriarch, Papa Froylan Dominguez, and his wife, Consuelo, fled Mexico during the height of the Mexican Revolution “with a handful of cherished family recipes.” The rest, as they say, is history.
This classic Chicago steakhouse overlooking the Chicago River (outside dining with a view is available from the beginning of May until the end of October) prides itself on always having a member of the family on hand to make sure operations are running smoothly and guests are happy. In fact, the owner's father, Gene Michelotti, opened Gene & Georgetti. Now, the family is known as "the First Chicago Family of Steaks.” The interior of Erie Cafe is clubby, with wood paneling and exposed brick walls, and its menu is, too: From appetizers and salads to mains and desserts, expect all the steakhouse standards to reign supreme here.
“Old-time Chicago” is how the owners of this restaurant describe Gene & Georgetti, named for the two original proprietors, both of whom have passed away since the restaurant’s opening in River North in 1941. Gene’s daughter, Marion, purchased the restaurant from her mother, and she continues to run Gene & Georgetti with her husband. A parade of celebrities has eaten here, from Lucille Ball to Vince Vaughn, dining on Italian specialties like veal Vesuvio and lobster alla diavolo.
Club Lucky is a relative whippersnapper compared to the other Chicago steakhouses and Italian restaurants on the list, but 26 years open is still plenty of time to perfect a menu and service. Regular patrons love the 1940s feel of the restaurant, which is located in a former dance hall and still evokes that earlier era with its red banquettes, wood accents, and period light fixtures.
Las Vegas isn’t exactly the first city that comes to mind when you think of family-run restaurants, much less when they’re located in a sprawling hotel and casino, but there are always outliers, and Crush is one of them. Drawing from Italian, contemporary American, and European cuisines, the menu is ambitious in both the quantity and quality of what it offers, including Alaskan crab risotto and date-and-artichoke pizza with jalapeños and caramelized onions. And definitely don’t skip cocktails (try the Crush the Mule with Ketel One vodka, ginger beer, and fresh lime juice) or dessert (go for the Nutella Squeeze, an ice cream sandwich with chocolate whipped cream, Nutella, and caramelized hazelnuts).
Opening this cocktail lounge was a labor of love for owner Nectaly Mendoza and his friends and family. Now it’s a drink and dining destination for industry insiders and tourists looking for a classic cocktail. You’ll often find Mendoza behind the bar (he’s been recognized many times before as one of the nation’s best bartenders), so take a tour through the history of libations from the 1700s, Prohibition, and beyond — the menu is broken up by periods in the Age of Cocktails. Start with the Original Collins and end with a Beachcomber to close out the decades.
Family-owned since 1985, Gino Ferraro’s ancestral recipes from the old country — southern Italy, to be precise — are the foundation of Ferraro’s menu. Look for risotto Valdostana (porcini mushroom risotto with sweet cheeses, duck prosciutto, and a parsley emulsion) and coniglio brasato (braised rabbit served on polenta with roasted mushrooms). Pastas, sausages, and meatballs are all made in house. Gino’s son, Mimmo, was the executive chef for years before branching out to open his own restaurants, and Gino’s wife and business partner, Rosalba, is still involved in the business. The family has made such a mark in Las Vegas that in 2015, the mayor of the city declared November 6 to be Ferraro Family Day.
Lawrence L. Frank and Water Van de Kamp opened their Scottish roadhouse on the side of a dusty road in 1922. More than 90 years later, the restaurant is still run by the Frank and Van de Kamp families, who claim that it’s the oldest family-owned and -operated restaurant in Los Angeles. The duo made their name by selling hamburger steaks until they introduced prime rib in the 1950s. It’s still the go-to order with a stiff drink in a dark, convivial setting.
It’s impossible to cruise by Guelaguetza without the pumpkin orange walls of this Koreatown Mexican restaurant calling your attention. Beside the vivid color, they’re decorated with gorgeous images of important aspects of Mexican culture: a young girl holds an ear of corn on one wall, a serious-looking man plays an accordion on another. Inside, husband-and-wife team Fernando López and María Monterrubio play host, sharing the traditional recipes from their native Oaxaca that have earned them a James Beard Award. If you want to try to recreate some of the flavors at home, you can buy mole and michelada mixes at their on-site boutique.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner — the grill at Tony P’s stays busy morning, noon, and night serving up build-your-own omelettes, flatiron steaks, grilled shrimp, and more. It’s a challenge to trace all the family ties here because apart from the formal relationships by blood and marriage, many of the staff have worked together so long that they feel and act like family, and they treat guests that way, too.
Humbly named Original Joe’s is a classic immigrant-comes-to-America-and-opens-a-restaurant tale. Croatian immigrant Tony Rodin opened the first iteration of what would become Original Joe’s in 1937. The 14-stool counter was simple in every way (it had sawdust floors), but incredibly ambitious, and in the nearly 80 years since, has turned into a third-generation family-run operation that features Italian and northern California specialties, including sautéed sweetbreads.
