A San Francisco bar owner says he’s sold his establishment after 17 years due to city red tape, dwindling foot traffic and operating costs for his business, as well as his general dissatisfaction with the city, including concerns about drug use and crime as well as frustration with the school district.
Wednesday marked the final night at North Beach’s Grant & Green Saloon under its current ownership and format.
Owner Jonathan Tourzan said Covid restrictions and high operating costs made it impossible to keep the bar open. A $100,000 ramp to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act proved to be the final nail in the coffin of his decision to sell, he said.
The bar and live music venue has opened just three times in almost two months due to difficulty in booking bands, Tourzan said.
On its final night, around 10 customers trickled in and out of the bar by The Standard’s count. The pool table and jukebox were gone, moved days prior by the leasing company, with Tourzan calling time at 9:52 p.m.
“It’s a little disappointing,” Tourzan said as he switched off the lights. “But it’s confirmation that it’s good I’m selling.”
‘The Cheers of Green Street’
One regular who showed up on the final night was Reynard Harden, who arrived with a laundry bag slung over his shoulder.
“I’d have a beer and a shot when the clothes are in the washer and a beer and a shot when the clothes are in the dryer,” Harden said, who’s been drinking in the bar since 2001, before Tourzan’s tenure.
Harden remembers it was a hot spot for tourists when he began frequenting it.
“It was people from all walks of life here,” Harden said. “It was like the Cheers of Green Street.”
The bar has served North Beach as a live music venue since the 70s, first as a jazz and blues club and later catering to a pop and hip-hop crowd.
Tourzan and his family moved from San Francisco to Menlo Park in January. Tourzan said city crime issues and his first-grade daughter’s “bad placement” within the San Francisco Unified School District lottery. The district did not respond to a request for comment.
“One of the last straws was going to the main library for a children’s event and having our daughter ask, ‘Why are those people vaccinating themselves?’” Tourzan said, referencing outdoor drug use. “Plus, I can’t imagine having to commute.”
But on the last night of service, Tourzan said he couldn’t help but be a little emotional.
“I’ve been here [almost] 20 years,” Tourzan said. “A lot of my previous bartenders were people I hired in their 20s, and they’ve gone on to be nurses and teachers.”
‘A Complete Disaster’
The saloon closed in March 2020 as the pandemic struck. But Tourzan couldn’t reopen until June 2021 as he wasn’t able to get permission for an outdoor parklet from the city, he said. During the lengthy closure, Tourzan’s staff went elsewhere for work.
But foot traffic didn’t return after reopening, and the bar lost $50,000 in the six months that followed, Tourzan said.
“It was a complete disaster,” Tourzan said.
A spokesperson for the Shared Spaces Program, a multiagency program that regulates parklets, said Tourzan was invited to apply for a parklet permit along the Grant Street side of the bar in February 2022 but did not apply.
A New Bar for North Beach
Tourzan has sold the bar to Nate Valentine, Jamal Blake-Williams and Joe Poz—who will take over Tuesday. The new owners will temporarily close the bar and remodel it.
The trio is no stranger to the San Francisco bar scene, with stakes in several other establishments between them, including Peacekeeper, Harper & Rye and the Union Square music venue August Hall.
Poz said they plan to open the bar within a month but hope to introduce a “different concept” for the venue within a year. Even the name is still in the works, according to Valentine.
“In the short-term, we haven’t decided,” Valentine said about the new bar’s name. “In the long-term, the name will probably evolve in some way as ‘something’ at Grant & Green or a fully new name.”
Poz said they are excited to take over the bar because of its proximity to other bars, restaurants and cafes, many of which open late.
“We’re really excited about integrating ourselves into the fabric of nightlife in North Beach, particularly on that block, which is so lively,” Poz said.
There are no planning applications or building permits filed with the city detailing any work planned at the Grant & Green Saloon’s address.