Squat & Gobble, the local creperie chain that long outlived a crepe trend that swept the country decades ago, and even outlived that trend's 90s resurgence, is having its swan song this week at its last remainin location in West Portal.
San Franciscans may have fond brunch memories of Squat & Gobble, which once had five locations around the city including in the Lower Haight, Castro, and Marina neighborhoods. And there still is one location left in West Portal that has hung on with plenty of neighborhood support. But, like its sister location, it is going the way of the dodo as of this weekend, with a closing date of January 25.
The restaurant announced the closure, after 32 years in business, in an Instagram post late last week.
"It wasn’t an easy decision but unfortunately all good things must come to an end! Thank you all for your support through the good times and bad, we wouldn’t have survived without all of you!" the post says.
Americans first fell for French crepes, in particular the sweet variety, like Crepes Suzette, in the 1960s, as French restaurant proliferated across the country. That gave way to the often mall-based chain restaurant The Magic Pan, whose first location, was opened in 1965 in San Francisco by former skiing champion Laszlo Fono — in a space at 3221 Fillmore Street in the Marina.
The Magic Pan would later open a larger spot at Ghirardelli Square before being acquired by the Quaker Oats Company in 1970, which grew it into a chain with 110 locations nationwide, peaking in the late 70s and lasting until the early 1990s.
Meanwhile, a trend of casual crepe brunch restaurants, inspired in part by The Magic Pan, proliferated in US cities in the 1990s — and the main purveyors in San Francisco were Squat & Gobble, established in 1993 on Fillmore Street in the Lower Haight, and Ti Couz, at Valencia and 16th, which specialized in Brittany-style buckwheat crepes.
Squat & Gobble began closing locations about a decade ago, beginning with the Fillmore Street location in 2015. The Castro location at 3600 16th Street (now Tacos El Tucan) closed in 2019, followed by the Marina location on Chestnut Street.
The West Portal Squat & Gobble, at 1 West Portal Avenue, suffered major damages in a fire that tore through several buildings in 2012, as the Chronicle reports.
In addition to crepes, Squat & Gobble was known for its eggs Benedicts, croissant sandwiches, and thick French toast.
Get on over there to say goodbye before they close next Sunday.
Top image: Miss DM/Instagram
