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Food & Drink

San Francisco Chowder House Closing Down With ‘Heavy Heart’

Written by George KellyPublished Sep. 25, 2023 • 1:26pm
Scott's Chowder House, 1325 Fillmore St., announced its closure with a final day of service Saturday.
Scott's Chowder House at 1325 Fillmore St., announced its closure with a final day of service on Saturday. | Source: Meaghan Mitchell/The Standard

Scott's Chowder House has closed after a final day of service on Saturday in San Francisco's Fillmore District.

In an Instagram post last Friday, Scott's management thanked the local merchants' association. The closure leaves a gap in a key city dining corridor that has faced challenges to revitalize itself.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce that we are closing our Fillmore Street location in San Francisco," the post read.

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Scott's Chowder House, 1325 Fillmore St., announced its closure with a final day of service Saturday.
Scott's Chowder House at 1325 Fillmore St. announced its closure with a final day of service on Saturday. | Source: Meaghan Mitchell/The Standard

The restaurant opened in June 2022 in the space that used to house Afro-Caribbean restaurants Isla Vida and Black Bark BBQ.

While touting its Maine- and Connecticut-style lobster rolls, Boston- and Manhattan-style chowder and lobster bisque, sandwiches and salads, the fast-casual restaurant also offered complimentary meals and beverages to weekend refuse-pickup patrols along Fillmore Street.

The first Scott's opened in the city's Marina District in 1976 before expanding to separately owned locations in Oakland, Sacramento, Folsom and other cities, the company's website states.

Its South Bay eatery, Scott's Seafood, opened in 2020 and still greets customers on San Jose's South First Street. A mobile chowder truck also makes the rounds for hungry visitors to weekly farmers' markets in San Jose, Alameda, Los Altos and Campbell.

A sister fast-casual location remains open inside the Hotel Triton on Grant Avenue in the Union Square shopping district, while a Palo Alto location is listed as coming soon.

Scott's Chowder House did not respond to a request for comment.

George Kelly can be reached at gkelly@sfstandard.com


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