As concrete, steel and rebar take over the downtown B'game skyline, we need to take a moment to enjoy little indications of our small town past when they reappear. On the back side of 1461 Burlingame Ave that is undergoing remodeling, next to the piano shop, work has revealed The Piccadilly cocktail lounge's rear entrance signage: "Lunches, Dinner and Cocktails".
The 1952 City Directory reveals it was owned and/or operated by one R. H. Willoughby. It is not listed in the wartime 1941 directory, but perhaps some Old Timer can chime in with a memory or two of the establishment and its libations.
I'm imagining the Piccadilly was a bit like this description of Val's in Daly City that Carl Nolte wrote for the Chronicle today:
So one afternoon I went to lunch at Val’s Restaurant in Daly City, one of the bastions of traditional Bay Area style.
Val’s is one of those classic places: a tall neon sign outside, a perfectly restored fire-engine red Pontiac parked at the curb. They don’t make Pontiacs anymore, and places like Val’s have gone out of style.
“Val’s has atmosphere and old-school service,” said Lex Perillat, a regular at Val’s. There are a few similar places still, neighborhood restaurants with the flavor of another time, like the Gold Mirror on Taraval Street, Rocco’s on Folsom and the 7 Mile House, just over the San Mateo County line in Brisbane.
Val’s has been around since the early ’50s. “A steak house and lounge with a decor and menu that has been unchanged since the Johnson administration,” as Daly City historian Bob Calhoun called it.
Val’s has two sections: one a bright and cheerful-looking area with white tablecloths, the other a lounge area, with genuine imitation leather booths, a long bar and a fireplace to ward off the Daly City chill. There are paintings of nude women on the walls, in a style reminiscent of the heyday of Domino’s and other San Francisco Financial District institutions.
“You can sit anywhere you like,” said Greg Taylor, the host, “except that booth. A party of regulars come in every Tuesday and they always sit there.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Here-are-two-local-destinations-that-ll-16996575.php
Posted by: Joe | March 13, 2022 at 01:59 PM