Tucked down a steep alley off Broadway in North Beach, 15 Romolo has sat dark since August 2024, its century-old building stripped down for plumbing and electrical work that owner Jon Gasparini says nearly convinced him to walk away for good. Instead, he and his wife, Kelly Anne Gasparini, renewed the lease and are now preparing to bring the bar back to life with a few new touches and a lot of the old soul intact.
Exactly when that reopening happens depends on which account you believe. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the bar plans to reopen in mid-November, while the San Francisco Standard reported earlier this year that 15 Romolo was getting ready to reopen in the spring, and a Tablehopper newsletter item separately described the remodeled bar as set to reopen the following month. What is consistent across the reporting is the scale of the project: the Standard notes the renovation was announced in August 2024 after the 114-year-old building's plumbing and electrical systems needed major upgrades.
The space itself carries a layered history. Before it became a bar, the address housed a restaurant tied to the old Basque Hotel, and the broader building has at various points held speakeasies and brothels in addition to the hotel, according to Condé Nast Traveler. Jon Gasparini and Greg Lindgren opened 15 Romolo in 1998, taking over the former Basque restaurant space, per a 2016 account from SFGate.
What's Staying the Same, and What's Changing
Gasparini told the Chronicle the renovated bar will be more functional and nicer while remaining essentially the same place regulars remember. The roughly 65-seat room will trade its long banquettes for roomy, rounded booths, which seat up to seven people each, and the bar's new 1951 Seeburg jukebox is coming too — Kelly Anne Gasparini said it will spin Blondie, Otis Redding and Patsy Cline. Air conditioning is a genuine addition, a small but notable upgrade for a bar known for packed, warm nights in a tight alley space.
The drink program is shifting as well. Gasparini described the bar's focus going forward as classic base drinks with some technique, and the Standard reported the reopened bar is planned to have a more technique-driven food and beverage program alongside a more distinguished approach to hospitality. That marks a change from the pared-down spirit selection the Chronicle says the bar will now offer, a departure from the deep, Sherry-heavy cocktail identity 15 Romolo built over nearly two decades.
A Sherry Pedigree and a New Generation in the Kitchen
That identity didn't happen overnight. Scott Baird partnered with the bar's original owners in 2008 to revive what was then a struggling bar, and he and Josh Harris redesigned the cocktail list in 2010, a redesign that helped land 15 Romolo on Esquire's Best Bars in America list that year, according to StarChefs. Timeout has described 15 Romolo as having more than 500 spirits and a pioneering Sherry collection.
Now that Iberian thread is passing to a new cook. Giovanni Gasparini, the owners' 24-year-old son, is set to become 15 Romolo's new chef, and the Chronicle reports he plans to serve a new Basque-inspired food menu, drawing a direct line back to the building's Basque Hotel roots. He plans to cook at the bar for about a year before pursuing fine dining, per the Chronicle's reporting.
No Big Party, Just a Return to Form
Jon Gasparini, who also co-owns Cordial and Rye cocktail bar in San Francisco, told the Chronicle that 15 Romolo will reopen without big festivities — a quiet return for a bar that critic Esther Mobley named one of San Francisco's best in 2023. He also said North Beach has never felt this vibrant during his 35 years in the neighborhood, framing the reopening as part of a broader resurgence rather than a one-off event. For a bar whose name simply comes from its address on Romolo Place, the plan seems to be letting the room, the jukebox and the booths do the talking once the doors finally open again.
