After eleven years as a sports bar mainstay in San Francisco's Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood, the San Francisco Athletic Club will serve its final drinks this Sunday before transitioning to new ownership and a new name. Michael Najjar, owner of Fish & Farm restaurant, has purchased the popular sports bar from partners Ezra Berman and Miles Palliser, with plans to reopen as TimeOut Tavern while maintaining its sports bar identity.
Outgoing Owners Miles Palliser and Ezra Berman at SF Athletic Club
Source: Hoodline San Francisco Staff
The sale represents both an ending and a beginning for the 28-screen venue at 1750 Divisadero Street, which has become synonymous with Bay Area sports celebrations and heartbreaks over the past decade. "We had a really good run, open for over 11 years, four Warriors championship … Unfortunately, two 49ers Superbowl losses," reflected Berman, acknowledging the bar's role as a gathering place for some of the most memorable moments in recent Bay Area sports history.
The decision to sell reflects broader challenges facing San Francisco's hospitality industry. According to The Standard, 2024 saw high-profile restaurant and bar closures including Aphotic, Mourad, Bar Agricole, and Monsieur Benjamin, continuing a trend that has reshaped the city's dining landscape since the pandemic. Miles Palliser was candid about the factors driving their decision: "After an 11 year run, with lives changing, focusing on to other projects, it just felt like the right time." Palliser added, "With all of the normal struggles of running a restaurant, after COVID, and then there was the downturn in San Francisco - though we seem to be coming out of that a bit, it just wasn't the same business anymore."
Industry Veterans Navigate Post-Pandemic Reality
Ezra Berman & Miles Palliser at The Athletic Club Oakland
Source: The Athletic Club Oakland / Facebook
The Athletic Club partners bring extensive experience to their assessment of current market conditions. Recent years have seen numerous San Francisco restaurant and bar closures, with establishments citing declining foot traffic, rising costs, and changing consumer habits as primary challenges. Berman and Palliser run other successful ventures, but have weathered industry turbulence before, having previously operated Lord George cocktail and oyster bar, which they successfully ran from 2015 and ran until the pandemic caused business to dry up in the neighborhood, and The Corner Store that closed in 2017.
Their current portfolio includes The Athletic Club Oakland, which continues operations and was once called, "The last place in Oakland where it feels like the Warriors never left," by SFGate, and Mama's Boy Pizza also in Oakland, a pizzeria that The Chronicle dubbed the "perfect food" and went on to argue that it might be one of the best New York-style slicehouses in the Bay Area.
New Owner Brings Financial District Experience
Michael Najjar enters the sports bar business with deep knowledge of San Francisco's challenging restaurant landscape. His Fish & Farm restaurant at 424 Clay Street has operated in the Financial District since approximately 2010, focusing on locally-sourced ingredients within a 100-mile radius. However, Najjar has experienced firsthand the sector's difficulties, having closed his Green Bar location in the Embarcadero Center after it failed to recover from pandemic impacts.
"We're still not back to pre-COVID levels. We're doing OK. The San Francisco Financial District still hasn't gotten back to what it was. I don't know if it will anytime soon," Najjar explained regarding Fish & Farm's current performance. His previous venture, Green Bar, operated from 2010 until March 2020, briefly reopened for nine months, then permanently closed when "the realization that it will never be the same as before" became apparent.
Despite these challenges, Najjar sees opportunity in the Athletic Club acquisition. "I've always been a sports fan, and I wasn't really specifically looking for a sports bar, but when it became available," he said, noting the location's appeal outside the struggling Financial District core.
Transition Plans and Community Continuity
The TimeOut Tavern rebrand will be relatively modest, with Najjar planning to add and subtract menu items while avoiding major renovations initially. "No renovations for the time being. It's a possibility in the future. We've got to get through the football season. We've got to learn about the community," he explained, suggesting any significant changes would come "right after the Superbowl."
The timing aligns with a broader trend of sports bar ownership transitions in San Francisco. Earlier this year, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the 90-year-old Final Final sports bar in Cow Hollow changed hands, with new owners Joseph Wallace and Robert Lemons taking over from the Prien family, who had operated the business since 1978. Like Najjar's plans for TimeOut Tavern, the Final Final's new owners promised to preserve the bar's character while making selective improvements.
For the Athletic Club's community, continuity appears to be a priority. "Mike loves the concept. He's changing the name, but he hopes to serve the existing community," Palliser noted, emphasizing that the venue will remain a sports bar. Berman echoed this sentiment: "I don't think he's planning on being closed. He's keeping it a sports bar."
San Francisco Sports Bar Landscape Evolution
The Athletic Club sale occurs amid evolving dynamics in San Francisco's sports bar scene. A massive 30,000-square-foot sports bar called Splash at Thrive City is scheduled to open near the Chase Center in early 2025, while Rikki's, San Francisco's first women's sports bar, plans to open in the Castro this spring. These additions suggest continued demand for sports viewing venues, even as traditional establishments face operational pressures.
The transition also reflects broader economic pressures affecting California restaurants. Recent restaurant industry challenges include California's $20 minimum wage law for fast food chains and ongoing pandemic recovery issues, with many establishments still struggling to return to pre-2020 performance levels.
For Athletic Club regulars, Sunday represents a final opportunity to experience the venue in its current form. "Last official day is this Sunday, so we're happy to have anybody who wants to come grab one last drink," Berman said. After eleven years of Warriors championships, 49ers disappointments, and countless other sporting moments, the transition from Athletic Club to TimeOut Tavern marks both an end and a hopeful beginning for this Lower Pacific Heights gathering place.
