Thee Parkside, the raucous Potrero Hill dive bar that helped define San Francisco's punk and underground scene for 26 years, is officially in its final act. Live shows are set to run through the end of March, after which the spot will operate as a bar for a few months before closing for good. Regulars are packing into farewell gigs, and someone has already left a parting shot on the patio wall in spray paint.
According to KQED, owners announced on social media that live music will continue through March, and that there is still no official last day on the books. As of that report, no formal development plans had been filed with the city, even as photos showed the fresh graffiti that has already become a rallying slogan for regulars.
Public records and sale paperwork show that the building at 1600 17th Street changed hands last year, after Thee Parkside's operator was outbid by a developer offering roughly $1.3 to $1.33 million. Mission Local reported that owner Malia Spanyol had the first right to purchase the property but could not match the higher bid and ultimately waived that right. The real estate listing for the site highlights its UMU zoning and notes that the parcel allows for development up to 48 feet, a detail brokers have used to pitch the corner to builders, per Compass.
“This community is fading fast,” Spanyol told Mission Local, explaining that she had hoped to find a buyer who would keep the bar intact. She also warned that staff might be forced out with little notice if the new owner chooses to move quickly on any redevelopment plans.
Neighborhood losses and the broader picture
The end of Thee Parkside is hitting at the same time as other big blows to San Francisco's creative infrastructure. Nearby Bottom of the Hill has already announced plans to close at the end of 2026, a looming loss that has been covered by the San Francisco Chronicle. Across town, the gradual wind-down of California College of the Arts, which is set to hand its San Francisco campus to Vanderbilt University and cease independent operations by 2027, has only deepened anxiety about where artists and students will go next, per Axios.
What Thee Parkside meant to people
For staff and regulars, Thee Parkside was a rare kind of third place: a little rough around the edges, a lot welcoming, and one of the few rooms where wildly different crowds regularly collided. Longtime staffer Shane Plitt told KQED the bar had been “literally like my living room,” and patrons recall everything from tricycle races to surprise sets from bigger-name bands. That history has turned the goodbye tour into a series of packed, emotional nights instead of quiet last calls.
Owners have invited bands to book farewell shows and urged fans to “come support the bar and staff” while the doors are still open, and employees say those final weeks have stayed busy. The San Francisco Chronicle also reported that the bar is selling T-shirts emblazoned with the “condos you can’t afford” graffiti, turning the slogan into a small act of protest and a fundraiser.
For now, the closing timeline hinges on permits and whatever the new owner decides to do with the lot, but brokerage listings and public records already cast the site as attractive for new housing, which is exactly what many regulars fear. The property listing used to market the parcel leans hard on its corner location and buildable envelope, and local coverage has situated Thee Parkside's fate within a larger wave of redevelopment reshaping the neighborhood.
