Whatever Happened to Manuel’s?

This recently acquired San Diego slide from March 1958 baffled me, as I didn’t recognize this building which according to Google was located in Old Town State Park. The historic landmark sign refers to it as Casa de Pedrorena, and the neon sign to the right says “Manuel’s Restaurante.”



Doing an address search, I discovered I had photographed the building! However, it looks nothing like the structure in the 1958 slide. No adobe wall in front, no awning, and no red roof.



Scouring eBay, I found this vintage postcard which matched the 1958 slide:



This photo postcard with a notation from 1962 shows the patio of Manuel’s:



An interior view:



Want to see the menu and prices? Get ready to faint. Here you go:



I love the “Comidas al Gringo” section, which basically translates to “Food for the Americans who should probably be dining elsewhere.” At least that’s my translation. Back in the day, free souvenir matchbooks were part of doing 



Apparently Manuel’s sponsored a map of Old San Diego:





Back to present day, this plaque on a rock sits on front of Casa de Pedrorena de Altamirano:



Miguel Pedrorena Jr. built this adobe structure in 1869. It was the final adobe built in Old Town. In January 1871 Pedrorena gave the building to his sister Isabel de Altamirano, joining together two pioneer California families. Isabel and her husband Jose Antonio Alta mirano raised their large family in the home. Isabel’s father, Miguel Pedrorena, was a prominent merchant in Mexican California, and represented the San Diego area at the California State Constitutional Convention held in 1849. Jose Antonio Altamirano was born in La Paz, Lower California in 1835, but came to San Diego in 1849 to explore the mining possibilities of the area. He also engaged in stock raising ventures on both sides of the border.

The porch has this timeline:



What baffled me was that there is no mention of Manuel’s Restaurant in either text.
 
Grokipedia to the rescue! Here’s an edited version of what it had to say:

Subsequent modifications in the 1890s converted portions into a Victorian bungalow aesthetic, introducing wood-frame additions that overlaid but did not fully supplant the adobe core, leading to eventual structural strain from material incompatibilities. From 1907 onward, the structure accommodated a range of commercial activities, reflecting the adaptive reuse common to surviving adobes in San Diego's Old Town district as the area's economic focus shifted southward. Notably, it operated as Manuel's Restaurante from 1945 to 1974, where owners Manuel and Thelma Moseley renovated the building and promoted it as a historic dining venue specializing in Mexican cuisine, capitalizing on its adobe authenticity to attract tourists. By 1974, severe deterioration necessitated vacancy, prompting a 1982 rehabilitation by California State Parks that stabilized the adobe framework while respecting its hybrid origins. By the late 20th century, the casa integrated into Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, with the California Department of Parks and Recreation completing a major renovation in 1996 to stabilize the adobe and preserve its integrity. Today, it functions as a retail space housing a gem, jewelry, and mineral shop, maintaining public access within the park while supporting interpretive tourism.

My question is why have any mentions of Manuel’s been removed from the descriptive signage? While a mineral shop is lovely, Manuel’s seems a lot more interesting.

See more Old Town State Park in San Diego photos at my main website.