House of Shields Changing the Guard

Shield me.

An old bar closing never ceases to sadden me.  Many of my favourites are now just ghostly vapor in my delirium-addled memory.  Expansion, Ginger’s Trois, 7-11 Club– was it just yesterday we were getting frisky?  The wind cuts through my coat a little quicker now.

The House of Shields has been a reliable snort for many over the past 100 years or so, and now, like so many of it’s noble ilk, stands stalwart in the face of an uncertain future.

Since January, rumours of closure have been sitting at the end of this bar, like a bad drunk that refuses to leave.  Immediate closure does not seem to be the case, but change of title does, which can be little comfort to anyone whose grown fond of place they happily call their office.

Much can happen when new ownership happens, although when Dennis Leary of next door neighbour Sentinel and Canteen was in talks with the building owner in February, he promised no drastic changes or a 'œyuppie Marina hangout' and still does.

Although the space’s lease being up as of this month (the building’s owner is the reason for the regime change, reputedly), as of this posting, the title of the liquor license has yet to change but is due in July.

No new info on the bar’s site or their machine, but a public farewell to the former owners is scheduled for this Tuesday.

Here’s mud in your eye, House of Shields! Hopefully you’re old enough and well known enough to be spared a ridiculous overhaul.

House of Shields
39 New Montgomery Street @ Market Street
[South of Market]
Photo from EaterSF.

Thanks, Nina.