Croatian American Cultural Center

The Croatian American Cultural Center sits behind a plain, unassuming stucco facade on Ocean Avenue. Inside these walls, the space functions as the heart of San Francisco’s Dalmatian community. In nineteen forty-two, immigrant dockworkers and their families pooled their money to buy the building, wanting a place where they could speak their language and play cards. They built the kitchen themselves, installing a massive stove specifically to prepare traditional peka for hundreds of people at once.