Salvatore Amarena

Salvatore "Sal" Amarena was one of the last remaining associates of the San Francisco crime family. He was a well known operator of bars and restaurants in Louisiana, Alabama and later the San Francisco Bay Area.

Amarena was born in New York City in 1920. In 1946, he moved to Tampa and became an associate of the Tampa Mob. In 1951, he was arrested for illegal gambling in a bar he owned in Alabama. He was arrested for the same charge in a bar he owned in Louisiana just four years later. Amarena also reportedly owned a restaurant in Cuba that was frequented by Santo Trafficante, Jr. and Fidel Castro. In 1959, Amarena sponsored the wedding and reception of Trafficante's daughter.

He moved to San Francisco and opened a coffee shop called Sal's Espresso Cafe in 1972. It became a hangout spot for L.A. mobster Aladena Fratianno and his small crew of hoods during the 1970's. Amarena dealt in stolen weapons, bookmaking and narcotics.

Amarena was a very powerful gangster with ties to many made members in the Tampa, New Orleans, L.A. and San Francisco families, but he was never made in any crime family of La Cosa Nostra. Amarena died of a heart attack on June 1, 1986 at the age of 65.