Iconic San Francisco seafood joint that's also California's oldest eatery is slammed by critic who heard staff say horrible things about customers behind their backs

California's oldest restaurant may also be America's rudest according to a scathing review by a San Francisco food critic who accused staff of calling its diners 'a**holes' and serving raw potatoes.

The Tadich Grill on California Street has been serving its renowned seafood since before the state joined the union and has long been one of the city's landmark institutions.

But it has a 'culture problem', according to MacKenzie Chung Fegan of the San Francisco Chronicle who has accused it of treating customers with contempt.

'If it's common practice to speak coarsely and contemptuously about guests in front of and to other guests, what are they saying about us when we're out of earshot?' she demanded.

San Francisco's Tadich Grill has been serving its renowned seafood dishes since 1849, a year before California joined the union 

Former patrons of the family-owned restaurant include George HW Bush and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and it was a hotpot in the heyday of Hollywood for stars including Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Clark Gable and Cary Grant

But restaurant critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan has set tongues wagging after a scathing review which suggested it was trading on its reputation and treated customers with contempt

Former patrons of the family-owned restaurant include George HW Bush and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.

And it was a hotspot in the heyday of Hollywood stars including Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Clark Gable and Cary Grant.

But the liberal newspaper recently dropped it from its list of the best classic San Francisco restaurants, and Fagan doubled down after eavesdropping on a staff member referring to a customer as an 'a**hole' who should 'sit down and shut up'.

'The a**hole in question, besuited in plaid and inebriated, is propping up the end of the bar closest to the door, and he will neither shut up nor sit down,' she told readers.

'I'm initially taken aback by the server's pointed language, but he has a point. This guy sucks.'

But she was more concerned when a server leaned over to confide in her after a family of three got up to leave.

'The fat slob', he says, showing me the less than 10 percent tip the customer left. 'He comes in here, eats cioppino and tips like this? How can he sleep at night?'

An Ahi Tuna lunch special is one of the recommendations on the grill's Instagram page 

The menu focuses on traditional seafood, stews, and casseroles, but 'Fridays call for oysters and martinis' they suggest 

It was founded by Croatian migrants and opened as a dockside coffee stand before moving to the New World Market and eventually to its current location on California Street in 1967

Fegan agreed that a 10 percent tip was unacceptable, before adding: 'I also don't think that type of pejorative language is acceptable.

'Not on a playground, not in a locker room, and definitely not in a restaurant where patrons are spending their hard-earned money.'

The famous grill, which celebrated its 175th anniversary last month, has been owned by the Buich family since they bought it from another Croatian family in 1928.

The restaurant has been owned by the Buich family for nearly a century  

It made headlines in 2017 when the daughter of former owner Steve Buich revealed she had been disowned by her family in 1983 after starting a relationship with Raiders offensive linesman Gene Upshaw because he was black.

'This is unacceptable,' she claimed he told her. 'You change your name and you leave.'

The story emerged after the restaurant opened a short-lived outlet in DC where Upshaw and her husband had moved, and led to a lawsuit from investors who claimed the scandal had forced its closure.

Fegan also complained that the restaurant had designated January 6 as 'Dave Portnoy Day' in honor of the controversial Barstool Sports founder after he made an investment.

'I can't speak to the personal beliefs of the various members of the Buich family,' she admitted. 'And even if I could, there's a larger discussion to be had about whether those beliefs are relevant in a restaurant review.'

The attack on what Fegan admits is a 'hallowed institution' has infuriated Tadich loyalists and sparked a backlash against the newspaper.

'She's a hipster. How about hiring a real food critic instead of a nepo baby blogger?' demanded one.

'NO! Not our Tadich Grill. Find another place to denigrate,' added another.

But Fegan suggested it was trading on past glories, claiming she had been served a raw potato and crab cakes that resembled 'toasted English muffins in a sauce the color of melted Creamsicle'.

The attack on what Fegan admits is a 'hallowed institution' has infuriated Tadich loyalists and sparked a backlash against the newspaper

'Let me assure you that I love nothing more than slipping into some heels and ordering a martini and fries at a place where the walls are yellowed from cigarette smoke and a bartender will almost certainly misgender my spouse,' she wrote.

'But that martini had better arrive so cold it freezes the pads of my fingers (zero points Tadich) and the fries had better be — well, cooked.

'More importantly, I cannot in good conscience recommend a restaurant that treats its customers with obvious contempt.

'Tadich is woven into the fabric of the city, and for that you love Tadich. But I don't think it loves you back.'