At 137 years old, Fior D’Italia is the oldest Italian restaurant in the United States. Located in San Francisco, the iconic establishment was founded in 1886, a time when the state of California was a hub for immigrants looking to stake a claim in the California Gold Rush. Its continued existence and success are a resounding testament to the enduring legacies of 19th and 20th-century Italian immigrants to the United States.
In the late 19th century, Angelo del Monte immigrated to the United States to make his fortune in the California Gold Rush. Unable to find success in such a venture, he pivoted to the restaurant industry, seeing an opportunity in serving those same gold hunters he had strived to become. Del Monte was soon joined by fellow Italian immigrant Armando Marianetti, and the two established Fior D’Italia, meaning flower of Italy.
The restaurant opened on May 1, 1886, with a menu that consisted of items like veal saute for 5 cents; risotto with clams for 10 cents; and tenderloin steak for 40 cents. The wine was served at a special dinner price of 35 cents. A poster advertising the restaurant from sometime in the early 20th century says, in Italian, that the Fior D’Italia served “lunches at all hours of the day,” and that the establishment was “a hangout for gourmets, the vastest and refined restaurant of our colony, the best choice of Italian cuisine of San Francisco…impeccable service and popular prices.”
Over the course of its 137-year-old history, the restaurant changed locations six times. In 1906, after a devastating fire and earthquake, it temporarily operated out of a tent and serviced the damaged city with great kettles of soup. In 2012, after a series of financial struggles, Fior D’Italia closed for roughly six months before opening again. The business was purchased by executive chef Gianni Audieri, who had been working at the restaurant since 1982. It marked the first time that the Fior D’Italia changed ownership in 126 years.
Born and raised in Milan, Audieri has generally steered the restaurant’s menu towards northern Italian cuisine, with menu specials like veal scaloppine. Fior D’Italia is currently located on Mason Street, in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, also known as the city’s Little Italy. It operates out of the ground floor of the historic San Remo Hotel, the first hotel built after the 1906 earthquake by AP Giannini, the founder of Bank of America.
Fior D’Italia is open from 12:00PM to 9:00PM every Saturday and Sunday, and from 4:00PM to 9:00PM every Monday through Friday.
Asia London Palomba
Asia London Palomba is a trilingual freelance journalist from Rome, Italy. In the past, her work on culture, travel, and history has been published in The Boston Globe, Atlas Obscura, The Christian Science Monitor, and Grub Street, New York Magazine's food section. In her free time, Asia enjoys traveling home to Italy to spend time with family and friends, drinking Hugo Spritzes, and making her nonna's homemade cavatelli.