Husband-wife owners Jorge Martínez (who doubles as executive chef) and Lorena Zertuche opened Loló in 2008, introducing San Franciscans to what the couple dubbed “Jaliscan Californian cuisine” — but they’d already cut their entrepreneurial teeth on two wildly popular bar-restaurant concepts in Guadalajara, Mexico, i Latina and Anita Li, before launching a US outpost. The bright, wildly patterned design aesthetic makes you feel that you’ve stepped into the home of a very creative friend who also happens to cook very, very well (calamari and octopus gorditas — ñom) and make some seriously fabulous cocktails. Try the Mañanero, which blends vodka, pineapple, lemon, and coffee bitters.
Since 1969, Perry’s has held its own on Union Street, serving classic American steakhouse and diner food: Cobb salads, hamburgers, eggs Benedict, and a Wednesday night lobster special. More Perry’s outposts have opened since then, but this location is the real-deal original, opened by Perry Butler and his ex-wife in 1969. Nearly all of Butler’s children are involved in the management of the family business, which has stayed true to its original goal: to be a place where patrons could relax, eat good food (they recommend the seared ahi sandwich with a poblano chile relish and scallion dijon aioli), and “enjoy a drink, meet people you haven't seen since last night or maybe haven't seen before at all, or just sit and watch the world go by."
One of Manhattan’s most storied restaurants has opened and closed several times since it was founded in 1974, outgrowing one space and trading it for another. Through all the changes, though, the essence of Le Cirque, owner (and two-time James Beard Award winner) Sirio Maccioni, has remained stable. “Family-owned and run” is no marketing gimmick at Le Cirque, where Maccioni’s wife and three sons join him in the business. Italian tasting menus offered at lunch and dinner feature dishes created by now-famous chefs — Daniel Boulud and Jacques Torres, for example — who logged years in Le Cirque’s kitchen, making, as Boulud has said, “Le Cirque classics into better classics” for a global who’s who of guests.
Greek immigrant Harry Poulakakos scooped ice cream in Brooklyn and worked as a barman before landing at the iconic Delmonico’s, where he learned the ropes
of the American restaurant business. By 1972, he opened his own spot, the eponymous Harry’s, whose classic steakhouse menu and vibe were clearly influenced by Delmonico’s. In fact, the restaurant so much captured the ambiance and atmosphere of Wall Street that it was written into two famous New York novels: Bonfire of the Vanities and American Psycho. Though Harry shut his restaurant after the death of his wife in 2003, his son Peter, who grew up in the business, picked up the torch. And don’t worry: Harry himself is often spotted at the restaurant, greeting new and repeat customers.
Billing itself as “the oldest restaurant in New York that is still owned by the family that founded it,” as well as the city’s oldest Italian restaurant and the oldest restaurant in the Theatre District, Barbetta has been serving Piemontese classics like carne cruda and bue al Barolo since 1906. It does so in a landmarked dining room that’s all marble tabletops and carved, gilded pillars, floral upholstery, and a chandelier dripping with crystals. They don’t make restaurants like this anymore; Barbetta harks back to another place and era, earning its Old World feel the only way one can — over time.
Before it became known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio, East Harlem was known between the 1870s and 1970s as an enclave for Italian immigrants. One of its most dashing residents, by all accounts, was Louis Rao, who took over the restaurant after the death of its first owner, his father Charles, who opened Rao’s in 1896. Generations of Raos have been born into the family business, which still serves Southern Neapolitan cuisine in exactly the same spot where Charles got his start.
Boca Raton’s The Little Chalet celebrates its one-year anniversary this month, but its family history reaches back more than four decades and 4,000 miles to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where a man named Antonio Augusto Marcellini opened a business called Casa Rustica in 1972. It wasn’t a restaurant — yet — but by 1974, the shop moved to a chalet-style house, and by 1979 stopped selling furniture and pivoted to become a restaurant. Across the years and miles since then, the “chalet” theme has been preserved, and more members of the Marcellini family have joined the business, expanding first to several cities around Brazil, and finally, to Boca Raton. Don’t expect Brazilian fare, though; the menu is European — and yes, there’s fondue.
If the phrase “family-owned restaurant” evokes humble wooden tables, nondescript flatware, and a menu full of comfort food favorites, it’s time to expand your definition to include places like The Forge. Current owner Shareef Malnik (he took over the restaurant from his dad after a fire at the restaurant in 1991) is a globetrotting adventurer and licensed helicopter pilot, who has run with bulls, and ice-climbed glaciers. His travels and taste for the high life seem to have brought a distinct international influence to the menu at The Forge; though locally grown and sourced ingredients dominate, there are plenty of delicious imports, namely Russian Ossetra caviar served with a black currant vodka gelee on blinis.
