A new restaurant and bar called Prohibition is planning to open by the end of the year at 493 Broadway at Kearny Street.
The name "Prohibition" calls to mind the rash of 1920s-era watering holes that have proliferated the city in recent years, but owner/partner Jordan Angle said it's just a nod to the area's past. "We're not trying to be a speakeasy," he said. "There's enough of those around." Angle's family, incidentally, has owned the property for 155 years, or six generations—his 90-year-old grandmother is the current owner.
Prohibition is expected to offer a seasonal small plates menu and an ambiance blending the best of vintage and modern designs, Angle said. The cocktail menu will feature spin-offs of classics along with seasonally-inspired drinks and local beers and wines. "We want to change the demographic" on Broadway, he said, and hopes to attract a more sophisticated, younger clientele to a strip that was long plagued with a seedy reputation.
There's no chef or set menu yet, but the idea is to offer a "modern twist on high-end American comfort food," Angle said. Look for dishes along the lines of charcuterie and cheese plates, oysters, and upscale bites such as seared ahi tuna tacos with jicama slaw and avocado-cilantro mousse, or something similar. Brunch might include a quiche Lorraine or chicken fried steak with biscuits and gravy. Angle has sample menus, but they're just a guideline, he emphasized: "We want to hire a good chef who will have ownership of what he's doing," he said. The general manager on board is Nick DiLullo, formerly of Bix and MatrixFillmore.
Jordan Angle
Prohibition was originally envisioned as a lounge called Tryst, and has been mired in battles for four years with neighborhood groups opposed to more bars in the area. "This has been devastating for my family to see four years of delays," Angle said. He pointed out that neighbors didn't oppose nearby Devil's Acre, which sells no food, and there's been virtually no outcry against other restaurant/bars that have opened or plan to open in North Beach such as Bar Nua, Barbary Coast, Belle Cora or Chubby Noodle. And he, added, "This is the oldest entertainment district west of the Mississippi."
The kitchen will serve food nightly and the bar will stay open late, until 12:30am Sunday through Wednesday and 2am Thursday through Saturday. It'll also serve brunch on weekends starting at 9am. Because of the type 47 liquor license, which allows minors, you can bring the kids (they're welcome at brunch only, Angle clarified). It'll also have a catering license and expects to host corporate events, so it needs an entertainment license. (It has a limited live performance permit for six months, and then can apply for a place of entertainment permit.)
The interior features exposed brick walls from the original structure and oversized windows, and eventually will include a 40-foot bar with pendant lighting and a large banquette on one side for semi-private groups. About eight to 10 tables will be out front for al fresco seating, and Angle hopes to hang colorful LED lights across Broadway as well to help enliven and lighten up the stretch that hasn't been as inviting as it could be.
The building dates from 1907 and was "built in haste," Angle said, after the 1906 earthquake and fires. It's had only had a minor seismic retrofit in all that time. Now, only the walls and roof remain; everything else is brand new. "I fought to have these walls exposed," Angle said, adding that they had to strip layers of studs, drywall, shingles and even ugly purple paint to get back down to the beautiful exposed brick.
Broadway and Kearny Street, 1910. Photo: SF Public Library Archives
In the past four years, Angle and partners also have poured a new foundation, installed new columns and steel beams, and cinched everything together so the building is sturdy and reinforced. "If we have another earthquake," Angle said, "this will be one of the few buildings left standing. Everything is tied into a single structural element." Angle said he wants to reproduce the character of a 110-year-old building with touches such as wainscoting and a tin ceiling. The upstairs is a bright, open, nearly 3,000-square-foot space with arched windows, and Angle said it's been rented to an architecture firm.
The two-story building on the ground floor housed a club called Fuse from 1997–2011, and part of the space was occupied by an adult bookstore. Before that, it was a restaurant and bar called the Forked Tongue. And for 45 years, it was Swiss Louis (now at Pier 39), famous for its martini lunches in the 1950s and '60s, Angle said.
Upstairs used to house a massage parlor which installed showers without a permit, and left an old water heater to rust out. Overnight, 4,000 gallons surged through it and caused massive water damage to the building, Angle said, causing the floor to sag eight inches in the center and prompting the massive renovation—and the idea to take it over and make it into the family's "legacy project."
Angle's family and partners have sunk $4 million into the building, which he expects will pass to his mother and then to him and his siblings someday. "If I can't make this work," Angle said, "we threw all that away."
