Corsagna Deli, the family-run sandwich shop that has anchored Union Street in Cow Hollow for 46 years, will serve its last panini on Friday, October 2. The closure comes after nearly half a century of the same family slicing salami and mortadella behind the same counter.
A Storefront That Outlasted the Neighborhood Around It
The shop announced its final day of service on Instagram, a move first reported by Tablehopper, according to SFGATE. CBS News also reported that the deli would close after 46 years. The address, 1668 Union St., has a history that stretches back even further than the deli itself.
The wood-frame building was completed in December 1950 by contractor Leo Dal Bon, and through the 1950s it housed Theodore Pezzolo's school of music; the Accordion House sign came down in 1961, per San Francisco Story. Decades later, manager Angie Denardo's grandfather, Egidio Giampaoli, took over the space and opened an Italian bakery, according to the same SFGATE report.
From Bakery to Deli, Run by Three Generations
The bakery became a delicatessen in 1980, when Denardo's mother, Elvira Giampaoli, left her corporate job at Bank of America to meet growing customer demand for sandwiches while gaining more flexible hours, the outlet's report states. Sister managers Angie Denardo and Paola Berdichevsky grew up behind that same counter as children and kept the weekday-only shop running into adulthood as they raised their own families.
That weekday, daytime-only schedule gave the family a measure of flexibility, the report notes. Along the way, Corsagna built a loyal following around dishes like the pesto chicken panini and the Mr. Italiano, stacked with salami, coppa, mortadella, and provolone.
Why the Family Says Now Is the Time
Denardo described the decision to close as the result of a “perfect storm” of life changes, per the same account — children heading off to college, a shifting neighborhood clientele, broader economic pressures, and high operating costs in San Francisco all converging at once. The decision comes after 46 years of service.
Cow Hollow's Changing Commercial Corridor
Corsagna is not the only longtime fixture disappearing from the neighborhood. Sherman Market, a 39-year-old corner store on nearby Franklin Street, closed this past spring, according to a blog post from Colleen Cotter. Historic corner shops along Union Street are increasingly giving way to newer retail and dining concepts, the post notes.
For now, the Giampaoli family's plan is simple: keep serving the Mr. Italiano and the pesto chicken panini through October 2, then close the doors on a storefront that has fed Cow Hollow since long before most of its current customers were born.
