Doggie Diner

From the western neighborhoods project:

Started by Al Ross in 1949, the chain of Doggie Diner restaurants were everywhere by the 1960s. The Richmond District alone had three of them, and a three-dimensional (and once rotating) dog head with chef hat glared down gleefully at each of them. Ross sold the chain in 1979, and the last diner to go by the name Doggie Diner closed in 1986. (The name was revived for certain concession stands in the San Francisco Giants new ballpark in 2000.)

Designed in the 1960s by illustrator Harold Bachman (who, surprised at all the hubbub, said in early 2005 he just thought the darned thing would help sell hamburgers), this San Francisco institution has found a new location a block from its old home. The Doggie Diner head now welcomes visitors to Ocean Beach from 45th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, giving his sardonic grin to all who come west. (Probably a nice change of view, after looking south at the San Francisco Zoo for over 40 years.)

On February 14, 2005, under threatening skies, a small, happy crowd welcomed the Doggie to its new home. Ed Lee, the head of San Francisco's Department of Public Works, presided and welcomed third-graders from Ulloa Elementary School, some real canines (and their guardians), a couple of jugglers, elected officials, and a passel of media.

I vaguely remember these restaurants from my childhood. These remnant Doggie Diner heads also show up on a trailer that some guy drives around the bay area to various countercultural events.