Fifty years is an anniversary that almost did not happen for The Sausage Factory. "Recently the restaurant came on hard times," said owner Mario Azzolino. The restaurant in San Francisco's Castro District opened in 1968, on the site of an old sausage factory. Mario's uncle, Tony Azzolino, started working there in 1972 as a prep cook. He eventually moved his way up and in 1979 he bought the business and a few years later he purchased the entire building.

But last year, the elder Azzolino decided to retired and put everything up for sale. Customers feared developers would gobble up the prime real estate, close the restaurant and tear down the building, which was built in the mid 1880s. But Tony Azzolino's nephew stepped in. He talked his uncle into letting him take over the restaurant.