Some were classic dives that refused to acknowledge the passage of time. They were cash only and served up Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra standards on chrome jukeboxes. Others were upscale bars attached to restaurants but with their own distinct identities and clientele.

Many were peopled by full-service bartenders with encyclopedic memories for their regulars' favorite poison. They stopped fistfights and ran phone interference from pesky ex-spouses and bill collectors.

Reasons for the closures of neighborhood bars vary: Owners died or decided to relocate, buildings were sold. Rising rents play a major role, owners and city officials say.

We are weeping at our laptops. Dammit.

Not that any of these closures are news-breaking, but the article is wonderful because of the great quotes from Larry Ayre of John Barleycorn, Willie Brown and Ed Moose of Moose's. There's a PR-style quote from Luisa Hanson on why "the Corn" had to go, even. It makes us sigh with sadness at the thought of old school San Francisco being taken over for some flash-in-the-pan restaurant/bar/lounge with modern furniture and "mood lighting " or some fake Irish pub opened up by an Italian wantrepreneur. Ugh.

Pic of Ginger's Trois by elroySF.