Nova Bar & Restaurant, a SoMa mainstay for a dozen years at 555 2nd St., closed Sunday, June 14th. As Inside Scoop noted last week, the owners of The Corner Store and San Francisco Athletic Club have plans for the place.
Ezra Berman and Miles Palliser plan to offer upscale food and cocktails similar to their other two restaurants and confirmed to Hoodline that Nick Adams, executive chef at The Corner Store, will also serve as the executive chef at this restaurant. They haven't settled on a name yet; one idea is listed on a temporary liquor license, but Berman and Palliser asked us not to share it because it could change. They hope to open by end of July.
Nova, situated in a sweet spot just two blocks from AT&T Park and next to the perennially packed 21st Amendment Brewery, was known for its $12 bottomless mimosas at brunch, back-to-basics comfort food and cheeky sandwich board musings.
Photo: Nova/Facebook
Nova hosted a closing party on June 12th to bid farewell to customers, but was open the rest of the weekend for brunch and dinner. A message to customers is posted on its Facebook page and includes this passage: "The time has come to close the last chapter on Nova Bar & Restaurant. It has been a labor of love for Jeff, Elliot, and I for 12 years. Though we had hoped to extend our run through this summer, circumstances involving the lease and my moving and a myriad of other factors involving the new owners have led us to a very bittersweet reality."
The new owners are still busy working out details and don't have a lot of specifics to share yet, but promised to keep us posted. "We're taking possession today, and our goal is to have the place remodeled and opened by end of July," Palliser told us.
He added that while they're very excited about the rest of baseball season, with the space situated in a sweet spot just two blocks from AT&T Park, but they plan to offer something special for the neighbors, too. "We're focused on high-end food and cocktails like we've done in our other two places," Palliser said. "We're still putting together menus and getting ready for buildout."
Photo: The Corner Store/Facebook
In case you aren't familiar with Berman and Palliser's other operations: The Corner Store, at Geary and Masonic, has an updated take on traditional stick-to-your-ribs fare and offers a bottomless mimosa ($15) at brunch from 10am–3pm Tuesday through Sunday (no word on whether they'll bring this to the new place). The San Francisco Athletic Clubbed, self-dubbed "unofficially the greatest sports bar of all time," serves game day faves like fried pickles, burgers, hot dogs and wings.
Look out for the new restaurant, name still TBD, to open later this summer at 555 2nd St.
