The Silver Crest Donut Shop Has Closed
Photo by Elena Harper
I have been to the Silver Crest Donut Shop at all manner of hours and in all kinds of shape. Stumbling down the hill from Bernal the morning after a wild hot tub party with pornstars. Taking cover from heavy afternoon rain with artists and a famous DJ. A morning photoshoot with a friend who is also obsessed with old diners. Late night drunk eats back when my wife and I were first dating and she lived in the Portola District. Yes, the Silver Crest Donut Shop has seen me in many different forms, while staying sublimely the same as it always has been since the day it opened in 1970.
While no one seems to know when the place actually opened, George and Nina Giavris, purchased the restaurant in 1970 and then never closed it. George (who I just knew as “Pop”) once told me they had never used the locks once since taking over the place. Unfortunately, those locks have now found a use.
The ancient pinball machines
A Facebook post on Tuesday of a boarded up Silver Crest alerted the world that the restaurant with the sign reading “We Never Close” had to go back on its neon promise. Shortly afterwards The Chronicle and the SF Standard confirmed the sad news. Besides being a diner and a donut shop, Silver Crest also has a bar in the back, ancient pinball machines, and those old little jukeboxes that sit on the table. With wood paneling and a pink and blue counter, the place looks as if it hasn’t been touched since 1970. And that’s because it probably hasn’t. Back in 2012 Stephen Torres wrote about it for BrokeAssStuart.com calling it “The Diner that Time Forgot”. The place was even a filming location in the music video for the Girls song “Hellhole Retrace”. The first time we wrote about it on this website was back in 2012.
Pop, Nina, or both seemed to always be there, and I only saw one or two other employees working at the Silver Crest in all the times I visited. Often times Pop would be back in the bar and if you asked about ouzo, the national drink of his home country of Greece, he’d say something like “You like ouzo?” and pour you both a shot, with a big smile as a chaser. I’m pretty sure he had a cot or something back behind the kitchen because when you’d come in late at night, it was Pop who would come shuffling out of the back, having just woken up, to start cooking your food. In recent years though, he seemed to do so at a slower pace.
The lunch counter
Apparently he had a back injury that put him in a wheelchair in August, and that led to the Silver Crest no longer doing dinner or donuts. According to Mission Local, the place has been closed while a “longtime owner recovers from a stint in the hospital.” Nobody knows yet if the closure is permanent.
In a perfect world, whoever eventually takes over the Silver Crest Donut Shop will keep it exactly how it is, and maybe just update the menu a bit. I could see a hip young chef coming in, giving the place a real deep clean, and then leaving it alone. They’d make it fancier food and turn the Silver Crest into a destination so that people come in from all over the Bay Area to eat there. I mean hell, I’d love it to stay as it is now, a perfect 24-hour greasy spoon diner and donut shop with shots of ouzo in the back, but I won’t hold my breath.
One of the little old jukeboxes
Anyways, here’s to Pop, Nina, and the legendary Silver Crest Donut Shop. Thanks for accepting me exactly as I was every time I stepped through that door.
If you want to read an excellent article about the Silver Crest Donut Shop and it’s history, check out this piece by Chris Colin in Alta.
Howdy! My name is Katy Atchison and I'm an Associate Editor for Broke-Ass Stuart.
I want to take the time to say thank you for supporting independent news media by reading BrokeAssstuart.com. Supporting independent news sources like Broke-Ass Stuart is vital to supporting our community because it amplifies the voices of a wide variety of diverse opinions. You also help support small businesses and local artists by sharing stories from Broke-Ass Stuart.
Because you're one of our supporters, I wanted to send over a pro-tip.
Our bi-weekly newsletter is a great way to get round ups of Broke-Ass Stuart stories, learn about new businesses in The Bay Area, find out about fun local events and be first in line for giveaways.
If you’d like to get our newsletter, signup right here, it takes 5 seconds.
You Might Also Like