Florida doesn’t lack for family-owned and -run Cuban restaurants, many of them with fascinating histories, but The Columbia, which opened in Ybor City in 1905, claims to be the state’s oldest restaurant. That’s a lot of time to build a solid kitchen repertoire and a stellar front-of-house reputation. In addition to classic Cuban and Spanish dishes like ropa vieja and seafood paella, there is always live entertainment at The Columbia: A 45-minute flamenco show is put on nightly, except Sundays.
In a city as historic and distinguished as New Orleans, it’s tough to lay legitimate claim to superlatives, but Antoine’s has no qualms about naming itself the oldest French-Creole fine dining restaurant in the Crescent City. The fifth generation of the founder’s family is now running the restaurant, which opened in 1840 and is the birthplace of Oysters Rockefeller. Wars, Prohibition, recessions, and hurricanes haven’t managed to shutter Antoine’s, which remains so popular that it has expanded to encompass 14 dining rooms over the years. House specialties include Cote de veau Rossellini (a veal chop served with duck foie gras mousse and topped with a red wine truffle sauce) and Crabes mous frits (soft shell crab served in a meuniere sauce).
Sundown at Granada ticks all the boxes on the list: farm-to-table dishes, an outdoor patio, craft cocktails, more than 60 beers on tap, and live entertainment. The spot, owned by couple Julia Garton and Mike Schoder, is known to be the spot that really does have something for everyone. Vegetarians and vegans are well catered to here; try the Machu Picchu, a plate that includes quinoa, mashed sweet potato, black beans, peanuts, and greens, or one of their loaded avocados, stuffed with southwest, Italian-style, or Waldorf salad fillings.
Clancy’s opened as a family restaurant in the late 1940s, but with no heirs to take it over, the restaurant was sold to a group of businessmen in 1983 before being sold again to the current owners, two couples who run Clancy’s in tandem. Drawing on both Italian influences and the bounty of Bayou Country, the handwritten, changing-daily menus feature plates like grilled baby drum in a Creole tomato vinaigrette and pasta bordelaise with fried oysters. An extensive bar is a popular place for classic cocktails and small bites.
Seafood has always been central to the New Orleans kitchen, and family-owned Casamento’s contends it serves the city’s best oysters. They’re prepared in every iteration imaginable, from oyster loaves and stews to on the half shell and charbroiled. Opened by Italian immigrant Joe Casamento in 1919, the nearly century-old restaurant is now run by his son and grandson. Make sure you don’t show up on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, though; the restaurant is closed those days, as well as for all of June, July, and August.
Sometimes you need a break from what you’ve been doing to find your true calling, and that was the case for Jeannie Terilli, the owner of this Italian-inspired restaurant in Dallas. Terilli, who started her career in the restaurant business, took a break to try her hand at landscaping. But after digging holes in the blistering heat of the Texas summer, she realized that her place really was at the helm of a restaurant, and so she opened the family-owned and -run Terilli’s in 1985, loved locally for its generous portions and its half-price happy hour cocktails.
Like several of the restaurants on the list, this one lays claim to several superlatives, including that of the oldest family-owned Mexican restaurant in Dallas. The Dominguez family opened the first Tupinamba restaurant in 1947, after its patriarch, Papa Froylan Dominguez, and his wife, Consuelo, fled Mexico during the height of the Mexican Revolution “with a handful of cherished family recipes.” The rest, as they say, is history.
This classic Chicago steakhouse overlooking the Chicago River (outside dining with a view is available from the beginning of May until the end of October) prides itself on always having a member of the family on hand to make sure operations are running smoothly and guests are happy. In fact, the owner's father, Gene Michelotti, opened Gene & Georgetti. Now, the family is known as "the First Chicago Family of Steaks.” The interior of Erie Cafe is clubby, with wood paneling and exposed brick walls, and its menu is, too: From appetizers and salads to mains and desserts, expect all the steakhouse standards to reign supreme here.
“Old-time Chicago” is how the owners of this restaurant describe Gene & Georgetti, named for the two original proprietors, both of whom have passed away since the restaurant’s opening in River North in 1941. Gene’s daughter, Marion, purchased the restaurant from her mother, and she continues to run Gene & Georgetti with her husband. A parade of celebrities has eaten here, from Lucille Ball to Vince Vaughn, dining on Italian specialties like veal Vesuvio and lobster alla diavolo.
Club Lucky is a relative whippersnapper compared to the other Chicago steakhouses and Italian restaurants on the list, but 26 years open is still plenty of time to perfect a menu and service. Regular patrons love the 1940s feel of the restaurant, which is located in a former dance hall and still evokes that earlier era with its red banquettes, wood accents, and period light fixtures.
