German Restaurants in San Francisco in the Wake of World War I

This article challenges the widely accepted view that cultural expressions of Germanness disappeared during World War I in the United States by examining the response of German restaurants to anti-German sentiments. German restaurants in San Francisco responded to the rise of anti-German sentiments in three distinct ways: First, some German restaurateurs veiled German cuisine as American cuisine, adding San Francisco specialties to the menu, and Americanizing the interior of the restaurant; Second, proprietors increasingly relied on non-Germans to decide the quality of the restaurant; Third, German restaurateurs founded new restaurants that openly continued the traditions of turn-of-the-century San Francisco German restaurants.