It’s been no secret that the owners of Valencia Street’s Muddy Waters cafe have been trying to sell the place, and they’ve apparently found an interested buyer in Bissap Baobab owner Marco Senghor.

It’s been public knowledge for more than a year and a half that Valencia Street’s 35-year-old coffeehouse and hangout Muddy Waters was for sale, and of course, their companion shop Muddy’s at Valencia and 24th streets closed in early 2021. But the original Muddy Waters on Valencia at 16th Street was understandably on the selling block, as after 35 years of running the place, co-owners Hisham and Elham Massarweh declared in a Craigslist ad that they were “ready to retire.”

Now the Massarwehs have a very interested buyer. Mission Local reports that popular Senegalese restaurant and nightclub Bissap Baobab’s owner Marco Senghor is in negotiations to buy Muddy Waters, along with another unnamed partner. And Mission Local adds that Senghor "expects to bring live entertainment, beer, wine and longer hours to the business” if he does in fact take the place over.

Senghor has not taken over the lease, and the potential purchase is still being negotiated.

As Mission Local notes, Senghor actually used to live in an apartment above the old 24th Street Muddy’s when he first moved to the US, and considers the Massarwehs to be his business mentors.

“It’s almost like we’re coming back to the beginning,” Senghor told Mission Local. “We want to try to make sure his legacy doesn’t shut down, stay and try to grow hopefully.”

As noted, Senghor would be pursuing a beer and wine license (still in progress) and a live entertainment permit (already granted). And he seems like exactly the right person to revive Muddy Waters into a legit destination for live music, or just daytime chilling.

Senghor, of course, once had three Bissap Baobab locations (one in Oakland, the other in SF called Little Baobab). He effectively lost all three over a 2019 Trump immigration prosecution nearly landed him in jail.

But he resurrected Bissap Baobab at a new location in September 2022, only to have NIMBY neighbors try to get his alcohol license revoked over noise concerns. Those neighbors’ efforts were unsuccessful; the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) upheld the beer and wine license, and then granted Senghor a liquor license too. Now Bissap Baobab is allowed to stay open until 4am on the weekends, though can only serve alcohol until 2 am on those nights.

Related: Now Bissap Baobab Can Stay Open Until 4AM on the Weekends, Thanks to New Permit [SFist]

Image: Scott L via Yelp