Tanforan Mall Closing

[bikewanker]

Century Theaters has a complex that was built at the same time as the BART/police stations, maybe 10 years ago. Used to be the closest Target when I lived in Burlingame. I remember wondering what the quarter sized spots on the pavement into Tanforan were, gum!

 

[AbsolutEnduser]

Swam at Fleischacker in its salty water. I lived in lower Sunset. All Italians and Irish. Many were cops. Homes had front lawns. Hardly ever saw a car parked on the street. Now its al concrete with multiple families in one house and streets jammed with parked cars.

.. That pool.. That's ...a long time ago

wow
-
if you "liked" the front lawns, by now this paving over is forbidden; apparently whole streets/blocks don't have those green patches in front.


yeah, can believe San Francisco was different before 71. Drastic changes around 71-77, I hear. (hell, that Crocker Amazon playground was probably safer.)

 

[BillSmith]

70? I'm not there yet and took a few dips in the barely heated sea water.

Playland At The Beach...much better day of entertainment.

Now if you swam at the Sutro Baths, that would make you old!

 

[AdamFiveFive]

..
(hell, that Crocker Amazon playground was probably safer.)

Crocker Park is in The Excelsior. Police Officer/Fire Fighter/City Supervisor Dan White lived in the area. That district used to be Irish and Italian. When you go down towards Mission Street, you will still see the remnants of Irish & Italian businesses, the social clubs, the community centers, et cetera. The seafood grotto, pizzerias, and such gave way to taquerias and carnicerias. Then the boba tea shops came along. Even the steak house and pizzeria on Geneva & Mission are gone. The Filipino community has also lived in the district for decades. And you will find Filipino restaurants.

As I mentally visualize the area..... Geneva & Mission used to be a little more dangerous. Today, it doesn't seem that bad.

 

[AdamFiveFive]

Century Theaters has a complex that was built at the same time as the BART/police stations, maybe 10 years ago.

Maybe 3 decades ago, a theater was built behind where Lowes is today. On Huntington, across from The USPS. The building is still there. Empty. The Tanforan Mall had a $1 theater, which played movies which were no longer new. Not cult classics or art films. Just movies that everyone could also rent from a video store.

 

[AdamFiveFive]

Re: Lake Merced, I believe the high schoolers called the parking lot “the circle”(?). They’d go there and drink and par-tay.

In my "Days of Being Wild", the Sunset kids partied at Stern Grove. Or at least, some of them did.

The were kids who parents worked as cops & firemen. They went to Saint Ignatius & Mercy. With government jobs, their parents had dental benefits. They got to wear braces. They got allowances. Wore preppy clothes.

There were other kids. Whose parents worked 2 & 3 jobs, so that they could afford to buy a home in The Sunset or Richmond. They had to work after-school jobs like pushing shopping carts at Lucky and Safeway. They went to public school. They rode the bus on 19th Ave. They could be seen in work boots, instead of the cool Converse.

There were always fights between the upper middle class kids and the middle class kids. At the time, none of them knew how privileged they were, that they weren't growing up in Hunters Point.

Was New Loey Goey your “go to?”

Nope. Right across the street. Jackson & Beckett. Red's & Pork Chop House. We did all of our eating and drinking there. Once upon a time, a lot of kids in Chinatown rode motorcycles. We all had some kind of part-time job. We bought used, beat up motorcycles - whatever we could find for a few hundred dollars - because that's all we could afford.

The bike was freedom. Transportation. We could finally go places without taking a bus for an hour. It got us out of the neighborhood to county fairs (which SF never had). We went camping. We went to The Beach. We went to Reno. We rode up to Reno, on beat up used bikes, with no helmets. Maybe 25 or 30 kids from Chinatown, with canvas sneakers that had duct tape over the left shoe which was worn from shifting.

Keep in mind, we were kids in high school. Back then, we drank in bars - and it was okay. Nobody bothered us. The cops didn't care. We rode up to Reno, and gambled. Played slots. Played blackjack. Played poker. Whatever. High school kids, walking into casinos, and they never asked to see ID. It was a different day and age.

[YOUTUBE]QCMlGSIfu3Y[/YOUTUBE] Pork Chop House clip @ 3:11
[YOUTUBE]czl6KQl4JgM[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]Qa9ricyAeq0[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]Ujq2W9aCS9o[/YOUTUBE]

 

[lizard]

In my "Days of Being Wild", the Sunset kids partied at Stern Grove. Or at least, some of them did.

The were kids who parents worked as cops & firemen. They went to Saint Ignatius & Mercy. With government jobs, their parents had dental benefits. They got to wear braces. They got allowances. Wore preppy clothes.

There were other kids. Whose parents worked 2 & 3 jobs, so that they could afford to buy a home in The Sunset or Richmond. They had to work after-school jobs like pushing shopping carts at Lucky and Safeway. They went to public school. They rode the bus on 19th Ave. They could be seen in work boots, instead of the cool Converse.

