Vesuvio Café
Unfinished History
Vesuvio's on Columbus Avenue
Photo: Chris Carlsson
At the peak of the Beat craze Henry Lenoir, proprietor of Vesuvio's and other North Beach drinking establishments placed a sign up in the window of his bar that said: 'Dont envy beatniks ... Be one!' For the benefit of the tourists and the wanna-be's, Lenoir sold a Beatnik Kit that included black-rimmed eyeglasses, a beret, a pair of sandals, a turtle-neck sweater (black), and a slip-on beard.