Pedro is more than a card game—it's a living piece of Italian-American cultural heritage in San Francisco. Born from 1920s garage gatherings in the Excelsior District, the game became the social glue that bound immigrant communities together, eventually inspiring the formation of the Italian American Social Club in 1935.
Pedro developed in Denver, Colorado around 1885 as a variation of Auction Pitch, itself descended from the English game All Fours (first documented in 1674). By 1900, Pedro rivaled Whist and Euchre as America's most popular serious card game before auction bridge eclipsed it.
The name "Pedro" refers to the five of trumps—worth five points and central to strategy. What makes Pedro fascinating for Italian-American communities is that despite American origins, the game developed a distinctly "Italian variation" in California.
Monterey County players use a modified scoring system where the Queen of trumps counts 3 points(zero in standard Pedro), bringing each hand to 16 points rather than 14, with games played to91 points instead of 62. This adaptation suggests Italian-American players modified the game to suit local preferences, possibly influenced by point-counting traditions from Briscola and other Italian trick-taking games they knew from the old country.
Italian settlement in the Excelsior predates even San Francisco's famous 1906 earthquake. Italian farmers—Il Giardinieri (gardeners) from Liguria, Tuscany, and other regions—were cultivating the area as early as the 1860s, growing lettuce, cabbage, and artichokes for the Colombo produce market downtown.
By 1910, 1,200 Italian truck farmers worked 8,000 acres along San Francisco's southern border. The 1906 disaster accelerated growth as displaced families sought homes in outlying areas untouched by fire.
Historian Rose Doris Scherini wrote in 1976 that "next to North Beach, the Excelsior has probably maintained itself as an Italian district more than any other."
The Granada Cafe stood at 4753 Mission Street in the Excelsior District. Giovanni "John" Sambuceti, born February 9, 1916, emigrated from Italy to San Francisco in 1934 and initially worked for his brother Domenico at the cafe before becoming its proprietor.
The Sambuceti family originated from the Province of Genova in Liguria—the same northern Italian region that sent fishermen to San Francisco's Wharf beginning in the 1870s.
"We can only imagine the card games that'll be going on now...you're up there with some of the best Mo, Til, Billy, Tom, Dave, Archie, Charlie to name a few."
— From John Sambuceti's obituary guestbook
San Francisco Heritage lists the Granada Cafe among Italian establishments "known citywide into the 2010s." The cafe closed around 2014-2015; the building now houses Henry's Hunan restaurant.
By the 1920s, many Italian-American men—mostly first- or second-generation immigrants—gathered in garages throughout the Excelsior to drink wine, eat cheese, and play a card game called Pedro. These informal gatherings created a powerful social bond.
Then, in 1935, the Italian-American Social Club (IASC) was born from a merger of three smaller organizations—the Aurora Club, Alfieri Club, and Fiorvanti Club—created primarily for social activities.
Its early days focused on cards, pool, and bocce before transitioning to hosting family functions like wedding banquets. The club at 25 Russia Avenue joined the San Francisco Legacy Business Registry in 2021, recognizing its historical role.
Sociologist Phylis Martinelli documented Excelsior's Italian community in the 1970s, describing "villagers" who were "dependent on each other for mutual aid and sharing." The smell of fermenting grapes from backyard wine-making operations remained a common neighborhood memory. Card playing represented one strand in this tightly woven social fabric—a tradition that bound families, neighbors, and generations together.
Charles Stuhr (February 16, 1923 – February 9, 2014) was a San Francisco attorney whose obituary describes him as"a master of the San Francisco card game, Pedro, and wrote a book that has been used as a guide by many players!"
Born in Yakima, Washington, Stuhr attended Gonzaga University on a basketball scholarship before V12 Marine Corps training during World War II. He served in Guam and China, earned his law degree from the University of San Francisco in 1949, and practiced law on Mission Street for 54 years.
This geography matters: Mission Street runs through the heart of the Italian-American Excelsior, placing Stuhr at the center of Pedro-playing culture. The timing of his 1983 rulebook suggests documentation of a tradition under threat.
By the 1980s, the Italian exodus to suburbs was well underway. Stuhr took it upon himself to codify oral rules that had governed informal games for decades. His acknowledgment of John Sambuceti as "best pedro player on Mission Street" places the Granada Cafe at the tradition's heart.
Digital platforms extend the tradition. Board Game Arena offers "California Pedro" as a default setting with active player groups. The Pidro app connects worldwide players, drawing from Louisiana's Cajun communities (where Pedro is played "almost to the exclusion of other card games" in certain parishes) and Finland's Swedish-speaking Österbotten region, where the game is called "Pidro" and has its own championship tournaments.
No formal preservation society exists specifically for San Francisco Pedro. The Italian American Social Club's Legacy Business designation represents the closest official recognition. The game's survival depends on senior center programs, family transmission, and online communities rather than institutional efforts.
Pedro represents more than a card game—it's a bridge between generations, a connection to Italian heritage, and a testament to the power of community. From 1920s garage gatherings to modern online platforms, the game has survived and adapted, carrying with it the spirit of San Francisco's Italian-American neighborhoods.
Every hand played today honors the memory of those who gathered at the Granada Cafe, in the Italian American Social Club, and in countless homes throughout the Excelsior. It's a tradition worth preserving, worth playing, and worth passing on to the next generation.