When one thinks of the Italian mafia, they usually think about New York, New Jersey or Chicago. Their secondary thoughts then become Philadelphia, Miami or New Orleans. San Francisco is the last place that your average mob fanatic would think about. As for me, growing up where Tony Bendetto (Bennett) left his heart, I've had my brushes with mob characters. My grandfather worked for an Italian restaurant in the Fisherman's Wharf area as an all around kitchen aid that was own by some local mobsters and happened to be right alongside a famous Italian eatery, Aliotos. My brother and I use to go down there with my mom to visit my grandfather where, at certain times, he would be working the stands outside and we'd get our free crab cocktail. This was in the early 80s and right before I got into high school. I remember a lot of shady looking characters that just hung around outside chain smoking. I remember one afternoon that I showed up, my grandfather introduced me to some of his co-workers and a guy that he called one of the owners of the restaurant. My grandfather introduced him to me as Mr. Lanza. For a long time, I searched Wikipedia and never came up with anything on him. I found one site that stated he was one of the recognized bosses of the mob here in SF. Anyone here know the history of the SF Mob?

Welcome, Shake!
You'll find an account of the SF Mafia, and your Messrs. Lanza, here:
http://www.americanmafia.com/Cities/San_Francisco.html

Welcome, im sure you will find all you need about the mafia in this section..

Speaking of Mob memories: my grandfather on my father's side drove a truck in the Fulton Fish Market during the Twenties. He also bred Pomeranian dogs, which were a great fad among gangsters at the time. One of the customers who came to his home to buy a dog was Joseph (Socks) Lanza, the Mafia boss of the docks at that time.

When I was a kid, I had an after-school job working in a candy store on Saratoga and Livonia Avenues in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. That candy store had been the headquarters of Murder Inc. in the Thirties, but neither the owners nor I knew it at the time.