California’s list of beloved restaurant losses has gained one of its oldest names. Cook’s Seafood, the Menlo Park market and restaurant that served generations of Peninsula families, abruptly closed on October 28, 2026, after 98 years in business.
A notice at the restaurant said all Cook’s locations were closing effective immediately and described 2026 as a difficult year for restaurants. Employees received the news overnight, and no fuller explanation was available. The closure also ended Cook’s much newer Pleasanton restaurant, which had opened in May 2025 after years of planning.
From police officer to seafood landmark
Bill Cook, a local police officer who had encountered fish and chips while serving in England during World War I, founded the business in 1928. It began as a fish market that also served the British staple, then grew into the unusual combination customers knew for decades: one door for the market, another for the restaurant and an interior hallway connecting them…