Golden Gate Grill: A Main Street favorite of Petaluma’s past

It was all about the booths at Golden Gate Grill, a celebrated Petaluma restaurant of the 1930s and ‘40s. Big and cushy, each was equipped with a curtain that could be pulled closed to provide privacy at the table, making it popular with businessmen and couples alike.

When it opened on July 1, 1931, in the Odd Fellows Building on Main Street, 10 Petaluma businesses took out ads in the Argus-Courier to congratulate owner Peter Goich. Goich was born and Yugoslavia before coming to San Francisco as a child in 1902. He served in WWI and, upon his return, moved to Petaluma in 1922, where he made a name for himself in the restaurant industry. Before launching the Golden Gate Grill, he also owned Popular Restaurant and Pete’s Grill, and ran the Swiss-American restaurant for a short time. This postcard, dated 1935, shows the Golden Gate Grill along with Asherman’s Market and Oster Ladies Hair Cutting.