[1][2] Caffe Trieste is considered a San Francisco institution and a local hub for poets, writers, and beat culture.

It had been a part of both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy, and was known for its blend of Italian, Austrian, Balkan, Greek, Venetian, and Jewish cultural influences.

In 1719, Trieste had become a "free port" under Hapsburg law, and it became a key point in the trade of coffee beans from the Middle East to Europe.

[8][9][10][11][12] In 1956, Giotta received the opportunity to take over Piccola Cafe, a small business located at 601 Vallejo Street in the North Beach.

[17] Caffè Trieste became a convenient meeting place for Beat movement writers like Lawrence Ferlinghetti (a lifelong regular), Alan Watts, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Richard Brautigan, Bob Kaufman, Gregory Corso, Michael McClure, Kenneth Rexroth, and Neeli Cherkovski, who lived in North Beach in the 1950s and 1960s.

In addition to other writers and poets, painters such as Peter Le Blanc and Don Moses and photographers Joe Rosenthal (Pulitzer Prize winner), Christopher Michel, Jimo Perini, and Christopher Felver, other celebrities counting themselves among the Trieste Aficionados include Paul Kantner, Jack Sarfatti, Joey Reynolds and Mal Sharpe.

Jack Hirschman remembered, "When I arrived in 1972, (Papa Gianni’s sister) Iolanda fed me for about 6 months because I had no money.

Much later, before the official celebration at Koret Auditorium for my becoming Poet Laureate, Ida and The Trieste held a party for me first.

"[2] The cafe has been featured in several movies, on television, radio, in magazines, and in dozens of photography, tourism and other books, ranging from local to national and international in scope.