Ocean View
45th Avenue and Sloat near The Great Highway
Restored Dogie Diner Sign
The Doggie Diner (1949-1986) restaurants could be seen throughout the Bay Area during their heyday.
Mr. Al Ross, the Doggie Diner Chain’s owner asked Harold Bachman an ad and billboard layout designer, to draw up designs for the sign, it is said that the bow tie was added by Mr. Ross.
Three of Doggie Diner’s heads took a road trip to New York in 2003, courtesy of Laughing Squid and SF Cyclecide Bike Rodeo, and that experience was immortalized in a documentary called Head Trip.
According to Mr. Ross’s obituary, his family came to Alameda when he was in his early 20s and started an ice cream business called White Castle. He and his mother, Rose Rosenbluth, ran the business together. He eventually began rolling a pushcart around San Francisco’s Embarcadero selling ice cream to ship workers.
Mr. Ross took note of all the hubbub on Oakland’s San Pablo Avenue during the war and decided a restaurant featuring “wiener dogs” would do well there. The Doggie Diner that opened on 19th and San Pablo Avenue in 1948 was an instant hit.
This is the last Doggie Diner head that’s permanently viewable to the public. After a $25,000 restoration the sign was declared a San Francisco Landmark on August 11th 2006.
The Doggie Diner dogs even have their ownwebsite.