It's happening probably within a few weeks: 34-year-old Vietnamese institution Crustacean is opening in the Financial District and getting a bit fancier — with the original Polk Street spot slated to close later this year.

One of SF's go-to spots for roasted Dungeness crab and garlic noodles, Crustacean — which retired game show host Pat Sajak once named as his favorite restaurant in SF, and he was also a fan of the Beverly Hills location — is making a big move downtown, as a new generation of the An family takes over the business and swanks things up.

SFist reported on Crustacean's move to 195 Pine Street over a year ago, but now it's becoming a reality — though an exact opening date has not been announced. A press release went out last week saying it was coming "this spring," and Tablehopper subsequently covered the news, but we still just know it's on the near-term horizon.

Here's what we do know: 82-year-old Master Chef Helene An's menu favorites like the crab with garlic noodles, the royal tiger prawns, and the tamarind crab, will all be coming to the new location. The menu's long tradition of including more "fusion-y" fare like salmon carpaccio and New Zealand green-lip mussels or binchotan-grilled razor clams with Asian pesto will continue as well.

The new restaurant is being led by An's third daughter, Monique An and her husband Kenneth Lew, who say they're "excited to bring a revitalized Crustacean to a new space with modern design and fresh energy."

The new space reportedly includes lots of wood accents, traditional bamboo wall coverings, movable fabric panels, antique mirrors, a rose gold bar, and a one-of-a-kind set of 18th century Asian carved wood doors at the entrance. Furnishings in the space are made with exotic woods, and there is rose gold metal lattice artwork as well.

"We look forward to opening our doors to welcome our loyal, returning guests and those eager to experience AN’s Famous Garlic Noodles® for the first time, and our new robust hand-crafted mocktail and cocktail bar program," Lew said in a statement.

Tablehopper recounts how Crustacean itself was a younger-generation spinoff of another SF restaurant, Thanh Long, which opened in 1971 in the Outer Sunset and also still makes the signature garlic noodles and roasted crab — and which was first opened by Helene An's grandmother Diane.

And just a note about those noodles. There's a trademark and all because these aren't just your average garlic noodles — they're the OG version, made from a closely guarded family recipe, and the restaurant has long marketed the fact that it has a House of AN Secret Kitchen™ where the recipe secrets are kept, and where the noodles are prepared so that the recipe can't be duplicated and taken elsewhere. And while garlic noodles have become a staple of Bay Area cuisine, that is all thanks to Thanh Long first popularizing them, as KQED reported here.

The House of AN also operates two locations of AnQi Bistro, in Costa Mesa and San Jose, as well as Tiato in Santa Monica.

Stay tuned for an update on the opening date of Crustacean, and expect the original Crustacean to close later this year, as the lease is expiring.

Previously: New Restaurants Opening In SF's Financial District Point to Optimism For Downtown Recovery

Top image: Photo by Mitzi W./Yelp