The Old Spaghetti Factory Cafe is a historic commercial building, first built for industrial purposes in 1908, located in North Beach, San Francisco. It was converted from a spaghetti factory to a restaurant by Frederick Walter Kuh in 1956.[1][3] It was listed as a San Francisco Designated Landmark on June 7, 1981.[2]
The building that would later become the Old Spaghetti Factory Cafe was originally a "barn like, wood-frame building", first constructed after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It was first used to manage imported olive oil and cheese; it was later used as a factory for bottling seltzer water. Before it became the restaurant, it was owned by three Italian-American men named Baccigalupi, Casaretto, and Demartini, who operated a spaghetti factory out of it. The building was heavily damaged in a fire in January 1954, requiring later remodeling.[4][5]
Frederick Walter Kuh first moved to San Francisco in 1954, where he worked at a nightclub, The Purple Onion. He opened the restaurant, also described as a nightclub and a cabaret club, after pressure from friends over finding a new place to store his collection of Victorian style furniture in 1956.[3] He recruited his friend George Donald Currie, who had experience running a nightclub in Paris after World War II, to run the kitchen.[6][7] The restaurant quickly became a popular hangout spot, and Kuh was later said to be the "father of funk" by journalist Herb Caen.[4] It was a popular gathering spot for beatniks at the time.[8] Kuh retired in 1984 and sold the restaurant, which closed, with its decorations being sold at auction.[3][9]
Robin Williams performed at the Old Spaghetti Factory Cafe early in his career, and participated in a "Save the Old Spaghetti Factory!" benefit in the 1980s.[1][10] Adlai Stevenson II used it as an "unofficial local headquarters" for his 1956 presidential campaign.[3] The Macaroni Show, a 1962 variety show that evolved into Beach Blanket Babylon, and Donald Pippin's Pocket Opera started in the "Blue Noodle Room" at the Old Spaghetti Factory Cafe.[4]
The new owner of the building that housed the Old Spaghetti Factory Cafe was issued a cease and desist order for modifying a Historic Landmark building without proper approval on February 1, 1985, the first time that any incidents had happened since the system had been established. He was fined $500 (equivalent to $1,462 in 2024) for each day that the building was in non-compliance.[11]
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