Oakland Architectural Association Dinner, 1912 2
The Saddle Rock Restaurant (or Saddle Rock Cafe) was a downtown restaurant from 1891 to 1918,2 operated by Pascal Kisich. The 1895 directory also lists Marcovich as a proprietor. 3
From 1891 to 1905, it was on 12th Street near Broadway. In 1905, Kisich moved the restaurant to "elegant new quarters" at 412-414 - 13th Street.
"One of the oldest cafes in the city is the Saddle Rock, and it is safe to say that none are more popular than is this elegant restaurant... In the main dining room one hundred and seventy-five guests may be seated while the private dining rooms and the banquet room provide for many more, and each guest is carefully served, an endeavor being made to anticipate each patron's wishes and serve them as well as though in their own homes."
"The interior of the Saddle Rock has been most handsomely decorated," observed one reporter. "The general design of the ceiling, with its heavy beams, tends toward the Oriental idea, there being lavish use of gold in the decorative scheme. The walls are paneled with that semi-tropical foliage which we enjoy in this part of California." Patrons were soothed by the Orphean strains of a "high-class orchestra." "Every delicacy of the season are served in first-class style. Oysters and game are specialties." 2
It was one of places Jack London frequented.
1912 4
