Ruben Medina

Ruben Medina Well-loved San Francisco restaurateur and bon vivant, died of natural causes June 15, 2008. Born Nov. 15, 1927 in Los Angeles, CA, he worked in Hollywood as a puppeteer for Beany and Cecil; he was the lion. Arriving in San Francisco in the 1950s, he opened a one of a kind Mexican restaurant on Union St. with his chef partner. Los Gallos catered to the "ladies who lunch" set of San Francisco society and Ruben's attentive style accompanied him throughout his restaurant career. He went on to open the Spaghetti Factory kitchen with Freddie Kuh in North Beach, hosted at Julius' Castle with well-known artist model Flo Allen. His good friends at the time included Sally Stanford, who he referred to as Marsha, her real name, and Maya Angelou, who was a North Beach resident at the time. Ruben's twilight years of restaurateuring were spent at Pier 23 Café, where he was well known for his salty yet gentle approach to the lunch crowd. His memorial will be at Pier 23 Café, Monday, September 8, 2008, 5-8pm.