The Buena Vista — Home of the World’s First Irish Coffee

The original building where the Buena Vista sits today at the corner of Hyde and Beach streets was a boardinghouse until 1916 when the landlord converted the first floor into a saloon. That saloon was named the Buena Vista. (“Good View” in Spanish) and it served as a warm meeting place for hundreds of fishermen and handlers who worked for the nearby Sardine Cannery.

At Buena Vista, they could take in a whiskey while scouting the bay for incoming fishing boats. In 1952, with the help of a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer, the Buena Vista introduced to the world it’s now famous Irish Coffee. Read on…