Long seeking a new tenant since shutting down two years ago under allegations of landlord fraud, misrepresentation, and lease issues, a plugged-in tipster notes that 302 Greenwich (a.k.a. Julius’ Castle) is now on the market asking $4,950,000. From the listing:
Elegantly situated atop Telegraph Hill, the restaurant has long been a destination to visitors & locals alike drawn to the warm environment & magnificent bay views….Possible residential application.
We’ll let you work out the price (or probability) for that possibility for San Francisco landmark number 121 on Telegraph Hill.
So what is the zoning? I’m guessing it can down zone to residential if it was used as a restaurant before? What’s the access? I am a native but had never been to the place. Could the exterior be altered or would Aaron declare this to be a local landmark?
You’ve never been there? Sad. I’ve heard it was legnedary [sic].
Where else on TH are you going to find a home that includes parking for 12? Bargain !
And FAA, no, you don’t get spell checking included for such a small $125K commission. Spell checking is hard, really hard.
I actually had dinner there once. It was probably a one-time fluke, but it sure was “legnedary”.
As in: After sitting for an hour we finally got our appetizers. They were cold. Another half hour went by and no one could explain where our entrees were. When they finally arrived they were burned. As in black. I couldn’t believe anyone would dare to send them out to a table. I called the Maitre d’ over and his response was that we should “just leave”. He apologized that the kitchen staff had completely broken down and that he had never seen anything like it.
It was actually so bad that it was kind of fun, and certainly memorable. But for obvious reasons I never went back.
I went there and had a wonderful experience. The views are amazing and they shuttled us to the restaurant from a much larger parking lot about 6 blocks away using their private limo.
It was a third date and the entire experience was quite romantic. My date was quite impressed.
It was very pricey, so I never went back either.
My uncle got married there several years ago. The food was actually pretty decent. Though I suppose it’s difficult for a kitchen to screw up when serving a room full of guests the same dish.
I heard ( not verified) it is landmarked so it will remain forever a tacky castle exterior.
I hope I am wrong. Bad typists untie!
Julius Castle is SF Landmark #121; and if it weren’t you can be sure Aaron Peskin and his charming wife Nancy Shanahan would get their Landmarks Commission to landmark it over night.
Never been – what an ugly building. And its a landmark. What a surprise.
Yes, unbelievably, it’s a landmark. And it’s not a good location for a fancy restaurant. While the views are great, they have a very hard time getting people up there, where there is zero parking and the only public transit is the 39, which runs every 20 minutes.
I live very close by. It would be nice to have some services up here (a corner shop maybe), but a full-on restaurant would have a hard time.
I’ve been there once. The food was ok. The view was really good. I wonder if you can convert the whole thing into a private house. I should think something of this size and view can command $5M in SF. But then again, to convert it into a house will easily take 1M if not 2M.
Was a former bartender there for serveral years however when I found out about issue, I was forced to resign and branch off. Sad, the owners still owes me money for the time I bartend there but F*CK IT, SUCK IT UP and move on.
I worked there in 1980-1985 as a busboy for about 5 years in my early teens and still have many great memories of the people-caricatures I worked with and the many experiences I still carry, Coming from a poor family with no father figure in my life this place, its staff and yes even the clients became my father figure. I was hart broken to find it closed when I went there to make reservations for my wife and I. If I had the money it would take to bring JC back to life I would not hesitate..