Former GQ ‘best bar in America’ is a museum of SF history

There’s been a bar at the corner of 16th and Guerrero streets for 165 years. It hasn’t been the same bar, and the streets were not always named 16th and Guerrero, but a cherished watering hole has persisted there for over a century and a half. And it has withstood the test of time by embracing its past — and darts. More on that later.

Located at 3200 16th St. in San Francisco’s Mission district, Elixir is the city’s second oldest continuously operating bar. Nationally renowned as a whiskey bar, it was purchased in 2003 by H. Joseph Ehrmann, who goes by “H.” He fully restored it, but he never forgot its history. 

“Over the last 20 years I’ve dug up tons of history and developed the theme of the bar around its own history, turning it into a bit of a museum,” Ehrmann said in a press release announcing the 20th anniversary of his ownership. 

Elixir originally opened as a saloon just 10 years after the California Gold Rush began, though Ehrmann told SFGATE in an interview that it may have actually opened prior to 1858 — the records only go back so far. In 1893, a proprietor named Patrick J. McGinnis took over the bar and established the bones that still remain. The original building perished from the fires of the 1906 earthquake, but shortly after, McGinnis commissioned famed architect Brainerd Jones to rebuild the entire building, Ehrmann said.

The building that Jones built still stands today. During Prohibition, McGinnis converted the watering hole into a soft drink parlor to make ends meet. By 1933 and the repeal of Prohibition, the bar changed from a Victorian-era men’s hangout, complete with a shoe shine station, to more of a local hangout that also allowed women, though they came in through their own entrance. That door is still on Guerrero Street, but now acts as a window.

Over the decades, the bar has had 12 different owners and 12 different names, though some facts are lost to the annals of history. In the ’40s, it was known as The Hunt-In Club; by the ’60s and ’70s, it was called Swede’s; and in the ’80s, it was a gay bar called La Bandita. In the early ’90s, it was called Jack’s Elixir Bar and focused on microbrews, with over 50 beers on tap, according to Ehrmann. But by 2003, the place was neglected; graffiti tags covered the exterior.

That’s when Ehrmann took over.

“I always tell this story, but when I bought the bar, there were about 12 bottles of booze on the shelf,” he said. “Eight of them were Jameson.”

Now on its 13th owner and name, Elixir is a time warp through the decades. Its walls are completely covered with memorabilia and historical artifacts, from the original floor plans, which are framed near the entrance, to a piece of the earliest Victorian-era fabric that lined the walls back in the day. Ehrmann discovered it while refurbishing the interior. The ornate mahogany back bar, with curved cutouts where the liquor sits, looks like something you might see in a 1920s jazz club. Perches were built near the ceiling to help store the 600 or so bottles of whiskey, which are only accessible by a library ladder.

But it’s not just ancient history inside the bar. There’s more recent history, too.

At first, Ehrmann wanted the place to be a local hangout, but he quickly realized that wouldn’t last. In 2005, the industry veteran — he has over 30 years experience running bars and restaurants, from Vail, Colorado, to Washington, D.C. — dove into the craft cocktail revolution that was taking over every bar in the Bay Area. His expertise landed him and Elixir on a list of the 25 best cocktails in America in 2008.

But that hasn’t kept the locals away. On a recent weeknight around 5 p.m., the bar is quiet but cozy. The moody, dimly lit space has a few patrons catching up over cocktails and Ehrmann is chatting with his team as they prepare to go to a Queen concert together — a gathering to celebrate the anniversary.

Suddenly, the faint thud of darts hitting a dartboard spreads throughout the bar. Friendly banter follows suit. It’s the warmup for the bar-sponsored dart team helmed by longtime patron Victor Fuentes. They are the San Francisco Darts League’s Elixicutioners.

Great team name. Even better story. 

“Victor was up and he tossed the dart into an electrical outlet,” said team member David Kuilen, laughing. “None of us wanted to take it out. Drunkenly, we were afraid that we might get electrocuted.”

Nowadays, the team has put layers of tape on the aforementioned electrical outlet that sits just below the dartboard. 

“No one got electrocuted, and we got a great name out of it,” Kuilen said.

Speaking of Fuentes, the man is the definition of a bar regular. Ehrmann said he was one of the first patrons who ever walked into Elixir under Ehrmann’s ownership. The San Francisco architect has lived in the Mission for decades and doesn’t feel the need to go to any other bar.

“It’s my second home,” Fuentes said. According to Ehrmann, he sometimes falls asleep at the bar.

Even with such devoted patrons, times are tough at Elixir. 

Though Ehrmann is proud of his accomplishments — Elixir being named one of the best cocktail bars in America in 2010 by GQ Magazine and him being named bartender of the year by Nightclub & Bar Magazine — the business is not currently turning a profit.

“It’s hard and it’s a lot of fighting with the city — they don’t make things easy,” Ehrmann said. “But we work with them.”

The money is flowing, but only at new ventures, according to Ehrmann. “I’d rather see them put money into existing places to help keep them open.”

Despite this, a camaraderie can still be felt inside the bar. Whether it’s the friendly bartenders, some whom have worked there for 16 years, or the regulars like Fuentes, the new history of the bar is one of mutual support. Even with the economic challenges Elixir is facing, Ehrmann remains excited for what’s ahead. Next year, he plans to go on a national bar and festival tour, where his team will do pop-ups in places like New Orleans, Las Vegas and Boston. There’s even a chance for a food operation at Elixir.

Through it all, Ehrmann has a smile on his face. Elixir started as his personal “dot-bomb” recovery plan, he said, referring to the aftermath of the 2000 crash that put many tech startups out of business. But it ended up becoming the cornerstone of his career, embedding him in both the Mission District and greater San Francisco.

“I found a unique sense of place and realized that there’s a responsibility that comes with stewarding a historic place like this,” he explained. “This is my little era of this grander 165-year story, and I’m going to do my damnedest to captain this ship through this storm and get to the other side.”