San Francisco Italian Athletic Club

This a great organization with a fine clubhouse located in a prominent North Beach location.
They encourage Italian Americans to join, the dues are reasonable and you are allowed to bring guests to many of the events they sponsor. I am pained, however, by Unilocal’s continuing to show the club as a violator of the city’s health regulations — the infractions of the code that they cite were corrected almost immediately over a year ago and this is plainly seen upon examination of the details of the citation as shown on the page but Unilocal apparently refuses to remove the critique. This needs to be corrected!

I have been studying Italian with Prof. Lisa. At SFIAC, she is engaging and effective. SFIAC is a great place to learn Italian!

Great club.
I am taking conversational Italian with Lisa for the past six months. She is a phenomenal teacher, very enthused, immersed in the Italian culture. I would highly recommend the class for anyone intent on visiting Italy.

Great little neighborhood club that I first visited when our yoga instructor rented the gym area to do a small class. They have basketball area and workout gym… and everything is well maintained. There is even a cool local bar (complete with locals on the bar stools!). They have event spaces as well — for things like weddings, meetings, bar mitzvahs. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. North Beach wouldn’t be the same w/​o such a nice little hangout like this.

Time: 2:37pm/84°F intermittent clouds
Purpose: Attended the North Beach Festival 2014 with some friends got invited to the SFIAC, been there before in the past things just got change around.
Ambiance: You can say more like and YMCA combine with bar, pool table room, basketball court, shower stalls, locker room, events planning, kitchen, dining room relax atmosphere. This place is not just for members you can rent it out for couple of hours depending on what kind of event and how long it’ll take you. It’s pretty old fashion but more modernized now. Best notable feature is their elevator has two set of doors that opens, front and back. Have a coat room and Pac-​Bell coin operated telephone. Haven’t seen one of them in a while, who use them now a days? Second floor house a lounge/​bar and plaques on walls featuring current and past memebers. Two TV’S at bar and one 55inch lounge area. Also the patio windows opens completely as you can walk out to fire escape and watch the glorious north beach park. Next to bar the pool room play a couple of rounds before the FIFA event.
Staff: The bartender was definitely old school Italian oversized glasses jokes around with customers seating at bar, most knows him. I shook his hand intro myself and he said you youngsters are something else. I’m thinking what we can’t drink? It wasn’t any like that what he meant was we were rowdy bunch compare to yester years of his days. Funny guy forgot his name he’s been in the business for a long time.
Cleanliness: Grade B+, some areas needs work but not a big deal.
Eats/​Drinks: 5 bottles of Peroni beers, 3 bottles Stella Artois, 3 shots Johnny Walker. Finger food wings and bites. I will not disclose the price here out of respect.
Products/​Services: Social club, events, special occasions, bar, full kitchen, weddings, baby showers, graduations, anniversaries, sports/​health, neighborhood get togethers, emergency meetings.
Punch Line: Located in heart of little Italy, comical staff, nice/​quiet lounge area, handicap accessible, great cookouts, inviting atmosphere, full bar, step out patio, spacious.
Tradeoffs: Great place to get away from all the noise and tourist nearby, unwind here. (Membership required).
Final Thoughts: I came here in my younger years back in the early 90’s. Things have not change that much. Only new technology and gadgets incorporates the place other than those moves it’s pretty much the same keeping it real. Lastly never occur in the past but I’ve been here 3 times in this month of June already starting with the 5K walk/​run event, funeral for Lorenzo of North Beach Restaurant, and today’s North Beach Festival 2014. Things are looking up maybe I should come more often when ever I’m in area for an hour or so, recollect my thoughts.

I started taking Italian classes at the SFIAC a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Convivial atmosphere and you could take a drink into the class with you — which always helped me speak better. I actually became a member of the club from going there and as member, I also get a break on the price of classes — which are the best around to begin with.
I am back taking a class this fall and have enjoyed lessons from both teachers, Lisa and Kelly. It’s fun taking Italian in North Beach. You should check it out.

This is one of the few places left in San Francisco’s «Little Italy» where you can still hear Italian being spoken. Of course, it’s mostly the more senior member who speak Italian on a regular basis, but it’s nice to hear. They also have an award-​winning Italian language program, so I guess there’s hope for the future as well.
The facilities are well-​maintained, and other than a few scattered board and committee meetings, the place is usually jumping with fun activities. They regularly have public events that spill out onto the street, like their «Statuto Race» in June and their «Festa Coloniale Italiana» in August. Their monthly «Stag Dinner» is always a blast, but because it is a membership organization restricted for Italian men, not everyone can join that activity. But even with the membership restriction, there are lots of community events held there, and it’s not uncommon to see non-​Italians and non-​males enjoying a drink at the bar, or a great meal served up by their chef and General Manager, Paul Alioto, who is a legend in the Italian community.
All in all, this is a great place in a great neighborhood. If you come to North Beach to take in the essence of Little Italy, this nearly century-​old club is the place to go.

Great staff and service. A wonderful location. Stag dinners are always fantastic there. Seems like a great place to host an event!

There are men that sit outside and regulate the parking in front of their business. They were rude, and reminded me of the Soprano’s lol. Anyways, beware when parking in front of this place.

