Paul Scott pointed to a corner of the ceiling in the main dining room of Julius’ Castle, the legendary restaurant perched on San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill that he has spent the last 14 years restoring.
“When I first came here there was a big hole in the ceiling and water pouring down,” Scott said. The dining room floor was bumpy due to the building settling over time, to the point that “you couldn’t functionally have a table on it without things sliding off,” he said. Landslides plagued the slope next to the restaurant’s entrance. But now, the hole in the ceiling is gone, painted a dappled blue-grey and surrounded by vintage chandeliers tinted with gold; the floor has been smoothed out; and the hillside turned into an edible garden. On Nov. 12, the 102-year-old landmark will finally reopen.
There is no restaurant quite like Julius’ Castle in San Francisco. Built on a precipitous hill at 302 Greenwich St., it’s situated on three stories, starting with a dark, mahogany-wrapped bar guarded by a Joan of Arc statue at the main entrance. Stairs lead up to two levels of dining rooms with warm walnut wainscotting and blue and gold elements that mimic the colors of the landscape seen through panoramic windows. On the third floor, the historic Mayor’s Table, where former Mayor Willie Brown recently had a preview lunch, fills a round nook. Diners will be able to walk onto two balconies fortified by the turreted roof for lookouts onto the Embarcadero, the bay and the golden hills beyond.
“I don’t think there’s a place you can sit in this restaurant other than the bar where the view isn’t breathtaking,” Scott said.
The restaurant has been closed since 2008, its revival slowed by permitting delays and controversy. Scott, a lawyer, purchased the restaurant in 2012, wanting to protect a piece of San Francisco history; another bidder wanted to convert it into condos, he said. He has overseen upgrades that ranged from polishing brass nobs on stairway railings to reinforcing the hillside. Obstacles to the restoration included a 2013 fire that destroyed one of the building’s distinctive turrets and a contentious lawsuit from neighbors fearing noise and crowds; a judge threw out the complaint in 2019.
Julius’ Castle achieved landmark status in 1980 and was remodeled many times over the years, including at times without permits, creating issues Scott had to remediate such as by bringing back part of the building’s historic roofline above its south-facing facade…