Palmer’s Tavern is the meaty, old-school restaurant revival SF needs

Owner Sam Fechheimer would have you know he prefers retro chophouses to trendy Michelin-chasing kitchens.

Four men sit and lean around a red leather booth in a restaurant, with a large colorful painting of people playing music and socializing hanging on the wall behind them.

Palmer’s owner Sam Fechheimer, left, with his team at the Fillmore Street restaurant. | Poppy Lynch for The Standard

Palmer’s Tavern is the meaty, old-school restaurant revival SF needs

Owner Sam Fechheimer would have you know he prefers retro chophouses to trendy Michelin-chasing kitchens.

By Astrid KanePhotography by Poppy LynchPublished Oct. 08, 2025 • 10:00am

Sam Fechheimer, the owner of soon-to-reopen Palmer’s Tavern (opens in new tab) in Pacific Heights, believes San Francisco’s dining rooms have become bland and devoid of personality.

“These new restaurants — it feels like you’re eating in an airport somewhere,” he says. An old-school kind of restaurateur despite being only 42, Fechheimer prefers heavy-hitting institutions like Original Joe’s Westlake, Izzy’s Steaks & Chops, and Finnegans Wake to fussy, star-chasing kitchens. “Everybody’s always like, ‘Oh, have you been to Saison?’ I’d rather do Sotto Mare.”

A man with a beard and casual clothes sits relaxed in a red leather booth inside a dimly lit, vintage-style restaurant or bar. — Fechheimer is over bland dining rooms.

A wood-paneled wall above a red leather booth features six framed photos, a central colorful sign, and a double wall sconce with two lit lamps. Two tables are set below. — The interior got a refresh, but its character remains.

A table holds a burger with fries and ketchup, a pint of dark beer, battered fish with fries and sauce, lemon halves, and a plate of deviled eggs topped with bacon. — A sampling of the menu.

Fechheimer wants to bring that timeless vibe — mahogany, tufted banquettes, brass foot rails — to Palmer’s when it opens next week. It’s been more than two years since the neighborhood staple closed for repairs that sounded comparatively minor (opens in new tab) at the time but ultimately involved ripping up several layers of flooring after an upstairs pipe burst. Having bought the place from the original owner, Albert Rainier, during the pandemic, Fechheimer wasn’t about to compromise on his vision by installing plastic laminate floors. “I was like, ‘We need real wood,’” he says. “It’s a lot of maintenance, but the patina absorbs the sound.”

Overall, the work was heavy on repair and light on redecoration, making the grand reopening a turn-back-the-clock situation. That includes the return of longtime staffers, like bartender — now bar manager — Doug Bryson, who spent the last couple of years at nearby wine bar Scopo Divino.

Three people are sharing a plate with a boiled egg, bread, and other small items, using forks over a table with drinks and a menu.

A lamp with a lampshade shaped like a fishnet stocking-covered leg with a high heel sits on a small table near wooden chairs and a door with a mirror.

When it opened in 2013, Palmer’s was a restaurant with a bar that stocked more than 100 spirits. Over time, it evolved to become something closer to a bar serving the uppermost echelon of pub fare, including steak au poivre, pork shank, and fish and chips. Although incoming chef Matt Woods — also recently of Scopo Divino — is a Louisiana native, Fechheimer stresses that Palmer’s 2.0 won’t be a New Orleans-style restaurant. It will be similar to what it was, so the hefty appetizer section catering to the happy-hour crowd is back. “We want people to stick around for dinner,” he says. “And we have a beautiful parklet with outdoor speakers on a nice sunny corner. Perfect for a booze-filled brunch.”

He’d love for Palmer’s to be a destination for late-night dining — and, in spite of its reputation as an early-to-bed town, there are stirrings that San Francisco might be warming to the idea of dinner at 10 p.m. Fechheimer is noodling on a late-night menu, noting that icons like Sparky’s and Lucky Penny have long since disappeared. “So where do you go when the bars close? Mel’s [Diner] is still around, but I don’t think Orphan Andy’s (opens in new tab) is 24 hours anymore.” (It’s true: The Castro diner closes at 9:45 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday.)

Three rectangular beignets covered in powdered sugar sit stacked on a white plate on a dark table with a red cushioned booth in the background.

A green leather tufted booth and round table sit by a wood-paneled wall with black-and-white photos and a double-shaded wall sconce light.

In terms of drinks, the bar menu will resurrect house favorites such as the Sayulita (a margarita with green Chartreuse), alongside barrel-aged Negronis and espresso martinis on tap. Palmer’s is essentially cherry-picking its greatest hits, Fechheimer says. “We’re not pandering to the non-alcoholic crowd. We have plenty of options for them, but we have plenty of booze here. It’s a temple to booze.”

His hedonistic defiance extends even to his refusal to offer a smashburger. Thick, juicy burgers may have fallen out of favor elsewhere, but not at Palmer’s: “We’re doing an 8-ounce patty,” Fechheimer says. “Hockey puck or nothing!”