Pray for peace!
By Natalia Gurevich | Examiner staff writer
Feb 26, 2026
Vesuvio Cafe at 255 Columbus Ave. in San Francisco on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026.
It’s difficult to name a bar, or even a place, more well-known in San Francisco than Vesuvio Cafe in North Beach.
The eclectic two-floor bar on the corner opposite City Lights Bookstore on Columbus Avenue has been a destination for tourists, literature lovers and locals alike since its establishment in 1948. Its proximity to the bookstore made it a hot spot for beat-generation writers Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.
Bar manager Joanna Lioce — who said she’s worked at Vesuvio for 22 years since starting there as a bartender — said that to this day, people still come in asking which stool was favored by one of the iconic writers.
“Nine out of 10 times, that’s great,” she said.
But she said that when the bar is packed and drink orders are flying in, she has less patience for going over Vesuvio’s storied past.
“Generally, I think it’s kind of a nice asset,” she said. “We get a lot of people that are really excited to be here.”
A lot has changed about the cafe and the neighborhood over the years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. But the beauty of a place such as Vesuvio is that it stands the test of time. Walking in, I remembered simultaneously why I loved it and why it took me so long to write about it.
Vesuvio occupies a special place in North Beach
Greg