Jackson Fillmore Trattoria has served Southern Italian food at 2506 Fillmore St, between Jackson and Pacific, since December 11, 1985. It is a small, long, narrow neighborhood restaurant and one of the Fillmore’s true institutions: the kind of place where regulars in their seventies hug the staff and bring in their own grandchildren.
Jack’s on Fillmore
Founder Jack Krietzman had worked at MacArthur Park and at the legendary Vanessi’s on Broadway, then spent six years as a junior partner at Little Italy in the Castro. When he found a sushi bar for sale at Jackson and Fillmore, he saw a small neighborhood place and replaced the sushi with antipasti. His partners wanted to call it Jack’s on Fillmore, a play on the owner’s name and the corner. Then the lawyers for the famous Jack’s Restaurant downtown called. Krietzman changed the name, and the restaurant became Jackson Fillmore. Herb Caen got hold of the story and mentioned the restaurant twice in his column, and the crowds followed. The restaurant says millions of people have eaten there since.
Counter seats and comfort food
The old sushi bar became a counter where salads, antipasti, dessert, espresso and wine are served, with eight or so tables on the other side. Signature dishes include zucchini carpaccio with pecorino and toasted almonds, spaghetti carbonara, pesce fra diavolo, and bombolotti in a rich meat sauce with sausage, mushrooms and mascarpone. Fresh pastas such as gnocchi are made in house. The philosophy is simple: if you don’t see it on the menu, just ask.
Still in the family
Today the restaurant is managed by brother and sister Casey and Kelly Sullivan, whose father was Krietzman’s first friend in San Francisco. Kelly remembers eating cold zabaglione there the year it opened, when she was four. The restaurant was nominated to the city’s Legacy Business Registry, which recognizes long-running businesses that define a neighborhood.
