Union Square dive bar and hofbrau Lefty O'Doul's beloved by many service industry workers, cops, Tenderloin denizens, and San Francisco Chronicle reporters, not to mention a steady stream of tourists seeking a bargain buffet lunch is facing an imminent closure and a plan to relocate, as longtime owner Nick Bovis tells the Chronicle. The reason, he says, is that landlord Jon Handlery is refusing to offer him a long-term lease and presumably some allowances for improvements that he says the space dearly needs, which he says total about $5 million. The historic, kitschy, redwood-paneled, baseball-themed bar and restaurant can easily be recreated nearby, Bovis says, and he claims to have two prospective locations he's looking at in the area with a similar, 6000-square-foot footprint.
This would actually be the second move in the hofbrau's history it was originally located on Powell Street from 1940 to 1957, under the tenure of its eponymous founder, famed local baseball hero and manager Lefty O'Doul (1897-1969), before moving to its present digs at 333 Geary, as CBS 5 reports. It has, over all these years, been known for serving Lefty's own personal Bloody Mary recipe, and plenty more cheap drinks. The location, per the Chronicle, was once a theater, and later a location of the Compton's Cafeteria chain. The bar closed for a year between 1957-58 while in the process of moving.
A press conference is scheduled for Friday to discuss the relocation plan, and as of now, February 3 will be Lefty's last day in the current space.
The story echoes the drama around the Gold Dust Lounge, which was forced out of its longtime home around the corner on Powell in 2012 by this same landlord, Jon Handlery, who chose instead to lease the space as an entrance for the Express store that now lives there. And one wonders, since Bovis claims that he has no problem paying the nearly $50,000/month rent for the space, if all this press attention isn't part of a negotiation.
But, he says, the existing space needs a ton of work to be brought up to code. "I’m a mechanical engineer so I know how to keep things going, but this old battleship, it’s time to retire her," Bovis tells the Chronicle.
It's a charming if dingy spot with some hearty (if salty) old-timey hofbrau fare served all day, and according to Bovis, they aren't hurting for business despite what some may assume about New San Francisco. Reportedly, not even counting bar sales, the meaty buffet goes through seven 32-pound turkeys, four 35-pound roast beefs, 15 corned beefs, and five 5-pound pastramis every day, serving about 1000 people per day.
And perhaps more importantly, along with places like John's Grill nearby, Lefty's is a kind of touchstone for longtime San Franciscans, woven into the city's fabric for more than just its food and drink. Every year they host a breakfast honoring Bovis regularly inserts the bar into the cultural conversation, too, like he did by inviting the artist behind those naked Trump statues to be honored at the bar last year.
Per the Chron:
When a San Francisco police horse is retired, the ceremony happens at Lefty’s. Bovis takes a 150 children to a San Francisco Giants day each summer on something called “kids’ day,” a ritual started by Lefty O’Doul, who passed away in 1969. O’Doul managed the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast league from 1935 to 1951. He is also credited with bringing up the young Joe Dimaggio.
The toy drive at the bar this year gave away 20,000 toys. The Irish News Boys, a traditional celtic band made up largely of San Francisco Chronicle reporters, plays on the first Friday of the month. One set of SFPD motorcycle cops, the Harley guys, come in for an early breakfast, while the Honda-riding officers appear later in the morning.
...Baseball fans, tourists, would-be singers crowd around the piano when Frank O’Connor, a former police officer in Ireland, plays standards.
In short, Lefty O'Doul's is probably closing and moving after this month, with a reopening timeframe totally up in the air as no definitive new location has been secured. But don't be shocked if nothing happens and they end up staying put after securing some improvement allowances from the landlord.
