Some restaurants keep the lights on for a decade or two and call it a good run. One spot in San Francisco has been feeding hungry crowds since three immigrants pitched a coffee tent near the old waterfront back in 1849.
That was during the Gold Rush, when the city was barely a city at all. The place has outlasted earthquakes, fires, and the arrival of every dining trend under the sun, yet it still runs a busy counter and packs its wooden booths every week.
Waiters in white jackets still glide across the floor, and the menu still leans on recipes that have been around longer than most cities out west. Curious which grill has managed all of this and why folks keep coming back?…