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11/18/13 Crab House on Pier 39 in S.F. - San Francisco Chronicle
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Restaurants
Crab House on Pier 39 in S.F.
Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle
At the Crab House on Pier 39, above, customers enjoy crab in a variety of forms.
By Michael Bauer
November 17, 2013
This is part of a series exploring the Port of San Francisco restaurants. These waterfront
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spots embrace and reflect the city's oldest, and newest, culinary traditions, and have plenty of
stories to tell. Previous articles are at www.sfgate.com/food and
www.sfchronicle.com/food.
Sandwiched between the trinket and T-shirt shops on Pier 39 are some culinary finds. And that
includes Crab House. It does as the name implies: serves the real San Francisco treat, and lots of it.
On any given week the restaurant goes through more than a ton - literally - of Dungeness.
In 1998, Jerry Dal Bozzo took over what was
the Old Swiss House and gave Fisherman's
Wharf what he says was, at the time, the first
full-service crab restaurant.
"There wasn't any crab house on Fisherman's
Wharf," he says. "And since we're known for
crab, I decided to do all kinds of crab dishes."
The star is the whole roasted crab splayed on a
cast-iron platter with sizzling garlic butter that
begs to be sopped up with the sourdough baguette-like loaves that are put on the white marble
tables, no matter what you order.
You'll also find mounds of snowy crab flesh in the Louie salad with tomatoes, olives, eggs and
avocado; and a generous serving topping the rich tomato-y cioppino filled with shrimp, calamari,
white fish and mussels. It's a great version for anyone who wants to taste this classic fisherman's
stew.
Then there are crab cakes, crab chowder, crab Caesar, crab angel hair lasagna, a crab melt
sandwich and crab enchiladas. If you can put crab in it or on it, it's probably on the menu.
Dal Bozzo, who opened the Stinking Rose in North Beach in 1991 and a branch in Beverly Hills four
years later, is well known for showing love to restaurants that have become long in the tooth. He was
responsible for reopening the Cliff House in 1973. And in 2005 he acquired and remodeled the
Franciscan, which originally opened in 1957. More recently, he purchased the Old Clam House on
Bayshore Boulevard, which has roots back to 1861.
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At 73 years of age, he could retire. But the North Beach native continues to look for places that
need a second chance to go along with his other classic properties - Calzones in North Beach,
Salito's in Sausalito, Dead Fish in Crockett, and Osso Steakhouse, which took over the former
Vanessi's on California Street.
"I like the idea of fixing places up," he says. "It's what I do, and it fulfills me."
He also fills people up with the generously portioned food at the 150-seat Crab House, which has a
pristine look with white tiles on the wall and a black-and-white tile floor. The splash of color is saved
for the hand-painted crabs along the tops of the walls. The windows frame views of the ocean and
Golden Gate Bridge on one side, the bustle of Pier 39 on the other.
Dal Bozzo knows he chooses lots of touristy locations for his restaurants, but his goal is also to
attract the local crowd. And at the Crab House, the staff has a neighborly attitude, and the food is
good enough to make locals want to come back.
Crab House
203C Pier 39
(415) 434-2722
www.crab house39.com
Lunch and dinner daily
Main courses, $17-$37
Michael Bauer is The San Francisco Chronicle's restaurant critic. Find his blog daily at
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com and his past reviews on www.sfgate.com. E-mail:
[email protected] Twitter: @michaelbauer1
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