The Pinecrest Diner is a popular all-night diner-style restaurant in San Francisco, California, notorious for a murder over an order of eggs.
The Pinecrest Diner is a popular all-night diner-style restaurant in San Francisco, California, notorious for a murder over an order of eggs.
A woman sat down at Pinecrest's counter and placed an order for poached eggs on July 24, 1997. [1] Chef Hashem Zayed, a Jordanian immigrant, accepted the order even though the item was not on the menu. Waitress Helen Menicou, who had worked with Zayed for nearly twenty years, intervened, berating him in front of customers and other employees, and instructing him not to make the dish.
The next morning, after losing several thousand dollars in an all-night gambling binge, Zayed brought a .380 semiautomatic handgun to work. He announced he would shoot Menicou, then did so five times at point-blank range. She died in the hospital half an hour later.
The murder resonated among the many people Menicou knew from her many years at Pinecrest, as well as the public. Five hundred attended her funeral, and the California State Assembly adjourned in her honor on July 28. In the years since, the incident has become part of San Francisco folklore. No motive was ever determined for the crime other than the order of poached eggs, which remain off the menu. Nor was the identity of the customer ever discovered. Zayed himself died of a brain tumor just over three years later, on August 13, 2000. [1]
"Spam" is a Monty Python sketch, first televised in 1970 and written by Terry Jones and Michael Palin. In the sketch, two customers are lowered by wires into a greasy spoon café and try to order a breakfast from a menu that includes Spam in almost every dish, much to the consternation of one of the customers. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a group of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam!".
A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found all over the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a combination of booths served by a waitstaff and a long sit-down counter with direct service, in the smallest simply by a cook. Many diners have extended hours, and some along highways and areas with significant shift work stay open for 24 hours.
The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is an American confectioner, wholly owned by Swiss confectioner Lindt & Sprüngli. The company was founded by and is named after Italian chocolatier Domenico Ghirardelli, who, after working in South America, moved to California. The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company was incorporated in 1852, and is the third-oldest chocolate company in the US, after Baker's Chocolate and Whitman's.
Denny's is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,700 restaurants in many countries.
Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California, restaurant, known as one of the originators of the style of cooking known as California cuisine, and the farm-to-table movement. The restaurant emphasizes ingredients rather than technique and has developed a supply network of direct relationships with local farmers, ranchers and dairies.
Hobee'sRestaurant is a chain of sit-down restaurants in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in Northern California, founded in 1974 by Paul Taber.
Mel's Drive-In is a term referring to two American restaurant chains, successors of a restaurant founded in 1947 by Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs in San Francisco, California. It is closely associated with the film American Graffiti.
The Barbary Coast was a red-light district during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries in San Francisco that featured dance halls, concert saloons, bars, jazz clubs, variety shows, and brothels. Its nine block area was centered on a three block stretch of Pacific Street, now Pacific Avenue, between Montgomery and Stockton Streets. Pacific Street was the first street to cut through the hills of San Francisco, starting near Portsmouth Square and continuing east to the first shipping docks at Buena Vista Cove.
Teatro ZinZanni is a circus dinner theater that began in the neighborhood of Lower Queen Anne in Seattle, Washington. It has since expanded to a site on the waterfront at Pier 29 on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, California.
Waitress is a 2007 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, whose supporting role serves as her final film appearance before her death. It stars Keri Russell as a young woman trapped in a small town, an abusive marriage, who faces an unwanted pregnancy, while working as a waitress. The film debuted at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and went into limited theatrical release in the US on May 2, 2007.
The Leo J. Ryan Memorial Federal Building, also known as the Leo J. Ryan Memorial Federal Archives and Records Center, is a United States government office facility which opened in 1973, and is located in San Bruno, California. It houses the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for the Pacific Sierra Region of the United States. The building was renamed in honor and memory of U.S. Representative Leo J. Ryan, through Congressional legislation which passed in 1984.
Intersection for the Arts, established in 1965, is the oldest alternative non-profit art space in San Francisco, California. Intersection's reading series is the longest continuous reading series outside of an academic institution in the state of California.
Mimi Pond is an American cartoonist, comics artist, illustrator, humorist, and writer.
King Philip was a 19th-century clipper ship launched in 1856 and wrecked in 1878. The wreck of this ship is only rarely visible; very infrequently the timbers can be seen protruding from the sands of Ocean Beach, on the Pacific Ocean coast of San Francisco, California. The wreck is the "most complete remains of an American medium clipper." This is a shipwreck of one of many ships that were wrecked in and around San Francisco Bay.
Doggie Diner was a small fast food restaurant chain serving hot dogs and hamburgers in San Francisco and Oakland, California that operated from 1948 to 1986, owned by Al Ross.
Mama's on Washington Square is a family-owned restaurant located in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. The restaurant sits on the corner of Stockton Street and Filbert Street, across from Washington Square Park. Founded in 1964, Mama's serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch as well as its own baked goods and gift baskets. The restaurant specializes in omelettes, salads, and sandwiches, and sells homemade jam, fresh baked bread, and pastries.
Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe is a diner in northern California named after the Clash song, "Rudie Can't Fail". Rudy's is part-owned by Mike Dirnt from Green Day, and was featured on the Food Network show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of San Francisco, California, United States.
Forbes Island is a floating island near Holland Tract, California, United States. It was formerly a restaurant, located between Pier 39 and Pier 41 in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco. It was the only "floating island" restaurant in the Bay Area. The restaurant was inspired by Captain Nemo's marine dwelling. The restaurant closed in 2017, and the floating platform was moved to its current location at Holland Riverside Marina in Brentwood, California.
Coi is a restaurant in San Francisco, CA. It serves a nightly tasting menu for $250 per diner featuring seafood of the California coast. In 2017, it was awarded three Michelin stars under executive chef Matthew Kirksley.
Coordinates: 37°47′13″N122°24′36″W / 37.787009°N 122.409998°W