The owner of two historic Fisherman's Wharf restaurants that closed in recent years, Tarantino's and No. 9 Fisherman’s Grotto, is suing the city of San Francisco for millions of dollars, blaming multiple factors including pandemic closure orders for the restaurants' closures.

The lawsuit was filed last week, as SFGate reports, by Herringbone Tavern, Inc., the company run by restaurateur Chris Henry, who also owns Tommy's Joynt on Van Ness. The suit is seeking unspecified damages incurred by the company due to the city's homelessness crisis, COVID-related closure orders, "criminal activity" in the area, and failing to "maintain the character of Fisherman’s Wharf," in addition to $2 million that was invested in renovations at the property.

The restaurants were evicted by the Port of San Francisco last year after reportedly failing to pay rent — the Port said it was owed a combined $1.4 million in back rent at the time.

The lawsuit further alleges that the city allowed the seawall beneath the restaurants to deteriorate, as SFGate explains, and left the restaurants vulnerable to earthquake damage.

An earlier lawsuit that Herringbone brought against the city shortly after the eviction notice last fall was dismissed on a technicality.

While No. 9 Fisherman’s Grotto opened in 1935 and Tarantino's opened in 1946, Herringbone Tavern had only operated the restaurants for a few years before they both closed during the pandemic.

The Wharf has lost several prominent restaurants since 2020, including Pompei's Grotto, Lou's Fish Shack, Castagnola's, and Alioto's. Alioto's had been open for 97 years in its spot on the wharf, the family that owned it opted to get out of its lease with the Port of SF early, following its pandemic-related closure.

Image: May A. via Yelp