Over in one corner of the stifling room, on a raised
platform, sat two oily and fat negroes, making the place
hideous with their ribald songs and the twanging of a
guitar and banjo. When a familiar air was sounded
the entire gathering joined in chorus, and when such
tunes as "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town To-
night" came, the place was pandemonium. Yet through
it all perfect order was kept by the fat proprietor, his
muscular "bouncer" and two policemen stationed at the
doors. Noise was rather invited than frowned upon,
and the only line drawn regarding conduct was the
throwing of bread. Probably Steve did not want it
wasted.
It was all free and easy and nobody took offense at
anything said or done. In fact if one were squeamish
about such things Sanguinetti's was no place for him or
her. One found one's self talking and laughing with the
people about as if they were old friends. It made no
difference how you were dressed, nor how dignified you
tried to be, it was all one with the crowd around the
tables. If you wished to stay there in comfort you had
23
BOHEMIAN
to be one of them, and dignity had to be left outside or
it would make you so uncomfortable that you would
carry it out, to an accompaniment of
SOME laughter and jeers of the rest of the
ITALIAN diners.
RESTAURANTS So far as eating was concerned
that was not one of the considerations
when discussing Sanguinetti's. It was a table d'hote
dinner served with a bottle of "Dago red," for fifty
cents. You gave the waiter a tip of fifteen cents or
"two bits" as you felt liberal, and he was satisfied. If
you were especially pleased you gave the darkeys ten
cents, not because you enjoyed the music, but just
"because."
The one merit of Sanguinetti's before the fire was
the fact that all the regular customers were unaffected
and natural. They came from the factories, canneries,
shops, and drays, and after a week of heart-breaking
work this was their one relaxation and they enjoyed it
to the full. Many people from the residential part of
the city, and many visitors at the hotels, went there as
a part of slumming trips, but the real sentiment was ex-
pressed by the young girl when she sang out "Is every-
body happy?"
Sanguinetti still has his restaurant, and there is still
to be found the perspiring darkeys, playing and singing
their impossible music, and a crowd still congregates
there, but it is not the old crowd for this, like all tilings
else in San Francisco, has changed, and instead of the
old-time assemblage of j'oung men and women whose
lack of convention came from their natural environ-
ment, there is now a crowd of young and old peo-
ple who patronize it because they have heard it is "so
Bohemian."
Thrifty hotel guides take tourists there and tell them
it is "the only real Bohemian restaurant in San Fran-
cisco," and when the outlantlers see the antics of the
24
SAN FRANCISCO
people and listen to the ribald jests and bad music of
the darkej'^s, they go back to their hotels and tell with
bated breath of one of the most won-
derful things they have ever seen, SOME
and it is one of the wonderful things ITALIAN
of their limited experience. RESTAURANTS
Page 12
Presented as published in 1914. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Over in one corner of the stifling room, on a raised platform, sat two oily and fat negroes, making the place hideous with their ribald songs and the twanging of a guitar and banjo. When a familiar air was sounded the entire gathering joined in chorus, and when such tunes as "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight" came, the place was pandemonium. Yet through it all perfect order was kept by the fat proprietor, his muscular "bouncer" and two policemen stationed at the doors. Noise was rather invited than frowned upon, and the only line drawn regarding conduct was the throwing of bread. Probably Steve did not want it wasted.
It was all free and easy and nobody took offense at anything said or done. In fact if one were squeamish about such things Sanguinetti's was no place for him or her. One found one's self talking and laughing with the people about as if they were old friends. It made no difference how you were dressed, nor how dignified you tried to be, it was all one with the crowd around the tables. If you wished to stay there in comfort you had
to be one of them, and dignity had to be left outside or
it would make you so uncomfortable that you would
carry it out, to an accompaniment of
SOME laughter and jeers of the rest of the
ITALIAN diners.
RESTAURANTS So far as eating was concerned
that was not one of the considerations
when discussing Sanguinetti's. It was a table d'hote
dinner served with a bottle of "Dago red," for fifty
cents. You gave the waiter a tip of fifteen cents or
"two bits" as you felt liberal, and he was satisfied. If
you were especially pleased you gave the darkeys ten
cents, not because you enjoyed the music, but just
"because."
The one merit of Sanguinetti's before the fire was the fact that all the regular customers were unaffected and natural. They came from the factories, canneries, shops, and drays, and after a week of heart-breaking work this was their one relaxation and they enjoyed it to the full. Many people from the residential part of the city, and many visitors at the hotels, went there as a part of slumming trips, but the real sentiment was expressed by the young girl when she sang out "Is everybody happy?"
Sanguinetti still has his restaurant, and there is still to be found the perspiring darkeys, playing and singing their impossible music, and a crowd still congregates there, but it is not the old crowd for this, like all tilings else in San Francisco, has changed, and instead of the old-time assemblage of j'oung men and women whose lack of convention came from their natural environment, there is now a crowd of young and old people who patronize it because they have heard it is "so Bohemian."
Thrifty hotel guides take tourists there and tell them it is "the only real Bohemian restaurant in San Francisco," and when the outlantlers see the antics of the
people and listen to the ribald jests and bad music of the darkies, they go back to their hotels and tell with bated breath of one of the most wonderful things they have ever seen, SOME and it is one of the wonderful things ITALIAN of their limited experience. RESTAURANTS