Swan Oyster Depot first opened its doors in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century , founded by the Lausten family , who were immigrants from Denmark . The shop , at a venue a few doors away from the current 1517 Polk Street address , started as a purveyor of shellfish that was brought into Fisherman 's Wharf each morning at dawn by local fishermen who fished the San Francisco Bay and the Monterey Bay . The shop was located on Polk Street in San Francisco in the Polk Gulch neighborhood . After the devastating 1906 earthquake leveled much of San Francisco , Swan suffered the same fate as many other businesses after the Army Corps of Engineers dynamited everything from City Hall to Fisherman 's Wharf to stop the fire from spreading . With their business gone , the Laustens made a name for themselves in the devastated post-earthquake community by bringing wheat to Golden Gate Park and handing it out to people so that they could make bread
1906 earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Swan Oyster Depot