One response to “Urban Archeology: The Piccadilly cocktail lounge”

1. Joe

   March 13, 2022

   I’m imagining the Piccadilly was a bit like this description of Val’s in Daly City that Carl Nolte wrote for the Chronicle today:
   So one afternoon I went to lunch at Val’s Restaurant in Daly City, one of the bastions of traditional Bay Area style.
   Val’s is one of those classic places: a tall neon sign outside, a perfectly restored fire-engine red Pontiac parked at the curb. They don’t make Pontiacs anymore, and places like Val’s have gone out of style.
   “Val’s has atmosphere and old-school service,” said Lex Perillat, a regular at Val’s. There are a few similar places still, neighborhood restaurants with the flavor of another time, like the Gold Mirror on Taraval Street, Rocco’s on Folsom and the 7 Mile House, just over the San Mateo County line in Brisbane.
   Val’s has been around since the early ’50s. “A steak house and lounge with a decor and menu that has been unchanged since the Johnson administration,” as Daly City historian Bob Calhoun called it.
   Val’s has two sections: one a bright and cheerful-looking area with white tablecloths, the other a lounge area, with genuine imitation leather booths, a long bar and a fireplace to ward off the Daly City chill. There are paintings of nude women on the walls, in a style reminiscent of the heyday of Domino’s and other San Francisco Financial District institutions.
   “You can sit anywhere you like,” said Greg Taylor, the host, “except that booth. A party of regulars come in every Tuesday and they always sit there.”
   https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Here-are-two-local-destinations-that-ll-16996575.php