One of the Bay Area’s oldest restaurants, Spenger’s Fish Grotto, has abruptly closed in Berkeley.
The restaurant first opened in 1890 and for decades was a destination for lovers of fried seafood platters, clam chowder and sourdough bread. In the late 1990s, the Spenger family left the business, ushering in an era of corporate ownership.
Customers arrived Wednesday to find the lights on inside but a note posted on the door of the Fourth Street announcing the “permanent” closing as of Wednesday, Oct. 24, adding: “Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you!”
Some diners planning to eat there read the sign and wordlessly turned away. One passerby, George Arroyo of Pinole, reminisced about the years when the restaurant — and its massive parking lot — would both be packed.
No message was left on the restaurant’s phone line, and calls to the corporate headquarters, the Landry’s / McCormick & Schmick chain based in Houston, went unanswered after the close of business.
Reaction on social media was swift — and nostalgic.
“Wow. Spenger’s was an institution, and in a lot of ways an important part of my family’s history. Sad day,” tweeted Marc Carig.
Jodi Hernandez, news reporter for NBC Bay Area, posted: “I’ve been going there since my college days. Celebrated my 21st birthday & my UC Berkeley graduation there. So sad.”
And Mark S. Gross tweeted that Spenger’s wasn’t just an institution for Bay Area residents, calling it “a family tradition after Giants games on the way back to Sacramento.”
In recent years, the Spenger’s site has been the subject of controversy as development plans for the area were proposed and native Americans have raised concerns about building atop the restaurant’s parking lot, said to have been an Ohlone village and burial ground.
McCormick & Schmick took over the restaurant in 1999, just months after Frank “Bud” Spenger Jr. announced at 83 that he was retiring and selling the land for development. The company spent about $5 million renovating the historic 800-seat restaurant during a short closure, according to Bay Area News Group reports at the time, and introduced more contemporary fare to the menu. Fried cod with fries was out; seared ahi tuna was in.
In 2012, Landry’s Inc. purchased the McCormick & Schmick chain, which it still operates under that name. Spenger’s is still listed under that website.
This fall on Yelp, diners have bemoaned the declining quality of service and food. One El Cerrito customer said: “Shadow of its former self. Hope they get their act together or just close and sell to a developer who can actually do something productive with the lot.”
Spenger’s was the oldest restaurant in the East Bay — and the fourth landmark restaurant to close in recent months. Oakland’s Mexicali Rose shut its doors in late June after 91 years in business. Brennan’s, also located in Berkeley’s Fourth Street area, closed Sept. 15 after 60 years of ownership by a single family. And Hs Lordship’s, a 50-year veteran at the Berkeley Marina, pulled up anchor July 1.
San Francisco holds claim to the Bay Area’s oldest restaurant, the Tadich Grill, which dates to 1849.
Staff writer Ali Tadayon contributed to this report.