“The comparison pictures you see are true to life. The cars and signs have been changed to protect the innocent.”
I know, “Who remembers ‘Dragnet’?” Actually, about the only thing that has changed in these photo sets are the cars and signs! My introduction to Clement Street goes back to before the 1990s. After a night of carousing around San Francisco on weekends, we’d often head to The Front Room Pizza Parlor on Clement near Ninth Avenue. They were open late at night, seems to me at times after midnight. We’d close out the evening with pitchers of beer, (as if we needed more beer) and terrific pizza, individual booths, and a perfect dark atmosphere and aroma that was also very romantic. The last time I was there was in 2013; the name had been changed to one of the Pizza Orgasmica chain, and although the food was good, it just wasn’t the same. Also, to say that the names of their combo pizzas were suggestive is like saying that Mussolini was a little to the Right; they were downright naughty! I’ll show a portion of the vegetarian menu as a tease; it’s actually a little tamer than the ‘specials’ menu. The first photo set is of the last menu I got there, and nest is a picture of where the Front Room used to be; the entrance still looks the exact same. Now where was I? Oh, yeah, Clement Street in the 90s. The vintage pictures are from a photographer named Robert Durden, a photographer I’m not familiar with, and they’re posted on the San Francisco Digital Library Archive. (Thumbnail images)
An Orgasmic menu and where the Front Room Pizza Parlor used to be:
7th Avenue and Clement Street in November of 1992: Wow, compact discs! Uh, what are they? Oh, I remember.
06 Clement Street in February of 1993: There’s still a bar there, under a different name.
The southwest corner of 5th and Clement in December of 1992: The Toy Boat Restaurant opened in this old building in 1983, closed in 2020, and reopened in June of 2025 as Toy Boat by Jane, specializing in ice cream.
The north side of the 300 Block of Clement in December of 1992: That upturned awning in the 90s picture is kind of cool!
Looking northwest on the 300 Block from 4th Avenue in December of 1992: City Girls Clothes is now a Specialty Grocery Store.
Another look at the north side of the 500 Block in February of 1993; just to show that I can take a picture over the top of cars too.
This was the one that I wanted to get most, looking at Clement Street from the south side on 6th Avenue. However, alas, alack, and Alaska, scaffolding messed up my shot. It’s a cool picture; the kid on the bike grocery shopping is just the right clement Street touch.
