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San FranciscoVisited April 2022 Views –

Original Joe's, San Francisco: Italian-American Classics near Washington Square Park

An oval white plate of fried rings and pieces that look like calamari under chopped parsley, with two steel cups of dipping sauce, one white and one red, on a yellow table.
A platter that looks like fried calamari, with white and red dipping sauces, on a yellow table in April 2022.
Address & map

Original Joe's is an Italian-American restaurant at 601 Union Street in San Francisco's North Beach, in a building that overlooks Washington Square Park. Its best-known dish is Joe's Special, according to Tasting Table's 2012 review, and the restaurant's online menu describes it as a signature scramble of ground beef, spinach, onions and eggs.

Original Joe's: from a 14-stool counter to Union Street

Original Joe's says it began in 1937 as a 14-stool counter at 144 Taylor Street in the Tenderloin, opened by a Croatian immigrant, Tony Rodin. A fire in the hotel above destroyed that restaurant in 2007, and Rodin's grandchildren John and Elena spent five years bringing it back in North Beach, according to the restaurant's website.

A yellow table: a fried starter and a bowl of pasta

In my April 2022 photos, a platter and two bowls share a yellow table. The platter in the cover photo looks like fried calamari: rings and smaller pieces in a crisp coating with chopped parsley, served with two steel cups of dipping sauce, one white and one red. Original Joe's online menu lists fried calamari with house-made cocktail and tartar sauces, which would fit what the cups look like.

A white bowl of crinkle-edged pasta that looks like ravioli in chunky red sauce, topped with grated cheese and chopped parsley.
Crinkle-edged pasta that looks like ravioli, in red sauce with grated cheese and parsley.

The bowl of crinkle-edged pasta under red sauce, grated cheese and parsley looks like ravioli. Original Joe's menu lists house-made ravioli filled with beef and spinach, served with classic meat sauce and parmesan, both as a pasta and as a side. Tasting Table wrote in 2012 that the obvious side dish here is the meat-filled, red-sauced ravioli.

The toasted bread

A white plate with a maroon rim holding toasted pieces of bread topped with chopped parsley and grated cheese, with pepper and salt mills behind it.
Toasted bread topped with grated cheese and parsley.

The toasted bread topped with grated cheese and chopped parsley looks like the garlic bread on Original Joe's menu, which lists parmesan cheese and parsley.

A hand holding a piece of the toasted bread cut open to show an airy crumb with a layer of what looks like cheese and chopped herbs through the middle.
A piece of the bread held open to show the layer inside.

In the photo above, a hand holds up a piece of the toasted bread that shows an airy crumb with a layer of what looks like cheese and chopped herbs through the middle.

Before you go

  • Original Joe's hours on its website (checked Nov 14, 2026) are Monday to Thursday 4 to 10 p.m., Friday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
  • Original Joe's weekend brunch is listed as 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on its North Beach page but 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on its menu page, so confirm before you plan around it.
  • Original Joe's website links to online reservations and online ordering.

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