Explore Point Richmond & Greater Richmond
IN POINT RICHMOND Hotel
HISTORY
A PEEK BEHIND THE BRICK WALLS OF HOTEL MAC
TThey say that a restaurant has to stay in business for
by Matt Larson
about 2 years or so until one can really judge if it’s a
successful establishment or not. Hotel Mac in Point
Richmond has been in business since 1911, and it’s still
a West County staple more than 100 years later.
Many of Pixar’s earliest business meetings were
conducted here at Hotel Mac, as Richmond is the
birthplace of that revolutionary company. Over the years
guests like Hunter S. Thompson and the Hell’s Angels
have frequented the establishment, and they were even
acclaimed by restaurant critic Duncan Hines as being:
One of the exceptional dining establishments in the
country.
“Back in the ‘80s we were one of the top 10 restaurants
in the Bay Area,” said Chef and General Manager Jaime
Molina. “This little town used to be like a pit stop on
the way to Oakland—now there’s a freeway where there
used to be a boulevard—but the only restaurant in this
town was us, back in the early years.”
Hotel Mac was first known as the Colonial Hotel when
it was initially constructed, at the cost of only $25,000,
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by a young Irish immigrant named Kate Riordan; and
in the early 1900s most of its clientele was comprised of
Standard Oil employees. It was renamed to Hotel Mac
in the 1930s after it was purchased by M.V. McAfee, a
former manager of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New
York, and who was at the time managing the Claremont
Hotel in Berkeley.
As its name suggests, Hotel Mac does also serve as a
hotel, in addition to a restaurant, and banquet hall.
“We’re known for great prime rib, our service, and
a well-stocked bar,” Jaime said. “We have a very
continental menu—from rack of lamb to fish tacos;
pastas; my version of Hotel Mac paella which has
appeared in local newspapers; and again, we’ve been
known for our prime rib since the day we opened.”
Hotel Mac has been through a lot, and was actually
mostly destroyed from a fire in 1971. A few loyal fans of
the famed establishment actually formed a corporation
to reopen the three-story Hotel Mac as a fine dining
restaurant, and they went through great lengths to
restore it as closely to its original state as possible.