San Francisco has a longer relationship with Croatian food than most people realize \u2014 it just hasn’t always been easy to find. The city’s oldest continuously operating restaurant, Tadich Grill, was founded in 1849 by three Croatian immigrants who started with a coffee tent on the waterfront. Original Joe’s, the North Beach institution overlooking Washington Square Park, traces back to Croatian immigrant Tony Rodin. The Slavonic Mutual and Benevolent Society, founded here in 1857, was among the first Croatian cultural organizations in America. For a community with roots this deep in the city’s culinary DNA, the Croatian table has been conspicuously absent from restaurant menus for the better part of a decade. That changes Saturday, when Qua O La opens at 1318 Grant Ave. in North Beach.<\/p>\n
A Family’s Two Coasts, One Bar<\/p>\n
Qua O La \u2014 Italian for “here or there” \u2014 is a wine bar built around a split identity. Its owner, Sal Annuzzi, is an Excelsior native whose parents were first-generation immigrants and whose family ties to North Beach go back generations. His mother-in-law, Linda Lazarich, emigrated from Croatia in the 1960s, settled in the neighborhood, and met her husband there \u2014 a man born on Istria, the Adriatic peninsula currently divided between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy. The bar’s name captures that dual geography, and its menu reflects it in equal measure, according to The SF Standard<\/a>.<\/p>\n The space itself has a past life to shed. Portofino, a seafood restaurant, previously occupied 1318 Grant, and its decorating philosophy apparently leaned heavily into the nautical: the new owners reportedly removed some 2,000 ceiling-mounted fishing lures during the renovation last fall. Punched tin replaced them. Walls went sage and warm pink. Croatian heirlooms \u2014 including animal-hide flasks from Lazarich’s personal collection \u2014 came in. Annuzzi also installed a vintage cable-car bell sourced from an antique store, equal parts SF nostalgia and last-call warning system.<\/p>\n The First Croatian Spot in North Beach Since 2018<\/p>\n The last time you could eat Croatian cuisine in North Beach, Barack Obama was still president and the iPhone X had just come out. Albona Ristorante Istriano, a 30-year institution at 545 Francisco St. beloved for its Istrian-inflected cooking, closed at the end of 2018. As Eater SF<\/a> reported at the time, it was the last restaurant in San Francisco dedicated to the cuisine of Istria. Qua O La isn’t a carbon copy \u2014 it’s a wine bar with small plates, not a white-tablecloth dinner house \u2014 but the culinary lineage is clear.<\/p>\n The food program centers on Croatian and Italian staples with some unexpected crossover. \u0106evapi \u2014 grilled beef, lamb, and pork sausages seasoned with onion and garlic, served on pita with roasted red pepper spread \u2014 anchors the savory side alongside burek, the spiral-shaped savory phyllo pastry filled with meat that is a Balkan staple. Boards arrive loaded with dry-cured olives, Calabrian salami, shaved fennel salad, and a distinctive purple-blue pecorino aged in grapes. Scachatta, a Cuban-Sicilian focaccia topped with sesame and spicy salami, makes an appearance that reflects the Mediterranean sprawl of the menu. Cicchetti \u2014 Venice’s answer to crostini, with a softer texture \u2014 rotate through toppings like roasted eggplant and fresh mozzarella, as reported by The SF Standard<\/a>. One constant on every board, per co-owner Annuzzi: pepperoncini, which he describes as non-negotiable in both Italian and Croatian food culture.<\/p>\n The Vibe: Heirlooms, Irreverence, and Automatic Snacks<\/p>\n Lazarich has described the hospitality model as quintessentially Italian: snacks that simply materialize in front of you the moment you sit down, no ordering required. The room delivers on personality elsewhere too \u2014 there’s a Photomatica photo booth tucked into a corner (reportedly North Beach’s first), a restroom mirror inscribed in 1970s cursive with “Porca miseria, sei stupenda!” (roughly: “Goddamn, you look stunning”), and a wall of framed celebrity photos \u2014 Paul McCartney, Sophia Loren, and others \u2014 all captured mid-bird-flip. The caption overhead reads “Vaffanculo & jebiga” \u2014 the Italian and Croatian equivalents of the same sentiment, with the Croatian version carrying a secondary meaning closer to “whatever.” The distinction, Lazarich notes, makes it only sort of rude.<\/p>\n A Neighborhood on a Hot Streak<\/p>\n Qua O La is riding into a North Beach that has been unusually active on the restaurant and bar front. Equal Parts, a California-Mexican cocktail bar, opened in December inside the landmark Old Spaghetti Factory building, according to What Now SF<\/a>. The long-running bar 15 Romolo is preparing to reopen after an 18-month renovation, as reported by The SF Standard<\/a>. Wine bars like Golden Sardine on Columbus and Waystone on Powell have built strong followings in recent years. The Croatian American Cultural Center \u2014 the city’s 169-year-old Slavic cultural institution, now based on Alemany \u2014 has long been the community’s social anchor, but the neighborhood’s dining scene is finally starting to reflect that heritage again.<\/p>\n Qua O La opens Saturday, April 25 at 1318 Grant Ave. Hours and reservation info are available at quaolasf.com<\/a> and on Instagram at @quaolasf<\/a>.<\/p>\n