Zuni Café

Zuni Café is a restaurant in San Francisco, California, named after the Zuni tribe of indigenous Pueblo peoples of Arizona and New Mexico. It occupies a triangular building on Market Street at the corner of Rose Street.

History
Zuni Café was established in 1979 by Billy West. In 1981 he hired Vince Calcagno as the manager, who became a business partner in 1987. West and Calcagno hired Judy Rodgers (formerly of Chez Panisse) as head chef in 1987. West died on July 1, 1994; Calcagno and Rodgers went on to become co-owners.

Originally a Southwest-themed café, in the 1980s Zuni Café expanded into the adjacent space that had been a cactus shop, and under Rodgers came to serve primarily Italian- and French-inspired cuisine. With her at the helm, Zuni Café won the James Beard Foundation Award for 'Best Chef: Pacific' in 2000, 'Outstanding Restaurant' in 2003, and 'Outstanding Chef' in 2004. In 2018, the restaurant received the James Beard Award for Outstanding Service. Rodgers published The Zuni Café Cookbook in 2002.

Calcagno retired in 2006, and was succeeded as co-owner by Gilbert Pilgram, also formerly of Chez Panisse. Rodgers died on December 2, 2013. Subsequently the head chef was Nate Norris, who was succeeded in October 2022 by Anne Alvero. On reopening in 2021 after the COVID-19 shutdown, Zuni Café replaced tips with a service charge for diners.

The restaurant has a piano and a changing exhibition of modern art, both instituted by West. West also added a Parisian-inspired copper bar; since there are no bar stools, Rodgers had a metal rod added for people to prop a foot on. Rodgers also designed the brick oven, used for roasting chicken over wood. The building underwent a seismic retrofit in 1991, when the interior was given exposed ceiling beams.