Yes dear Tender friends, we heard it a few days ago and although we were hoping it wasn’t true, it’s now official that our beloved neighborhood bar, Koko Cocktails is indeed closing. Their final night will be July 30, and they’re throwing a big party for the occasion (insanity guaranteed).
Many of us in the neighborhood have known that they’ve been in a tenuous position since last year when the CPMC took over their building to demolish it along with 2/3 of the block. So, it was a month by month state of existence that we were all hoping would keep getting prolonged, but it appears that their time has finally come and this July will be their last month of operation.
Of course, for those of you who have been following along, that wonderful thing Lori, Justin, and Chris have been doing will (finger’s crossed) be moving over to their new Hi Lo Lounge at 1423 Polk Street (with the addition of a day-time coffee kiosk). That’s of course fraught with peril as well, given that the ABC has a current policy of “eh, whatever” when it comes to doing anything these days. And, as we observed at the last Lower Polk Neighbors association meeting there is a huge number of person (that’s not a typo) that is going against the neighborhood association’s vote and fighting their move tooth and hoof despite heaping piles of community support. It makes us wonder if the “NIMBY sour” or “Bitter NIMBY” wouldn’t be appropriate drinks on any future menus.
Koko, you will be missed. We will have to honor you by drinking a good deal more in this two week march to your unfortunate demise.
5 Comments until now
So the person who is objecting would rather have the homeless that sleep in front of that year-long vacant building than a money-generating business with fantastic owners who have a track record of improving an area of the city AND made their entertainment license concession? I guess logic just doesn’t work for some people. They must be heartless robots too, because they would be putting several people out of work by blocking this.
Anyway, this is a major bummer that they’re being kicked out before the city even gets them on the calendar. There’s one other regulatory hoop they have to jump through even before ABC and that isn’t scheduled yet either. That block of Geary is going to get bad again, I predict.
Dear San Francisco,
Don’t you want all of the yummy tax money this will bring in? Hurry up!
This will be great for that block on Polk and a loss for the block on Geary.
Ryan what do you mean by “made their entertainment license concession”?
@juan the owners of Koko’s held meetings with the neighbors of their new space on Polk to introduce their project and listen to their concerns/questions, and since some of them had objections about the entertainment license, Koko’s decided to accommodate them and didn’t apply for an entertainment license for their new space (thus, they made a concession towards the neighbors). The addition of the day-time coffee kiosk also came out of that discussion with the neighbors, to avoid their storefront to be used for loitering/sleeping/etc during the day.
I’m supporting them because businesses, like a cafe have been tried at this location repeatedly, and have shut their doors. If the bar makes enough at night to keep the kiosk running during the day, it’s a win for the neighborhood.
I previously lived in SF and my best friend introduced me to the magic that is Koko. Every single time I visit SF I make the pilgrimage. To Lori, Justin, and Chris and the family – I will follow you guys anywhere – just keep the band together and let me know where. CPMC is the Yoko to our Koko.