There were always fights between the upper middle class kids and the middle class kids. At the time, none of them knew how privileged they were, that they weren't growing up in Hunters Point.

Nope. Right across the street. Jackson & Beckett. Red's & Pork Chop House. We did all of our eating and drinking there. Once upon a time, a lot of kids in Chinatown rode motorcycles. We all had some kind of part-time job. We bought used, beat up motorcycles - whatever we could find for a few hundred dollars - because that's all we could afford.

The bike was freedom. Transportation. We could finally go places without taking a bus for an hour. It got us out of the neighborhood to county fairs (which SF never had). We went camping. We went to The Beach. We went to Reno. We rode up to Reno, on beat up used bikes, with no helmets. Maybe 25 or 30 kids from Chinatown, with canvas sneakers that had duct tape over the left shoe which was worn from shifting.

Keep in mind, we were kids in high school. Back then, we drank in bars - and it was okay. Nobody bothered us. The cops didn't care. We rode up to Reno, and gambled. Played slots. Played blackjack. Played poker. Whatever. High school kids, walking into casinos, and they never asked to see ID. It was a different day and age.

More good stuff! Kitchen Sinkers who grew up in the City - as kids, and schooled there, 40 or so years ago, will appreciate your stories.

As a Sunset Boy schooled at St. Gabe’s, I was sheltered from most of the neighborhoods in the City. You’re dead on about frickin’ Muni taking an hour to get anywhere. So I rode my bike around at about age 9-10?

I lived blocks from SI, back when it was all boys along with Sacred Heart and Riordan. You mentioned Converse. Yep, for the Sunset it was white hi tops. And this was way before how Converse became popular again.

We were in grade school.

As Catholic boys we were all going to one of the 3 Catholic high schools. We’d swap out the laces with colored laces we’d buy at the Flying Goose on Taraval. I wore red and blue laces bc I wanted to go to SI. Everyone knew their alliance based on shoe laces. We’d fight during lunch and after school over which high school we were goin to. That’s how it was.

My family moved to Walnut Creek before my high school years. There I saw many asians from the City at Heather Farms pool during summer - escaping the foggy summer for hot east bay weather.

Riding Muni on 19th - The Bataan Death March of Muni.

Are you canto or toisan/taishan?

 

[Agent Orange]

Joe's of Westlake, decades ago, was very good. When my aunt and uncle bought a home in the Westlake area, we used to walk over there for dinner. The original owner, and I could be wrong about this, was affiliated with Original Joe's in San Francisco. What happened was that as the years passed, the owner got old, his daughter got old, and they just weren't able to continue to be hands on management.

Where Boulevard sits today, was a Lyon's. I tried it a few times. I did not eat anything there that made me think, I have to come back here. If I were in the area, I would eat at Joe's, Banana Island behind the Home Depot loading dock, or Nation's.

Agreed, I ate at Boulevard once and thought nothing of it. Banana Island is a solid choice. That restaurants is always packed on any day of the week. The korean restaurant on Southgate is not bad and theres a new ramen restaurant that serves sashimi that recently opened thats pretty good as well.

LOL at Reds place CNY fireworks show. I know some of the faces in that last video.

 

[lizard]

Agreed, I ate at Boulevard once and thought nothing of it. Banana Island is a solid choice. That restaurants is always packed on any day of the week. The korean restaurant on Southgate is not bad and theres a new ramen restaurant that serves sashimi that recently opened thats pretty good as well.

LOL at Reds place CNY fireworks show. I know some of the faces in that last video.

How about the diner inside Woolworths on Market. That was OG AF. And Zim’s on 19th. Meat loaf and ambrosia salad - no miso salmon lol

 

[lizard]

Joe's of Westlake, decades ago, was very good. When my aunt and uncle bought a home in the Westlake area, we used to walk over there for dinner. .

Asians were not able to buy homes in Sunset as recent as early 1960s. Ask me how I know.

 

[AbsolutEnduser]

Westlake is apparently in Daly City. Just checking

 

[lizard]

Westlake is apparently in Daly City. Just checking

Whats your deal

 

[AbsolutEnduser]

Whats your deal

I think you must be confused about something? Was just a question. Wondered about Daly City, because he said about Daly City and you said ".. in Sunset "

 

[AdamFiveFive]

Banana Island is a solid choice.

Only if I'm behind the loading dock of Home Depot.

For that type of menu, roti, chicken rice, nasi lemak, et cetera, there could be other places that do it better. Not saying that it's bad. It's good enough when I'm around there. I just wouldn't travel across town for it. I hear the people there speaking Cantonese. They don't speak Malay.

So if I want Singaporean/Malaysian food, I sort of want it from people who are from Singapore or Malaysia. Truth is, I really don't know. For all that I know, those Cantonese speaking people at Banana Island could very well be from Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei....... I just don't know. My own prejudice, in my own mind, wants to hear them speak in a Singlish accent.

