The Last Dinner

The Last Dinner at St. Anthony’s marks the end of an era and a new beginning. We will serve the last meal in our original Dining Room on February 1st, 2012. For the first time in over a hundred years, the poor and hungry in San Francisco will no longer line the streets at Golden Gate and Jones. On this day, we gather together to honor the last meal served of 38 million, and the final moment of over 2 million volunteer hours, in a labor of love that has defined compassion and hope for San Franciscans.

This is an historic occasion for St. Anthony’s and for the city of St. Francis. St. Anthony’s Dining Room has been a refuge for the city’s most vulnerable citizens, and a portal of generosity to alleviate their struggles. The legacy of generosity on the corner of Golden Gate and Jones dates back to the chaotic aftermath of the 1906 earthquake, when Franciscan Friars first responded by passing out lunch bags from St. Boniface church. This work continued through the Great Depression and World War II. The call to feed the hungry inspired the transformation of an old auto-body shop on 45 Jones Street into the St. Anthony’s Dining Room, a civic anchor in San Francisco that has stood the test of time longer than any institution of its kind.

On October 4th, 1950, we opened St. Anthony’s Dining Room, expecting to serve 150 meals. 400 meals later, we closed our doors for the day. Since then, and for more than 61 years and 38 million meals, St. Anthony’s has been known as the Miracle on Jones Street. Now we have great plans to build The New St. Anthony’s Dining Room. The original Dining Room will come down and we hope to break ground for the new building this summer. The public phase of our campaign for The New Dining Room begins on this special day when the last tray is served in this grand old space.

Be a part of this miracle today. Join us to commemorate this historic event and pay homage to a space deemed sacred ground for its profound impact on the city of San Francisco.  We anticipate Mayor Ed Lee will serve the final tray for this historic event.

Beginning on February 2nd, St. Anthony’s will serve meals from an interim Dining Room at 150 Golden Gate Avenue while Nibbi Brothers General Contractors begins to demolish the building and construct The New St. Anthony’s Dining Room.