{"id":51686,"date":"2013-03-09T05:37:47","date_gmt":"2013-03-09T12:37:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wend.ca\/?p=51686"},"modified":"2020-03-22T06:27:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-22T10:27:31","slug":"caffe-trieste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wend.ca\/?p=51686","title":{"rendered":"Caffe Trieste"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long before the sea lions arrived at Pier 39 after the Loma Prieta earthquake; while Alcatraz was still taking prisoners but before the Great Escape of 1962, Caffe Trieste opened in the North Beach in 1956.<\/p>\n

The caffe’s history is everywhere online. It was opened by Giovanni Giotta (aka “Papa Gianni”), who came to San Francisco from Italy. Noticing a lack of espresso houses he opened his own, which is thought to be the first espresso house on the West Coast.<\/p>\n

The cafe has the feeling of a place that time forgot… or more succinctly like a place caught in a bubble of time that you can step into while the rest of the world moves on. During my one visit, I spent most of it trying to figure out what era the bubble was from… the 1950s? No. The 1960s? Not really. The 1970s? Yes. I think that the time bubble formed around this cafe in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

Trieste is said to have the best coffee in San Francisco… but I’m not so sure. I had an espresso. It was neither great nor memorable and it was delivered with a grumble atop a cold shoulder. And, I left with the feeling that if I opened my mouth even once (even to say thank you), I would be whisked away into a mafia secret passageway and disappear mysteriously forever. <\/p>\n

I think you have to work really hard as a customer here. <\/p>\n