49ers-favored tavern in Menlo Park set for full house on Super Bowl Sunday
MENLO PARK -- For 58 years, people have made special memories at the Dutch Goose sports bar and restaurant in Menlo Park. That trend will continue when the 49ers take on the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.
"It'll be pretty special this year," said Sean Baker, a regular customer.
Baker and Christian Oliver have been coming to the Dutch Goose since they were kids in the 1970s. They're still regulars and have welcomed new regulars like Linda Shinshiro.
A few years ago, Baker and Oliver say, it was pretty normal to see 49ers royalty at the Dutch Goose.
"Back in the day, it wasn't uncommon to see everyone among us – Joe Montana, Roger Craig, Jerry Rice – they'd be at my gym, they'd be at the Dutch Goose," Baker said. "They were a part of the community back then."
Oliver remembers an encounter with a big time player at the Dutch Goose from his childhood.
"Randy Cross. He was our guard blocking for Joe (Montana). He went up to my dad and was like, 'let me take him around and introduce him to the guys.' I got about 20 autographs and got to meet everyone through big Randy," Oliver said.
Greg Stern, who now owns the place, also grew up going to the Dutch Goose. He showed off a special corner of the dining room devoted to 49ers memorabilia.
"This is the 49er corner here, a little bang-bang-Niner action there," he said.
Standing there, looking at photos of Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Bill Walsh and Steve Young, Stern taps into good memories.
"A lot of the greats have come in here. Bill Walsh has come in here, Montana, Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig has been wonderful. Jim Plunkett," he said. "Some of my childhood memories are watching these guys come into town and really give back what they've received in life. Not because they're looking for clicks but because they could and they felt it was the right thing to do."
The 49ers folklore is an important part of the Dutch Goose story.
"I haven't been coming here as long as everybody else but all the stories of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott coming in -- that's just special," Shinshiro said. "This place is our community -- it's my community, I live three blocks away. Half the people who come here live within a six-block radius. It's just a great sense of community at this bar."
A community that'll come together for another chapter of Dutch Goose history which may well include another 49ers Super Bowl victory. According to Stern, some people made reservations to watch the Super Bowl at the Dutch Goose a year in advance.