OUT & ABOUT | FAITH WHEELER

It comes as no surprise that San Francisco has the most restaurants per capita — about 39.5 per 10,000 households, according to the U.S. census. No other city comes close. New York is fourth.

As a result, we’ve become restaurant news junkies, always trying to keep up with the hottest new places rather than honoring old favorites. Restaurant-going has become as much about fashion as Fillmore’s many boutiques, with diners vying for boasting rights on the reservations they’ve snagged.

As a restaurant consultant for more than 25 years, I am often asked where to eat. First I list all of the newest, toughest reservations. Then I send them to the neighborhood — because strong signature items will always persevere, and we have in our midst some timeless go-to dishes that can easily keep pace with any new arrival.

To that end, here are five of my favorite tastes at local spots. They never disappoint — and are very likely still to be on the menu when you look for them next time.

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Photograph of Nick Nickolas by Daniel Bahmani

NICK NICKOLAS got his first restaurant job in Oakland in 1955 at a very fine restaurant called Villa de la Paix. He went on to a six-decade career in which he opened more than 30 restaurants nationwide — most notably his Nick’s Fishmarkets in Honolulu, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Miami and other cities. Then he came home to the Bay Area and retired.

Or so he thought.

“So I’m back in the Bay Area,” says Nickolas, “and my nephew asks me to come over and take a look at his operation,” Dino & Santino’s, the neighborhood pizza joint at Fillmore and California owned by longtime local Dino Stavrakikis. “Before I realize it, three years have passed and I’m still coming over.”

Uncle Nick, as he’s become known to Dino’s regulars, has brought a touch of the big-time to the neighborhood, with his flashy clothes, toothy smile and smooth manner.

“Sometimes you can’t get enough of this business,” he says. “When it becomes a big part of your life it’s no longer work, but a way for you to express a love of hospitality.”

Family-friendly Dino’s is a considerable contrast to the high-flying restaurants Nickolas ran for most of his career.

“My restaurants were mainly white tablecloth with tuxedoed waiters — fancy and expensive,” he says. “But price doesn’t change hospitality. If you spend $10 or $10,000, the hospitality should not change.”

Dino was already in the process of remodeling and upgrading his corner spot at the heart of the neighborhood, and his Uncle Nick helped him up his game.

“There’s a new menu and new decor,” says Nickolas, “but the same good food and the same attitude. Dino and Santino’s fits into the Fillmore in a unique way — and it’s one of the few remaining family-run businesses.”

He adds: “Food is not what the guests remember, but the way they were treated. A good waiter can save a mediocre meal, but bad hospitality can sink the entire experience altogether. Were you greeted properly? Were you seated in a timely fashion? Were you thanked on the way out? If you were, the food tasted better — period.”

Dino is not the only old friend Nickolas has reconnected with since he came back home to the Bay Area. Through Facebook, he also got back in touch with Judy Steinberg, a friend he met for the first time in 1968. Their initial romance turned into a friendship that lasted on and off for 45 years. Now it’s back on again, and they are engaged — and working together on a website and a new book they’re calling Sexy at 70: It’s Never Too Late! (The Judy and Nick Story).

Read more: “Sexy at 70”

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SALOONS | CHRIS BARNETT

A fresh wave of happiness is flooding Fillmore as boulevard bars and restaurants are pouring newly discounted drinks and offering bargain-priced appetizers during afternoon happy hours. Some thirst parlors are more generous than others.

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Photograph of Perry Butler by Susie Biehler

By Chris Barnett

DID YOU HEAR the one about the architect in a cab on Union Street who realized he was short of money? “Pull over at Perry’s; they’ll cash a check,” he told the cabbie. “Wait here,” he said to his date. “I’ll be right out.”

As he walked in, barkeep Michael McCourt yelled “Hey Russ, the usual?” and poured him a stiff one. Another regular came over. “Hey Russ, good to see you. Let me buy you a drink.” Another pal waved from down the bar. “Next one’s on me.”

Ten years later, the architect, Russell Gifford, was perched on his favorite stool at Perry’s and his date from that night walked in the door. He saw her in the backbar mirror, turned around and cracked: “I thought I told you to wait in the cab.”

The top bartenders in town — who worked at Perry’s at some point in their careers — are still telling that one. Yet this month on the 45th anniversary of the Union Street thirst parlor and restaurant bearing his name, you would never hear that tale told by the proprietor, Perry Butler. He’s too much of a gentleman.

In a city where barrooms have morphed from brawling whiskey and beer joints in canvas tents to temples staffed by high priests of the shot glass who dub themselves cocktailians and mixologists, Perry’s on Union stands alone as San Francisco’s last great saloon.

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