I came across this interesting mental_floss article “The First U.S. Restaurants to Serve 8 Foreign Cuisines” to wit: French, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese and Ethiopian.
Interesting that Denver gets credit for the first Thai restaurant in the U. S. and Long Beach for Ethiopian.
Other than Macao and Woosung, which is sometimes disputed (the restaurant, not the City) as the first Chinese restaurant in town, what are the firsts for the other cuisines?
Note that Fior d’Italia claims to be the oldest (not the first) Italian restaurant in the US. Was it the first in San Francisco?
Was Cordon Bleu the first Vietnamese restaurant in SF? The Poodle Dog the first French?
What was the first Japanese, Thai, Ethiopian, Greek?
I find it interesting to look back to 1962 when I first hit town and realize there were no Thai or Vietnamese restaurants in town but a host of Filipino restaurants and cafes, including 8 or ten on Kearny St.