Zuni Café was established in 1979 by Billy West. In 1981 he hired Vince Calcagno as the manager, who became a business partner in 1987. From its inception it was a gay gathering place. Originally there was little money or space for cooking equipment: West grilled steaks illegally in the alley on a
Weber grill. After a recommendation from
Elizabeth David, Zuni Café became popular, and in 1984
Patricia Unterman wrote in a
San Francisco Chronicle review: "The open kitchen at last has stoves, grills, counters, and refrigeration. ...There's enough money in the bank to support a good wine list." Rodgers published
The Zuni Café Cookbook in 2002. Gilbert Pilgram, also formerly of Chez Panisse, became the co-owner when Calcagno retired in 2006. Rodgers died on December 2, 2013. On reopening in 2021 after the
COVID-19 shutdown, Zuni Café replaced tips with a service charge for diners, applied to the pay of back-of-house workers as well as servers. A
San Francisco Chronicle review in 2024 noted that most long-term servers had chosen not to return because of the resulting reduction in their income, and that as a result service was now more uneven. With gay artist George "Bubba" Geiger, West made the original furniture for Zuni Café, using
mesquite trunks and slabs of wood. The building underwent a
seismic retrofit in 1991, when the interior was given exposed ceiling beams. == References ==