{"id":226937,"date":"2026-03-19T13:52:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T13:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/226937\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T13:52:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T13:52:30","slug":"alcatraz-ferry-pier-to-get-waterfront-cafe-from-a-tech-investor-turned-restaurateur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/226937\/","title":{"rendered":"Alcatraz ferry pier to get waterfront cafe from a tech investor turned restaurateur"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph-block article-body text-left\">As anyone who\u2019s been on the Alcatraz tour can attest, there was actually a time when the prison island was known for its dining options. Apparently, the warden in the first half of the 20th century believed that good food meant happier and more sedate prisoners.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block article-body text-left\">We\u2019re a long way from that era, and the food choices for tourists at the former prison site are quite limited. But a planned waterfront restaurant and cafe, Il Porto, set to open at Pier 31\u2019s Alcatraz Landing in the coming months, will at least send you off to jail with a decent last meal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block article-body text-left\">Eduardo Rallo, a founder of venture capital firm Brainstorm Ventures and an early investor in OpenTable and Zappos, <a href=\"https:\/\/brainstorm.vc\/portfolio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">among other tech startups (opens in new tab)<\/a>, is the owner. When Il Porto opens in June, it will be Rallo\u2019s first San Francisco project since he opened the cafe and pizzeria Il Parco at the Presidio Tunnel Tops in 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block article-body text-left\">Rallo\u2019s business strategy in the city has been clear: Find high-traffic locations choked with tourists and give them some high-quality food options; case in point, Il Parco and Colibri Mexican Bistro, which he opened in 2022 in the Presidio.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block article-body text-left\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parksconservancy.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (opens in new tab)<\/a> has been expanding its Alcatraz Landing launch point for the ferry to the island for nearly a decade. Those renovations included a 3,700-square-foot space to be built out by a restaurant operator.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block article-body text-left\">In addition to this buildout, Il Porto has access to a public patio on the north side of the building for outdoor service and a smaller public seating area closer to the Embarcadero. It can serve beer, wine, and spirits under a Type 47 liquor license, which Rallo is in the process of acquiring.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block article-body text-left\">In line with its role serving travelers to and from Alcatraz, the restaurant is required to operate at least 45 minutes before the first boat departure, typically at 8:40 a.m., and remain open until at least 30 minutes after the last return, usually around 10 p.m. when night tours are offered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block article-body text-left\">According to the lease, Il Porto\u2019s operators will pay an annual base rent, plus a cut of sales over a certain break-even point.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-block article-body text-left\">Rallo brings extensive hospitality experience to the venue. He cofounded the local chain of World Wrapps and is a board member for the Pacific Catch chain. His Buen Rallo group is also behind the Mexican restaurant El Jard\u00edn and Spanish-Peruvian concept Suspiro in San Jose\u2019s Santana Row.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As anyone who\u2019s been on the Alcatraz tour can attest, there was actually a time when the prison&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[32135,10470,388,412,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-226937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-boom-loop","tag-embarcadero","tag-real-estate","tag-restaurants","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}