I had my wedding reception at the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club this fall. Everything turned out FANTASTICALLY!
Our entrees were the Braised Beef Short Ribs, Tuscan Marinated Half-​Chicken al Pattone, and Eggplant Canelloni (our own recipe!) I can’t say enough about how wonderful it was to work with such a flexible venue… I mean, what catering chef is willing to create a vegetarian based on MY recipe? They also worked with the local baker to create a special dessert that was important to my husband and me.
From what I’ve heard from the guests, the food was delicious and the staff (waitstaff and bartenders) were fantastic. Paul was always very accomodating and Teresa responded promptly to e-​mail.
The ballroom doesn’t look like much with the bingo-​hall style chairs, but some uplights and chiavari chairs make all the difference… And with the reasonable rates at the club, you still come out WELL ahead of most venues. AND you’re right in North Beach!
The upstairs Parkview Room is gorgeous and is included for a bridal dressing room on your wedding day. It’s huge, with lots of mirrors, a view of the park and church, and lots of natural light. (It would make a great venue for a smaller gathering!)
One thing: There was some turnover during my wedding planning process, which led to me being worried that things wouldn’t be done correctly or on the timeline I wanted. (I like to plan ahead!) BUT, everything turned out in the end. Basically, I got booked, entrees selected, etc… And then was put on hold until about three months out. A little stressful for me, but when it came within three months, I couldn’t have asked for more attentive help.
Thanks a million to Teresa, Paul, Chef, and all of the staff for such an amazing evening!

We came to this place for a holiday party just for my group in my firm. It was a pretty good place to be honest. We went upstairs to their banquet room and it fit the 40ish of us comfortably. They provdied us with salads, wine and bread. It was nice.
The bartender was not as good. He made the drinks super strong, which was a good thing, but it was a bit TOO strong. In addition, he didn’t seem to want to be there.
It was a good place to drink and eat with friends.

I highly recommend having your wedding here, I just got married in August 2009. Tony Holder was an absolute pleasure to work with and let me do whatever I wanted for my wedding day. The food was fabulous, the location unbeatable, and the staff really really nice.

We recently held an event here in the upstairs «Presidents Room» to celebrate our parents’ 50^th wedding anniversary. The space has an outdoor terrace with a view of Washington Square, and Sts. Peter and Paul Church, where my parents were married, so it was an obvious choice for our daytime event. It was the perfect size for an intimate gathering of 55 guests. Tony was very accommodating, and saw to it that we had everything we needed for our event. The food was great, and so was the service, and all at a bargain price. We would definitely consider using the venue again.

I grew up in a big Italian family and remember going to many events put on by the local Italian organization and loved it. When I moved to SF my roommate was 4 generations in to the SFIAC and had me tag along one night an event– outstanding.
They rent out the facilities for events and are great if you need a space in NB– they really work hard to make everything work for you.
Member events and the bar is where it is. Not an upscale or even a hip bar but exactly what you need for a great drink with some good friends– need to have a member with you to get in.
If you are a guy that is at least half Italian I strongly suggest you look into this club.

I was a little disappointed with the lack of character this space has. It needs updates and a lot more flavor to impress me. The location is convenient and prime. The space is large and has a lot of potential.
Luckily the night I came here was for an Olympic Club Rugby event, which means good company and lots of laughs. This way I was not focused on the unattractive room with an old bar that has no style.
The service and food was good. The floors were extremely slippery. I had to shuffle my heals along to prevent an embarrassing fall. But all in all, I enjoyed my time based on people, hilarious speeches, simple but good food, and cant go wrong with the kettle sodas!
If the room were empty here it would be a drag and hard to image a warm fuzzy feeling. Come on Italians… I know you have style! Let’s see it!

I had no idea when I was in for when I got Italian classes at the SF Italian Athletic Club as a birthday gift. See I’m going to Italy next year so I’m obsessed with all things Italian. Stepping into The Club for classes is another world and I love it.
This is a little known secret but taking a language class here gets you access to the full amenties of The Club, including the bar in the «forbidden zone,» aka the part of the building you apparently can’t get to if you’re attending, say, a banquet on the premises. Study groups for the class meet in the bar ahead of time, and I can’t think of a better way to prepare for Italian class than with a Campari spritz or something of that sort.

I’m not in their club (despite what you may think, I’m not an old Italian man), but I’ve been to a few parties here. It’s a rent-​a-​hall most of the time, and it’s hard to figure out what, if anything, «athletic» actually goes on.
It is, however, the venue for some of the neighborhood association dinners. Especially when there’s a contentious issue being voted on. Then you pay $ 40/​head for a rubber chicken dinner (the catering is AWFUL) and have some cocktails, and there is some heated discussion about «jurisdiction» and «disenfranchisement» and then there’s a formal vote (consistent with the bylaws, of course) and you adjourn to dancing to the swinging sounds of Mel Sharpe and his big-​band band. And if you think I’m being facetious, you’ve got another think coming. You haven’t lived until you’ve partied with the over-​50 crowd on Telegraph Hill.
There is some attempt made at «ballroom» styling, but the interior architecture is decidedly 50’s-ugly. Full service bar.

While I consider myself athletic, I’m not Italian, so I’ve always felt a little scared to go into here. Though, I really never before had a reason to anyway. I’m not sure how much the actual club uses the place, but with the money they must make renting it out in its prime location, they probably spend a lot of time partying somewhere else. The opening act of the North Beach Jazz Festival was held here so headed over and for a musical act venue, it sounded great. Awesome classic ceiling architechture and nice chandaliers. I’m not sure how much it is to rent the place out for gathering, but if you need to gather 500 or so people together, this might fit your needs. Big bar in the back.

Been going all my life, cash only, members only (my dad), cheap booze. You’ll find only old men at this joint and sometimes their wifes on Sundays. Cool patio over looking Washington Park in the heart of north beach. The «athletic» part is the gym in the way back you can’t see and that no one uses.