In 1905, Maurice Bernstein (1886-1932) opened a small seafood counter stall in Oakland, satisfying so many patrons that his reputation spread across the bay to San Francisco.
In 1913, he established Bernstein’s Fish Grotto at 123 Powell Street, near the cable car turnaround so the noise of the clanging cable cars rang all day long.
Famous for its unique ship’s-prow door that jutted out over the sidewalk (meant to be a reproduction of explorer Christopher Columbus’s Nina) authentic ship fittings, brass-rimmed portholes and a gangway completed the fantasy that diners were setting off on an ocean cruise.
Inside the marine theme continued with seven dining rooms designed to look like ship cabins. Bernstein’s even had a pirate with a peg leg and a parrot at its doorway as a greeter.
Not surprisingly, Bernstein’s became a popular draw for tourists and locals alike.
It closed in the 1980s.