Legendary Tosca Cafe has been operating without an active liquor license for months

Tosca Cafe, one of the city’s landmark restaurants, has been operating without an active liquor license since late 2024. But thanks to the byzantine nature of state government, the owner wasn’t aware of the license suspension until contacted by The Standard and has been slinging booze without interruption. 

According to public records, the North Beach restaurant, famed for its hedonistic back room beloved by Hollywood stars, had its license suspended Dec. 18 after falling behind on state sales taxes. A spokesperson for the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration declined to provide information about Tosca specifically but said liquor licenses can be suspended if a business is three or more months past due on taxes or penalties.  

The “suspended” status means Tosca cannot legally sell beer, wine, and spirits “until the hold is cleared,” said Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control spokesperson Devin Blankenship. However, when The Standard visited the restaurant Friday, the cocktails were flowing, and the wine was plentiful. 

Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, Tosca Cafe owner Anna Weinberg said she was aware that the restaurant owes upward of $100,000 in back taxes, plus interest, but did not know that its liquor license had been suspended. “I have a payment plan,” Weinberg said, adding that she is working with the CDTFA to reduce her tax bill. 

The restaurant’s ability to continue serving its house cappuccinos and other cocktails even while its license is suspended was likely the result of poor communication between government agencies, according to Blankenship. When the liquor board halts a license, the agency notifies the business and informs the owner that they can’t sell alcohol until the license is reactivated. However, when a license suspension originates from outside the ABC, as was the case with Tosca, the agency’s district office isn’t always notified. 

In this case, ABC wasn’t aware of the suspension until contacted by The Standard on Monday, at which point it notified its Bay Area enforcement team. Generally, tax-related suspensions are not a top enforcement priority, Blankenship said, since ABC prefers to allow business owners to settle the issue directly with CDTFA. Now that the liquor board has Tosca’s suspension on its radar, however, the agency will monitor the situation, including any potential resolution with the state tax agency. If the suspension remains in place and Tosca continues to serve alcohol, more citations and steeper fines could be levied. Serving liquor with a suspended license is not a criminal offense, Blankenship said. 

Of course, the century-old Tosca Cafe is no stranger to sneaking booze across the bar. The restaurant’s famous cappuccino was invented during Prohibition as a way to sell alcohol inconspicuously. Despite the name, the cocktail isn’t made with coffee or espresso but with chocolate, steamed milk, and a shot of brandy. 

The legendary Columbus Avenue restaurant, which opened in 1919, has been surrounded by chaos in recent years. In 2019, it shut down abruptly amid accusations of sexual harassment against then-owner Ken Friedman, who’d run Tosca alongside chef April Bloomfield for more than half a decade. Within a few months, Weinberg stepped in to take over with designer Ken Fulk and Boulevard chef Nancy Oakes; the latter two are no longer involved with the restaurant. The pandemic closed Tosca in March 2020, and it didn’t reopen until May 2021. 

Since then, Weinberg has found herself caught up in a mess of litigation with vendors and her ex-husband James Nicholas, with whom she opened a slew of buzzy restaurants, including Park Tavern, The Cavalier, Petit Marlowe, Leo’s Oyster Bar, and Marianne’s. Though she reopened Park Tavern in 2022 after a pandemic closure and renovation, it closed less than a year later after being evicted by landlord North Beach Associates LLC. At the time, court filings indicated that Weinberg owed more than half a million dollars in back rent and damages. In March 2024, Leo’s Oyster Bar narrowly avoided eviction. Court records show Weinberg has been involved in lawsuits with vendors, including Pacific Produce and Bi-Rite. 

Despite the ongoing legal and financial troubles, Weinberg wants to keep Tosca Cafe, a living piece of San Francisco history, open. She worries that any publicity sparked by the suspended liquor license could sully the restaurant’s reputation and hasten its demise. “A slow and unsexy death due to penalties and taxes is not really what anyone wants,” she said.