What are the best restaurant/bar signs in the Bay Area?
Two old classics from Jim Rizzo's studio: the Lake Merced Lodge and the Original Joe's sign built in 1957, which is awaiting its new home in North Beach.
Gracing the front of the Datebook yesterday was an illuminating piece about Jim Rizzo, a.k.a. the neon king of the Bay Area. See, Rizzo collects and repairs vintage neon signs of all shapes and sizes, many from well-known Bay Area restaurants, like Original Joe’s, Bruno’s and Pizzaiolo.
The article got us here at Chron Food HQ thinking. What are the coolest restaurant (and bar) signs — neon and otherwise — from the Bay Area? There are certainly plenty of old school ones to love, and some newer, funkier ones, too.
Above in the gallery is a quick compilation of some of the more notable restaurant ones from San Francisco proper. But by no means is it complete or definitive, so we’re looking for more — from the bar world, from the East Bay (and beyond), and from the city’s myriad nooks and crannies.
Share your other favorite signs in the comments, keep an eye out for the next few days, and we’ll put together a big collection later this week.