Las Vegas isn’t exactly the first city that comes to mind when you think of family-run restaurants, much less when they’re located in a sprawling hotel and casino, but there are always outliers, and Crush is one of them. Drawing from Italian, contemporary American, and European cuisines, the menu is ambitious in both the quantity and quality of what it offers, including Alaskan crab risotto and date-and-artichoke pizza with jalapeños and caramelized onions. And definitely don’t skip cocktails (try the Crush the Mule with Ketel One vodka, ginger beer, and fresh lime juice) or dessert (go for the Nutella Squeeze, an ice cream sandwich with chocolate whipped cream, Nutella, and caramelized hazelnuts).
Opening this cocktail lounge was a labor of love for owner Nectaly Mendoza and his friends and family. Now it’s a drink and dining destination for industry insiders and tourists looking for a classic cocktail. You’ll often find Mendoza behind the bar (he’s been recognized many times before as one of the nation’s best bartenders), so take a tour through the history of libations from the 1700s, Prohibition, and beyond — the menu is broken up by periods in the Age of Cocktails. Start with the Original Collins and end with a Beachcomber to close out the decades.
Family-owned since 1985, Gino Ferraro’s ancestral recipes from the old country — southern Italy, to be precise — are the foundation of Ferraro’s menu. Look for risotto Valdostana (porcini mushroom risotto with sweet cheeses, duck prosciutto, and a parsley emulsion) and coniglio brasato (braised rabbit served on polenta with roasted mushrooms). Pastas, sausages, and meatballs are all made in house. Gino’s son, Mimmo, was the executive chef for years before branching out to open his own restaurants, and Gino’s wife and business partner, Rosalba, is still involved in the business. The family has made such a mark in Las Vegas that in 2015, the mayor of the city declared November 6 to be Ferraro Family Day.
Lawrence L. Frank and Water Van de Kamp opened their Scottish roadhouse on the side of a dusty road in 1922. More than 90 years later, the restaurant is still run by the Frank and Van de Kamp families, who claim that it’s the oldest family-owned and -operated restaurant in Los Angeles. The duo made their name by selling hamburger steaks until they introduced prime rib in the 1950s. It’s still the go-to order with a stiff drink in a dark, convivial setting.
It’s impossible to cruise by Guelaguetza without the pumpkin orange walls of this Koreatown Mexican restaurant calling your attention. Beside the vivid color, they’re decorated with gorgeous images of important aspects of Mexican culture: a young girl holds an ear of corn on one wall, a serious-looking man plays an accordion on another. Inside, husband-and-wife team Fernando López and María Monterrubio play host, sharing the traditional recipes from their native Oaxaca that have earned them a James Beard Award. If you want to try to recreate some of the flavors at home, you can buy mole and michelada mixes at their on-site boutique.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner — the grill at Tony P’s stays busy morning, noon, and night serving up build-your-own omelettes, flatiron steaks, grilled shrimp, and more. It’s a challenge to trace all the family ties here because apart from the formal relationships by blood and marriage, many of the staff have worked together so long that they feel and act like family, and they treat guests that way, too.
Humbly named Original Joe’s is a classic immigrant-comes-to-America-and-opens-a-restaurant tale. Croatian immigrant Tony Rodin opened the first iteration of what would become Original Joe’s in 1937. The 14-stool counter was simple in every way (it had sawdust floors), but incredibly ambitious, and in the nearly 80 years since, has turned into a third-generation family-run operation that features Italian and northern California specialties, including sautéed sweetbreads.
Husband-wife owners Jorge Martínez (who doubles as executive chef) and Lorena Zertuche opened Loló in 2008, introducing San Franciscans to what the couple dubbed “Jaliscan Californian cuisine” — but they’d already cut their entrepreneurial teeth on two wildly popular bar-restaurant concepts in Guadalajara, Mexico, i Latina and Anita Li, before launching a US outpost. The bright, wildly patterned design aesthetic makes you feel that you’ve stepped into the home of a very creative friend who also happens to cook very, very well (calamari and octopus gorditas — ñom) and make some seriously fabulous cocktails. Try the Mañanero, which blends vodka, pineapple, lemon, and coffee bitters.
Since 1969, Perry’s has held its own on Union Street, serving classic American steakhouse and diner food: Cobb salads, hamburgers, eggs Benedict, and a Wednesday night lobster special. More Perry’s outposts have opened since then, but this location is the real-deal original, opened by Perry Butler and his ex-wife in 1969. Nearly all of Butler’s children are involved in the management of the family business, which has stayed true to its original goal: to be a place where patrons could relax, eat good food (they recommend the seared ahi sandwich with a poblano chile relish and scallion dijon aioli), and “enjoy a drink, meet people you haven't seen since last night or maybe haven't seen before at all, or just sit and watch the world go by."