Guido’s Restaurant

I haven’t lived in Marin for many years now, but back when I did, Guido’s was a regular stop for lunch and dinner. Back then it was owned by Andy Scopazzi, who I believe subsequently has turned the reins over to his nephew who was an assistant there for years.
Over the years I believe I had everything on the menu — my favorites being the veal saltimbocca, the fettucini alfredo, and the chicken picatta. The service was always wonderful, as is the environment. It was one of the original ‘no-​smoking’ restaurants, before the ban. There was also a no-​furs policy, Andy is a great animal lover. He has his own ranch– a vast number of vegetables in the cooking come from there. The French breakfast radishes were stunningly good. I could eat a bushel.
Turns out I ate there my first night in town (I had just started at a little start-​up company that had been purchased by Steve Jobs from George Lucas). Lo and behold, Mr Lucas was sitting at the counter and about ¹⁄₃ of Santanna was sitting at the round table in the window. Welcome to Marin.
The night of the ’89 Loma Prieta earthquake he was open, cooking over gas, with candle lit tables. A whole bunch of regulars, we all hung out and swapped stories (Luckily, Marin was largely unfazed). The food was at its best that night.
If his nephew has maintained the quality (and I have no reason to believe otherwise… he frequently ‘subbed’ when Andy was out of town and the food was every bit as good) then you can’t go wrong. An institution in San Rafael.