Established in 1858, 7 Mile House at the SF-Brisbane border turns 168 years old on Saturday, and is celebrating with $1.68 Jack Daniels shots, free adobo, and a presentation on the restaurant's (often outlaw) 168-year history.
We’ve noted that the Financial District’s Tadich Grill is San Francisco's oldest restaurant, and that’s true. But Tadich Grill has had three different names, has moved around to three different places, and was originally just a tent that served as a coffee stand. Meanwhile, down Bayshore Boulevard about 1,000 feet from the San Francisco/Brisbane border, the 7 Mile House has been operating at the very same location, with the very same name, for the last 168 years.
Now a family-run Filipino-American restaurant and sports bar, 7 Mile House will be celebrating that 168th anniversary all day and night this Saturday, with free adobo and rice bowls for the first 200 guests, a 10:30am history talk about 7 Mile House with complimentary coffee and mimosas, and $1.68 shots of Jack Daniels all day.
“The price goes up by a cent every year,” 7 Mile House owner Vanessa Garcia tells SFist. (Limit two per person, dine-in only, because you don’t want to end up in the emergency room.)
There’s plenty of 7 Mile House history to go over Saturday, much of it involving illegal activity. But a brand new feature makes his 168th anniversary celebration pretty dog-gone unique.
“What I’m really excited about this year is the launch of our dedicated dog menu. We have a separate dog menu for dogs now,” Garcia says. “I believe we are the only restaurant with a full independent dog menu.”
On Saturday, dogs eat free! 7 Mile House is also now serving dog beer and wine (no alcohol, it’s watermelon-infused water or coconut water and vitamin C), Ben & Jerry’s dog ice cream (an actual product), dog cigars (they’re jerky), cakes for dogs, VIP cards where a dog’s fifth meal is free, and a 3-6 pm Yappy Hour free peanut butter biscuit (simultaneous to a human Happy Hour where drinks and appetizers are $7).
When 7 Mile House was established in 1858, there was also a 1-, 2-, and 3-Mile house along the same road into town, each signifying the distance to the city’s northern end.
“Mile Houses were stagecoach stops back in the 1850s when the Gold Rush was happening,” Garcia explains. “People needed a way to stop while traveling from San Francisco to San Jose. They were at almost every mile from San Francisco to San Jose, a mile house that served as a rest stop both for people and their horses. They were also restaurants, hotels, wheel exchange stops, Pony Express routes, and even brothels.
“7 Mile House was all of the above, and we are the last original mile house standing in the original location,” she says. (Millbrae's 16 Mile House is still in business, though it has moved from its original location.)
And there has been plenty of illegal activity at 7 Mile House over the last 168 years. “There was one owner who had an HUI — horseback riding under the influence,” according to Garcia.
“One of the first owners, Egidio Micheli, was caught transporting whiskey during Prohibition, and he was also running a card house in the back of 7 Mile House illegally,” she adds.