November 16, 2025 By Joe Bonadio Sausage is a truly wonderful thing. If you doubt this for even a moment, consider just how prevalent sausage is in world cuisine. With no exaggeration, the stuff is everywhere. The Chinese have their Lop Cheong, and the Polish their Kielbasa; the English prefer Bangers, while folks in Latin America go in for Chorizo. The Germans are partial to their many varieties of Wurst, and of course the Italians are known to love their Salsiccia. Meanwhile, the French enthusiasm for sausage is unrivaled, with Gallic chefs contributing Boudin, Andouille, Saucisson and Merguez––and that’s just for starters. And we can’t forget the Americans, whose love for the hot dog is legendary; we consume 20 billion hot dogs a year here, or about 818 every second. As you might imagine, North Beach is a pretty good place to find sausage. But one thing you can’t find in this neighborhood is a preparation that has become a rarity in recent years: seafood sausage. That is, until now: starting this month, Sotto Mare’s very own house-made seafood sausage hits the menu. Over the last eighteen years, Sotto Mare has been serving the freshest, most well-prepared seafood in the city. They also sell all of their fresh seafood out the door, and they’ve been functioning as the neighborhood’s best fish market since the day they opened. So it should come as no surprise that they chose to tackle this recipe. Longtime owner Richie Azzolino is the holder of many secret recipes: the formula for his Cioppino, the most popular in San Francisco, originally came from his Nonna’s kitchen. Now, it’s not every day that Sotto Mare makes even the smallest change to its menu. So earlier this week, I sat down with Rich to talk about all the latest at his remarkable restaurant. Lightly edited for clarity, our conversation is below. Joe Bonadio (JB): So Richie, Sotto Mare is officially 18 years old. Rich Azzolino (RA): Yep, tomorrow we turn 18. JB: You’re finally legal! How’s it feel to be at the helm of one of San Francisco’s restaurant institutions? RA: Well you know, it was a dream that we had, to create a restaurant like they have in Italy. I grew up in the restaurant business, and my dad was very successful. And to be as successful as we are here at Sotto Mare.…it’s satisfying. My wife and I, my family and my crew that works here, we’re all one big family. And I think that’s why we’re successful. JB: You can definitely feel that when you’re here. Now in its 18th year, Sotto Mare is a magnet for San Francisco seafood lovers. | Photo: Joe Bonadio RA: We respect everybody, and we work hard to put out the best food we can. Sometimes I think we don’t even realize how well-known we really are. Everybody tells us we’re an institution, and I guess after 18 years, we qualify. And we’re looking forward to being here for as long as we possibly can. JB: You know the neighborhood wouldn’t have it any other way. RA: Well, I’m hoping that my daughter and my son take over. But my wife and I will never go away! Hell, even if the kids took over, I’m sure we’d be out here two days a week just to say hello to everybody. I don’t know if I could live without them. I love this place–it’s my house, and I welcome everybody into our house as partof the family. That’s just how it is when you come to eat here at Sotto Mare. JB: That’s how it feels, too. That’s one of the reasons that I always love to come here, because I feel like I’m going to see my family. RA: I love that. JB: So Rich, needless to say we’ve been through a lot over this past five years. And there are a lot of positive signs at this point, but the city’s comeback has been pretty slow. What are your thoughts on it? RA: Well first of all, we’re here in North Beach, and I think we’re doing better than most parts of the city. Maybe that’s because North Beach was a great neighborhood to begin with. Not only are we in the greatest city of the world, this is the greatest little district anywhere. There’s nothing else like it. And it’s the people that work and live here who are behind that success. JB: A lot of people don’t realize that your whole family was born and raised in this neighborhood. Sotto Mare sits just steps away from Columbus Avenue and Green Street, the de facto center of North Beach. | Photo: Joe Bonadio RA: That’s right, both my wife and I were born and raised right here–about three blocks from where the restaurant is today. We’re both 73 years old, and we haven’t left. We’re like Safeway carts: we hit the yellow line, and our knees lock up and they won’t let us out! But it’s been terrific. When I sit out in front, it’s like a club. So many people come by to say hello, and we’ll have a little glass of wine. People who’ve been our friends since childhood, or since high school, all the way to friends that we’ve made here. Retired firemen, policemen. And they always say, Richie, when are you gonna retire? I tell them the same thing every time: I retired a long time ago, way before you guys. Now I’m just having fun, and hopefully making a couple dollars. JB: Looking around at all these people, I would say that’s probably the case. (Laughter) RA: But I have to say, the state of the restaurant business in San Francisco is sort of dismal. Every day I pick up the paper and there’s another restaurant closing. Michelin-rated restaurant, been here for 20 years, now they’re closing. Especially in the financial district, it isn’t nearly as populated as it used to be. It’s hurt a lot of the restaurants, and any businesses having to do with food or retail. It’s going to be up to the new mayor to change that, and hopefully he’s on the right track to rejuvenate things, and get some better press out there. I think we’re a clean city, and while we have problems, it’s mostly in the same neighborhood where we’ve had problems for the last hundred years. Sotto Mare is just a five minute walk away from Washington Square Park and the stately Saints Peter & Paul Church. | Photo: Joe Bonadio JB: The Tenderloin. RA: The Tenderloin. And it’s concentrated there–if you go anywhere else in the city, you don’t know anything about it. We’ve got to get the news people to start showing all the other districts of the city, and stop focusing on the few bad spots. It’s been cleaned up a little bit, and they’ll be cleaning it up more. Because we really need to get the conventions back to Moscone Center, and get some help to all those restaurants down there, and across the city. JB: Rich, you’ve said before that your job here is to keep the quality high, and to make it easy for the people in your kitchen and on the floor. RA: Because that makes your customers happy, so that everybody in the place is happy all the time. You keep spirits up! JB: For that reason, you’ve rarely changed the menu in the past. But I understand you’re going to be bringing something new onto the menu. RA: Yeah, we’re gonna do something new–but it’s not going to be challenging for the kitchen. It’s gonna be right in their wheelhouse, in fact. We’re going to be making fresh house-made seafood sausages. JB: Great. Tell us about the dish. RA: The sausages will be stuffed with the freshest white fish, shrimp, clams, maybe some crab. We’ve been tweaking the recipe, and it’s going to be a real seafood sausage. They’ll be done on the griddle, and served with a lemon butter caper sauce, or another sauce if you want. It’s something that I’ve had the recipe for for some time, and I’m finally getting around to it. JB: I’ve never heard of it. Where’d you get this idea? RA: Well, I was gifted this recipe, from the Alioto family actually. Nunzio Alioto in particular was a great friend who ran Alioto’s #8 with his cousin Joey, also a great guy. They’re all retired now. Nunzio came to me one day and said Richie, do me one favor. Can you keep the seafood sausages going? So I said, show me how to do it. JB: That’s cool. When was the last time the Aliotos were making those? RA: Oh, that was pre-covid. No one is making them anymore, so Sotto Mare will be the only place you can get them. And they’re delicious. JB: Personally, I can’t wait. And you have something else in store. RA: Yes. Something people have been asking for forever: we’re going to add a Caesar salad. JB: Wow. You’ve never served a Caesar here before? RA: Not until now. We’re going to do it with my personal Caesar dressing, which is a little more tangy than most. You’re going to be able to get it with or without anchovies and add crab, shrimp or smoked salmon if you like. JB: I love a good Caesar’s salad, so I look forward to that. Richie, thank you again for taking the time. RA: My pleasure! . Sotto Mare 552 Green Street San Francisco, CA 94133 (415) 398-3181 sottomaresf.com .