After an Atmospheric River Flooded the Bar, the Mission’s Wooden Nickel Closes

The Wooden Nickel, a Mission dive bar that saw its entire parklet float away in a rainstorm, has closed.

Broke-Ass Stuart broke the news Thursday afternoon, and The Standard confirmed it. The bar, located at the corner of 15th and Folsom streets, is currently shuttered, with garbage accumulating in its doorway and graffiti on the sides of the building.

When San Francisco received more than 5 inches of rain on New Year’s Eve, parts of the notoriously flood-prone Mission District were especially hard-hit. The inundation was so severe that the Wooden Nickel’s sidewalk parklet came unmoored, still intact, and drifted into 15th Street. 

The Wooden Nickel’s parklet had made news in late 2020 as it contained San Francisco’s only outdoor pool table, a considerable attraction when Covid restrictions still prevented pool players and everybody else from publicly congregating indoors.

In response to the flood, owner Nancy Chung started a GoFundMe to cover expenses, raising a bit more than the $35,000 goal. On that same fundraising page, Chung made an announcement in late March saying that the bar would not reopen.

“​​The flood damage to the building opened the door to a massive mold problem in and under the building,” Chung wrote. “The remediation needed will take a considerable amount of time and money and it’s unclear who is responsible for it.”

Other businesses in the neighborhood were also slammed by the New Year’s atmospheric river, with Japanese restaurant Izakaya Rintaro taking six weeks to reopen. El Tepa Taqueria on 18th and Folsom streets remains closed.

The bar, which contains a full kitchen, opened as the Wooden Nickel in early 2016. Prior to that, it was Truck, an automotive-themed LGBTQ+ bar known for small but raucous parties.

Although fans of the Wooden Nickel won’t be able to gather there for a final send-off, a goodbye party will be held on Saturday, April 8, at Kilowatt, another Mission dive that’s recently come under new ownership.