Serving Since

San Francisco

Serving since

1935

91 years in San Francisco

Tommaso's Ristorante Italiano

North Beach · Pizza

Go here for
Wood-fired pizza · Calzone
Why go
Pizza from a wood-fired brick oven on Kearny Street that has been burning since the restaurant opened as Lupo's in 1935.
Good to know
Dinner only, Wednesday to Sunday; closed Monday and Tuesday.
Directions Official website

The Cantalupo family opened it in 1935 as Lupo's. It later became Tommaso's; we haven't confirmed the year of the name change.

Why it matters

The Cantalupo family opened the restaurant in 1935 as Lupo's, with a wood-fired brick oven that the SF Standard reports is as old as the restaurant. It later took the name Tommaso's.

In 1973 Agostino Crotti, then 19 and working at Caffe Trieste, bought it with his sister Carmen, and the Crotti family ran it for about 50 years. San Francisco named it a Legacy Business in 2017. The Crottis retired at the end of 2024, and Maureen "Mo" Donegan, a longtime manager at North Beach Restaurant, took over. In July 2026 she launched a fundraiser after falling behind on rent.

The story

  1. 1935The Cantalupo family opens Lupo's2
  2. 1973Agostino and Carmen Crotti buy the restaurant2
  3. 2017Named a San Francisco Legacy Business3
  4. 2024Mo Donegan takes over; brief closure for a light remodel5
  5. 2026Fundraiser launched to cover past-due rent6
  6. TodayStill serving San Francisco

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Notes on the record

  • The restaurant says its oven was the first wood-burning oven in the city; Hoodline calls it the West Coast's first. We report the claim rather than make it.

Details

Address
1042 Kearny Street, San Francisco, CA 94133
Neighborhood
North Beach
Ownership
Independent
Status
Open · verified Sep 2026

OldScore

A secondary, editorial measure. The founding year above is the fact that matters most. How it works.

Age25/ 35
Continuity10/ 20
Local significance10/ 20
Local food culture10/ 15
Independence6/ 10
OldScore61/ 100

More like this

Sources

  1. Tommaso's Ristorante Italiano (official site) Founding year, Address, Current status, What to order
  2. The SF Standard, "One of SF's Oldest Italian Eateries Prepares To Pass the Torch" (Apr 10, 2023) Founding year, Ownership, History
  3. Hoodline, "'Cliff's Variety,' 'Tommaso's Ristorante Italiano' Designated Legacy Businesses" (Dec 5, 2017) Founding year, Ownership, History
  4. Hoodline, "Iconic North Beach Eatery Tommaso's Ristorante Italiano Set for Ownership Change" (Jul 23, 2024) Founding year, Ownership, History
  5. SFist, "This Week In Food: Two North Beach Classics See Some Fresh Change" (Dec 6, 2024) Ownership, History
  6. tablehopper, "summer shorts" newsletter (Jul 24, 2026) Ownership, History
  7. Time Out San Francisco, Tommaso's Ristorante Italiano What to order