In the breathless prose of press agent Lee Houskeeper (who operates as if he is in search of Walter Winchell and Herb Caen) comes the announcement of the 8 cent martini for the centennial celebration of John’s Grill. John’s is the home of Dashiell Hammett, the Hammett booth where he sat to eat his chops and baked potato, a Maltese Falcon museum, and a l50 pound lead bronze statue of the Maltese Falcon that Hammett made famous in his book and movie.
B3 note: there is a rumor of a two martini limit on the 8 cent martini but Lee will not verify.
San Francisco Expected To Come To a Halt Friday
Forget Saturday Newspaper And Other Vital Services
Not Since the 1906 Earthquake Has Our City Been More Threatened
Famed Newspaper & Cop Hangout To Pour 8 Cent Drinks To All Thirsty San Franciscans
San Francisco — The Centennial of Historic John’s Grill will be celebrated on November 13 and 14, 2008. On Thursday, November 13, the media are invited to cover a series of invitation-only events. The public will be invited to turn out and toast the beloved landmark restaurant on Friday, November 14. Vintage automobiles will arrive, and scores of colorfully costumed San Franciscans will disembark to the strains of Sousa bands and belly up to John’s bar for 8-cent Martini’s and free appetizers. Celebrity watchers will not be disappointed.
Historic John’s Grill was the one of the first restaurants to rebuild out of the rubble and ashes of San Francisco’s Great 1906 Earthquake & Fire.
Historic John’s Grill is the 27th “Literary Landmark” in the United States. Just off Union Square, John’s Grill was made famous internationally by Dashiell Hammett’s 1927 “Maltese Falcon” mystery novel (later a classic Humphrey Bogart movie): “Sam Spade went to John’s Grill, asked the waiter to hurry his order of chops, baked potato, sliced tomatoes and was smoking a cigarette with his coffee when…” was written by Hammett, who ate at John’s while working next door in the Flood Building as a Pinkerton agent.
Detectives, politicians, reporters and celebrities have been coming to John’s Grill for the past century. Their pictures adorn the walls above their tables and you never know whom you might see at John’s Grill. Be sure to visit the Grill’s Hammett museum located on the third floor and see the 150-pound lead filled bronze statue of the famous Maltese Falcon.