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All the United States California San Francisco Doggie Diner Head
AO Edited Gastro Obscura

Doggie Diner Head

This grinning pup statue is all that's left of what was once a ubiquitous Bay Area diner chain.

San Francisco, California

Added By
Matthew Taub
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Well hello.   Willis Lam/CC BY-SA 2.0
Well hello.   Willis Lam/CC BY-SA 2.0
Another view of the doggie.   CC BY-SA 3.0
Not all of the doggies are lost, but only one is permanently on public view—unlike these.   Mattyj2001/CC BY-SA 4.0
Golden Gate Park   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
In front of the SF fire station on Treasure Island   Avoiding Regret
Doggie Diner heads sighted on 04/28/2020 at Avenue I & 11th Street on nearby Treasure Island   polemonium / Atlas Obscura User
Doggie Diner Head   busnrail / Atlas Obscura User
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About

San Francisco’s Sloat Boulevard is well known for leading to the San Francisco Zoo, but it’s also home to a rather different faunal landmark. That would be the iconic “Doggie Diner” head, the only one still on public view—though that may change if a Napa Valley car salesman has his way.

From 1948 to 1986, residents of the San Francisco Bay Area had their pick of Doggie Diners from which they could grab a quick, greasy bite. At the peak of the chain’s popularity, there were more than 20 locations operating throughout the area, all unified by the presence of a towering, smirking, bow-tied, button-nosed host out front: a giant statue of a dachshund’s head atop a 10-foot pole.

In a testament to these familiar faces’ emotional resonance with Bay Area residents, the city of San Francisco recovered one out of exile more than a decade after the chain closed down and all of the doggie heads disappeared behind private ownership. This rescued head, after receiving a refurbishment, was installed at the intersection of Sloat Boulevard and 45th Avenue in 2001, and was declared a city landmark in 2005. There’s no working diner operating underneath, but a proposed reboot—about an hour north, in Napa—might offer as many as 50 different varieties of hot dog.

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Dogs Diner San Francisco Statues Landmarks Animals

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A trio of "Doggy" heads can also be found on John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park, just west of the Conservatory of Flowers.

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Added By

matthewtaub

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SEANETTA, Avoiding Regret, polemonium, busnrail

  • SEANETTA
  • Avoiding Regret
  • polemonium
  • busnrail

Published

July 11, 2019

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Doggie Diner Head
Sloat Blvd. at 45th Ave.
San Francisco, California, 94132
United States
37.735491, -122.502928
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