I search far and wide for Japanese restaurants actually owned and operated by Japanese people. I have a friend from Afghanistan who owns a pizza parlor. He's my friend, but the food is bad. But no more or less authentic than all of the Brazilian pizza parlors. I have a friend from Myanmar, who sells sushi. Not exactly authentic. Imagine if I open a vegan restaurant, even though I am a carnivore. It would be like Kosher Chinese restaurants in New York. How Kosher is shrimp fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and BBQ spare ribs?

LOL at Reds place CNY fireworks show. I know some of the faces in that last video.

Whoa! For a second, you had me. I thought that you would admit to being one of the people in those videos.

The fictional television bar, Cheers; where everybody knows your name. In real life, Red's, where nobody knows my name. Especially if the cops come around. They don't recognize my picture. They've never seen me before.

A guy could get killed in the bar, and there would be no witnesses. A few people might be watching the game, on the TV mounted in the back corner, so their heads were turned. They didn't hear a thing, over the noise from the jukebox and televisions. Another guy could have been puking in the bathroom. The bartender was in the basement storeroom getting more beer. Two more guys might have been sharing a Quaalude on the staircase. My buddy might have been out in the alley, having a smoke. Another guy might have heard a car alarm go off, so he was a half block away checking his car. Nobody saw or heard what happened. Nobody knows how that guy got killed. I don't know. I've never been there before. Nobody there recognizes me.

 

[AdamFiveFive]

So far, nobody is offering any memories of Tanforan. Nobody remembers being assigned there by the military. There's still a VA operation there and a veteran's cemetery. There's still an armory of sorts. A yard full of military trucks. The National Archives is right there.


I thought that someone on the forum would be old enough to remember it as a race track. Apparently, most people remember it in it's latest incarnation, with the BART station and Police Station. Even my sister and brother in law, who live up the hill, both admit that they never went there before BART, and still only go down there to catch BART. No tears shed over losing JCPenney. I'm the only one who will miss buying tools, boots, and Lands End down vests from Sears.

I feel so old, it's like I got a pocket full of Quaaludes and diet pills, and nobody knows what they are.

 

[two wheel tramp]

I'm digging this thread. Thanks for sharing the memories.

 

[bikewanker]

I think Tanforan is just the shopping mall. Golden Gate Cemetery, National Guard and The National Archives are west across El Camino. I lived in Summerfield Suites next to the Post office for several months in like 1999 so no horses. Did walk over to the theater across the street that you’ve pictured and is closed. Probably last went to the newer theater a year ago. San Bruno will miss the tax dollars for sure. Affordable housing to the rescue.

 

[bikewanker]

I'm digging this thread. Thanks for sharing the memories.

But waited for the mention of Quaaludes?

 

[AdamFiveFive]

The City of San Bruno will not miss a thing. That mall is dead. What kind of sales tax revenue is it generating with empty retail spaces? With biotech firms, there will be payroll taxes. The realty company operating the apartment buildings will pay taxes also.

Maybe this is what the people in San Bruno want. Perhaps, the San Bruno City Council believes that housing and biotech jobs are better for the city. I don't know. I haven't read anything on which firms are moving in. Perhaps Genentech ran out of space in South San Francisco.

 

[lizard]

…

So if I want Singaporean/Malaysian food, I sort of want it from people who are from Singapore or Malaysia. Truth is, I really don't know. For all that I know, those Cantonese speaking people at Banana Island could very well be from Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei....... I just don't know. My own prejudice, in my own mind, wants to hear them speak in a Singlish accent.

I search far and wide for Japanese restaurants actually owned and operated by Japanese people. I have a friend from Afghanistan who owns a pizza parlor. He's my friend, but the food is bad. But no more or less authentic than all of the Brazilian pizza parlors. I have a friend from Myanmar, who sells sushi. Not exactly authentic. Imagine if I open a vegan restaurant, even though I am a carnivore. It would be like Kosher Chinese restaurants in New York. How Kosher is shrimp fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and BBQ spare ribs?
...

After a trip to Asia in 1990 that included Singapore I started to frequent Straits Cafe on Geary/Arguello(?) and became friends with Chris, the owner. This was WAY before his shop became popular that saw him expand to Satan’s Row.

Since I had just got back from Singapore and since he spoke with that beautiful Singlish accent, I found his food and menu legit. I really haven’t gone back since Straits Cafe got popular. It always sucks when something goes mainstream.

In regards to Japanese food, if one has been to Japan, one will discover 1) rolls are to Japan as burritos are to Mexico and 2) there is so much more to Japanese cuisine than sushi. Say, the breakfast served at ryokans.

My go to is Kusakabe on California. Its omakasi style. Fish from Japan arrives by air in the morning. Kind of $$$ so I go maybe once a year. Love bowing on my way in and out. I always catch Nori-san off guard.