The Wagon Wheel Saloon, a weathered Mendocino Avenue dive that has soaked up roughly seven decades of Santa Rosa life, is headed for last call. The bar will pour its final drinks tomorrow, and for regulars and visiting riders who made it a ritual stop, the shutdown feels like the end of one of the city’s last true dive rooms.
The Wagon Wheel lists its address as 3320 Mendocino Ave. and touts weekly pool and shuffleboard tournaments. A profile in Sonoma Magazine traces the saloon’s history back to the 1950s and recalls the now-retired tradition of offering a free drink to patrons who had just been released from the county jail.
Co-owners Mark and Christine Mandoli told The Press Democrat that new landlords took control of the property a few months ago, leaving the family with no lease and, in their view, no real choice but to close. "We survived the Tubbs Fire, we survived COVID," Christine Mandoli said, according to the paper, as longtime staffers Brian Teager, who has logged 33 years behind the stick, Jason Teats, with 25 years on the job, and bartender Savannah Sisko worked farewell shifts. The Mandolis said they will pull down the dollar bills stapled to the ceiling and donate the proceeds to the Redwood Empire Food Bank.
Federal raid put the bar in the headlines
The Wagon Wheel landed in national headlines in November 2017 when it became one of several locations hit in a multi-agency FBI operation that targeted alleged Hells Angels activity across Northern California. Authorities said several arrests were made during the sweep, with six people taken into custody at the Wagon Wheel that day, according to CBS News and other outlets.
In the runup to closing weekend, regulars and neighbors have been sharing memories and organizing final gatherings in local forums, including a lively Reddit thread collecting farewell notes and event details. For now, what comes next for the space, beyond the new landlords’ outline of plans, is uncertain, and Mendocino Avenue is about to lose one of its most storied late-night rooms when the doors swing shut this weekend.
