Eddie Rickenbacker’s is Being Forced Out By Landlord

I used to go to Eddie Rickenbacker’s during every How Weird Street Faire.  I’d sit at the bar in a weird costume, order a shot and a beer and grin at the floating bikes while trading stories with other How Weirdos, and enjoying every minute of it of the oddly historical and uniquely designed watering hole.

The place looked like this in the 80’s and 90’s and 00’s

But after 37 years of service, Eddie Rickenbacker name is riding off into the sunset, on a 1950’s motorcycle, with a chandelier under one arm, and a Tiffany lamp under the other.  They’re only driving a couple hundred feet though. Eddie Rickenbacker’s is hoping to relocate in the Salesforce Transit Center (whenever that finally reopens).

To be fair, Eddie Rickenbacker’s motorcycles drove off years ago, (around 2012) the current owners Noelle Calixto & partners) took over the spot about 7 years ago and redesigned the spot.  Rickenbacker’s original owner Norman Jay Hobday aka ‘Henry Africa’ died in 2011, and his estate auctioned off all the fancy things in the bar. It was rumored that the 6 Tiffany lamps from the old fern bar days were actioned off for around 2 million dollars, and the classic motorcycles drove off too, to find a price or a showroom, or an auction block I imagine.

Eddie’s Tiffany lamps left years ago

Eddie Rickenbacker’s today

As is commonplace in SF these days, a decades-old bar is pushed out by a landlord (Ken Epstein in this case) who tripled their rent, and found a big money backed business to take their place.   For this particular takeover, it’s the serial SOMA bar opening duo, Denis Leary & Eric Passetti.  These guys have opened half a dozen cocktail bars in the SOMA/FiDi over the past decade, you know, spots like Natoma Gabbana, John Colins, Techila Mockingbird ect. They cater to tech bros and the teaming ‘after office’ crowds down there.  Magnets for white collars and Patagonia vests, guys who just ‘crushed it’ and are looking to pay $16 for ‘agave extract’ or whatever.

The new joint is going to be called ‘Henry Africa’, an allusion to an old SF bar, and bar owner of a different era.   Henry Africa will serve things and open sometime.