On Valencia and 22nd Street in San Francisco is one of those places where the first natives probably met and shared stories and perhaps some food – a cup of tea, some acorns. From that spot, if you look West you see two peaks later called Twin Peaks. In the summer, the fog bounces off those two peaks and coastal range and keeps the Mission District relatively fog-free.
There was probably fresh water close at hand. If you look for the scraggly lines on old maps, Mission Creek and others flowed at times – all a few blocks away. Anyone who has spent a few decades in San Francisco must have ventured into Lucca’s on 22nd. It was part vacation. Part cheap thrill. Part a journey into the land of culinary hedonism.
Do take a number from one of those old fashion number roles at the front, and when you are called, it was like you had just won the lottery. All the primarily male staff, dressed in white shirts wore aprons and those disposable paper deli hats. “Two trays of ravioli please, one vegetarian the other meat, a pint of sauce, that dill Havarti on sale – I’ll have a pound and a half of that please. A pound of the salami… no not that one, the one over there. A half-pint of those mixed olives. Don’t forget to charge me for these two bottles of Italian wine. This bread is incredible, by the way.” After they ring you up on a antique golden, ornate and, fully functioning cash register a bell ringing every time it is opened, you leave and proceed to eat a meal that you talk about for months after. RIP. Lucca Ravioli Co. Thank you, we will miss you!
Where they made the ravioli 
A bit of a history lesson on these signs. Butcher paper as the means of communication gave this place its charm.
Postlude
One of the wonderful things about Lucca’s is that it was an old world place and they treated kids with a lot of compassion and joy. I remember stopping by Lucca’s to buy some lunch in the late-90s. I had my 3 year old in tow. Soon they would hand him a fresh bread-stick just for fun. That was pretty special. A small business owner winning over customers, little kids and the neighborhood, one bread-stick at a time.
Heraclitus
There is nothing permanent except change.
I have no idea who in buying Lucca’s or what is going to become of the prime location, and it is really something beyond my control, but I do hope that whoever it is, can keep some of the good vibes going.
Remember Lucca’s on Valencia and 22nd? San Francisco just lost a piece of the magic. “I hear that the Mission was once an Italian neighborhood.” “Every neighborhood in San Francisco was once an Italian neighborhood.”