This building is a rare mix of Storybook and Art Deco styles. The Storybook style evoked picturesque, aging European buildings. In San Francisco, the style lasted only a few years, roughly from 1930 to 1935 and was mostly limited to the Sunset District.

While North Beach is the best-known center of Italian-American life in San Francisco, the Excelsior District has an Italian connection almost as old, dating to the 1850s. Farmers grew lettuce, cabbage and artichokes and raised dairy cattle and hogs.

Royal Baking Company moved from North Beach to the Excelsior district. The bakery supplied bread to restaurants across San Francisco and Daly City and sold baked goods to local customers at the Mission Street storefront.

In the 1970s, when Latinos and Filipinos became predominant in the neighborhood, the Royal Baking Company continued to be an island of Italian culture, offering grissini, panettone, buccellato, focaccia, and Italians cookies. French and Italian breads.

Source: Adapted from San Francisco Landmark Designation Application for Royal Baking Company Buildings, 15 December 2020.