It's always sad when a bustling restaurant that felt like it had been there forever loses its mojo and withers away. But that was the case for North Beach's Park Tavern, not just once, but twice.

On its Instagram page on Wednesday, the Park Tavern team announced the restaurant would be closing for good on June 21. The closure comes following what seemed at the time like a promising revival of the place in November 2024, at the hands of original partner James Nicholas and celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman, after the pandemic, and a legal battle between the partners, had previously appeared to doom the place.

"It has been our privilege to serve this community and be a part of this special neighborhood," the post reads. "We are deeply grateful to every member of our team — past and present — and to the loyal guests and friends who have made Park Tavern such a meaningful place over the years."

Nicholas had taken over the lease in 2024 after, a year earlier, his ex-wife and onetime business partner Anna Weinberg had been evicted from the space in a dispute with the landlord. Weinberg had tried to hold onto the business in a divorce that saw the splitting up of the couples' restaurant businesses, which included Marlowe, The Cavalier, Leo's Oyster Bar, and Tosca Cafe, and a remodel had occurred in the space after the pandemic, followed by a brief and unsuccessful reopening in early 2023.

The 2024 reopening under Nicholas and Waxman — the beloved original menu had been created by Marlowe/Cavalier chef Jennifer Puccio — was met with a disastrously bad review from then-new Chronicle critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan, in which she accused Waxman of serving her "the worst steak of my life," and noted that the menu was anchored by "historical reenactments" of well known Waxman dishes, rather than having any particular direction of its own.

Waxman was also, essentially, serving as a journeyman consultant, maintaining his two restaurants in New York including the still beloved Barbuto, and lending his name to the revival.

Service after this reopening was also spotty, and it just felt like the energy and magic of the place had long since left the building.

When Park Tavern opened in the fall of 2011, in a space facing Washington Square Park that had long been occupied by another neighborhood icon, Moose's, it was met with immediate raves and constant crowds. Weinberg's talent for creating a moment and a mood were well on display, and Park Tavern very quickly became like San Francisco's answer to Balthazar and other buzzy, well established brasseries that feel like have always existed.

Puccio's deviled eggs, Marlowe burger, and poulet rouge (a riff on Marlowe's terrific poulet vert), and her talent for creating crave-worthy dishes, helped keep crowds coming back for years.

But restaurants have lifespans, crowds move on to shinier things, and the pandemic was not kind to anyone in the restaurant industry. And try as they might, the owners never recaptured the spirit of the place in its post-pandemic revivals.

"Over the next two weeks, we'd love to welcome you back one last time. Join us to raise a glass, share a meal, and celebrate the memories we've created together," the restaurant team said in the Instagram note.

In any event, it remains a well-located restaurant space with great potential, and it's likely to get snapped up before long.

Previously: North Beach's Park Tavern to Be Reopened Former Partner In Restaurant, With Original Chef