After an eviction, a failed GoFundMe, and a years-long stretch that most Polk Street regulars had quietly written off as a slow goodbye, The Jug Shop appears to be coming back. A California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control public notice has been posted at 1590 Pacific Ave., the corner space in the Maison Pacific building, listing a premises-to-premises transfer for Jug Shop Inc. — and photos from inside the space show active construction already underway. Sharing the building will be a third location of Look at Me, a well-reviewed SF beauty studio specializing in Russian manicure and eyelash extensions, which has its own window signage on the façade.
The ABC notice lists a Type 21 (Off-Sale General) and Type 42 (On-Sale Beer & Wine) license transfer to 1590 Pacific — exactly the address the Priolo family had always planned to land in. The premises-to-premises filing is a concrete procedural step, not wishful thinking, and the crew working inside suggests the buildout is no longer just a plan on paper.
How The Jug Shop Got Here
The Jug Shop is a San Francisco original. Founded in 1965 and in the Priolo family since 1978, it spent decades as a nationally recognized wine and spirits destination, known especially for its deep Australian and New Zealand selections, its agave spirits program, and staff who actually knew what they were talking about. The city added it to the Legacy Business Registry in 2018.
In June 2021, co-owners Mike and Greg Priolo were displaced from their longtime Pacific and Polk corner when developer JS Sullivan broke ground on Maison Pacific, a six-story mixed-use building. The plan, worked out with the developer from the beginning, was to return as a ground-floor tenant once construction was complete. In the meantime, they moved to a temporary spot at 1648 Pacific Ave., the old Engine Company 8 firehouse, just a half block away. It seemed manageable. It wasn't. As reported by the SF Examiner, business dropped 50% in the first month, without the corner visibility, foot traffic, and parking the shop had always relied on. Over four years, it fell around 80%.
Mike Priolo maxed out credit cards and took on personal debt to keep the lights on. A GoFundMe campaign set a target of nearly $485,000 and raised about $20,000. Then in April 2025, as reported by SFist, The Jug Shop was evicted from the firehouse over an alleged $170,000 in unpaid rent. The shelves went bare. It looked, by every measure, like the end.
The Lease That Never Went Away
Here's the thing: the Priolos never actually surrendered the Maison Pacific lease. Even after the eviction, even after being offered an exit by JS Sullivan with no further obligations, Mike Priolo told the Examiner he felt personally committed to seeing it through. "There is a lot of pressure with a family legacy business," he said. "We want to see that San Francisco tradition survive." Contractors had already begun finishing out the new space before the eviction, and a 10-year lease was signed. The ABC filing suggests that commitment has now translated into something real.
The active construction visible through the windows shows a largely open shell being worked on, with track lighting infrastructure already in place — consistent with a specialty retail fit-out rather than a restaurant or office. No opening timeline has been announced and no comment was received from the Priolo family or the building.
The Other New Tenant: Look at Me
Sharing the 1590 Pacific address will be a third San Francisco outpost of Look at Me, a beauty studio that has built a following at its California Street and Valencia Street locations with Russian manicure and eyelash extension services. According to Yelp, the brand has over 220 reviews at its California Street location alone and is known for precise technique, eco-friendly products, and a clean, design-forward aesthetic. Window graphics at 1590 Pacific already display the "look at me" name alongside "Russian manicure," "Eyelash extensions," and a "Book now" QR code, suggesting their buildout may be further along.
For a corner that has sat empty and under construction for years, Maison Pacific's ground floor is suddenly looking like it might actually fill up. Polk Street has been rooting for The Jug Shop's return for a long time. This is the first hard evidence it might get one.
