101yearold Tosca reopens for outdoor dining in S. F. after yearlong closure.

New owners offer 3course Italian, familystyle menu outdoors

Tosca Cafe, North Beach’s 101yearold restaurant, is back after a temporary closure — and multiple false starts — that lasted more than a year.

The storied Italian American spot began serving diners again this month and is taking reservations for a laidback, threecourse menu served family style by executive chef Nancy Oakes of Boulevard fame.

For $ 75, diners get a spread of antipasti — meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce, artichokefennelolive salad, fresh tomatoes with mozzarella — followed by a creamy pasta topped with truffles. Then, groups can choose two entrees, such as Tuscan fried chicken or squash risotto.

Fancier additions, such as oysters or shaved white truffle, are also available along with wine pairings ($ 60) chosen by A16’ s Shelley Lindgren, with a choice between pours from Italy or California.

The reopening came not long after San Francisco’s indoor dining ban went into effect, so diners will sit at a covered and heated parklet this winter.

Tosca Cafe might be best known for its rowdy nights and bar packed with celebrities — an era from 1980 to 2012, when Jeannette Etheredge owned the place. In 2012, New York restaurateurs April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman took over the restaurant and turned it into a more upscale, critically acclaimed restaurant. But the partnership began to fall apart in 2017 after 10 women accused Friedman of sexual harassment in a New York Times report.

In 2019, a new team of allstars bought the restaurant: Oakes; Anna Weinberg, the restaurateur behind Marlowe and Park Tavern; and Ken Fulk, the interior designer known for the stylish looks of restaurants and clubs nationwide.

The restaurant temporarily was closed for eight months when the pandemic hit, and the new owners’ reopening plans stalled. Tosca briefly dabbled in takeout and announced plans for a popup that never took off. Now, it’s finally back — though gawking at the interior will have to wait.

Tosca Cafe. 5: 309: 30 p. m. Wednesday-Sunday. 242 Columbus Ave., San Francisco. 4159869651 or www.toscacafesf.com

Photos by Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle Customers enjoy dinner at the beloved Tosca Cafe in San Francisco, which, after being closed for more than a year and now under new ownership, has reopened for outdoor dining with an elaborate parklet.

Manager Samantha McGrath holds cappuccinos for guests seated outside at Tosca Cafe, where dinner service has resumed after a closure.