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4worldlovers: Mac’s Old House is a 98-year-old historic treasure in Contra Costa County.

In 1983, the current owner Gary Noe purchased the restaurant, but that is not where the story of Mac’s begins.

The original owner, Floyd “Mac” McKinney, built this old house with his father in 1925. While Mac was still living there, he converted part of his home into a bar. He opened it on St. Patrick’s Day in 1956. 17 years after he opened, he sold it and retired. Mac eventually built the small house that is behind the restaurant and lived there until he died in 1994. 10 years (and a few owners) later, Gary bought the building and opened it on August 5th, 1983. Mac would still come in almost every day for a cocktail and dinner, and he would always sit at the same exact table. Today, his picture and obituary hang above that very spot.

Together, Gary and manager/head chef, Rick Cook transformed Mac’s into the iconic restaurant that it is. In 1969, when Rick was 15 years old, he began working at the restaurant Bertolas in Oakland, and by the time he was 22 he was managing it. Bertolas was a family-style Italian restaurant that was popular for its fairly priced quality food and cocktails. They had multiple locations throughout the Bay Area and were open from 1932 until the 1990s.