After 20 years, Izzy’s on the Peninsula is closing its doors. The beloved second location of Izzy’s Steaks & Chops will serve its final dinner on October 4, 2025. This steakhouse has long embodied old-school Bay Area steakhouse charm, and its impending closure is drawing sadness from longtime patrons.
Opened in 2005, Izzy’s on the Peninsula was an extension of the original Izzy’s Steaks & Chops in San Francisco’s Marina District, which dates to 1987. The original founder was Sam DuVall, who named it after the Portuguese-born bootlegger Izzy Gomes, a colorful figure from San Francisco’s Prohibition era. That heritage of smoky, cozy, vivacious steakhouse décor and hearty food held strong.
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Menu staples at the San Carlos location included prime rib (10-ounce cuts), creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, pork chops and strip steaks, the sort of unabashed classics people come for when they want serious steak and old-school hospitality.
In 2023, the San Carlos spot underwent a remodel, closing for a period and reopening in January 2024. The flagship Marina location also closed later in 2023 for its own renovation and re-opened in February 2025 with updated interiors, a refreshed menu (led by Chef Daniel Lucero) and renewed attention to both aesthetic and culinary details.
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Owner and managing partner Samantha Bechtel (daughter of DuVall) has called the decision difficult, and emphasized pride in what was built on the Peninsula—thousands of meals, special moments and a loyal team. She is turning full attention now to preserving and growing the San Francisco flagship, which remains open.
For many in the Peninsula community, Izzy’s closing will be more than just the loss of a steakhouse—it’s the end of an era. A place where birthdays were celebrated over thick cuts of meat, where familiarity was part of the comfort and where decades of service created a ritual for locals. It’s common these days for beloved neighborhood institutions to disappear; Izzy’s closure underlines how spaces of shared culinary memory are fragile, even when steeped in rich history.