SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Monk's Kettle, a craft beer bar and gastropub on 16th Street in the Mission District, announced Tuesday that it is moving across the Bay to Oakland. In a lengthy statement titled “Reflections on a 16-year run on 16th Street,” bar owner Christian Albertson explained the reasons for the move and commented on how SF had changed over the years.
In the statement, Albertson cited “tremendous changes in the Mission District, the craft beer scene, the restaurant industry and the general business environment in SF.”
“We literally live in a different world now than when we opened,” he wrote. Monk's Kettle existed before the local craft beer scene as we know it, according to Albertson, opening in a time before SF Beer Week, when the minimum wage was $9.17 and social media consisted of MySpace.
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The letter cited “seismic changes” in the city’s demographics since 2007.
“When we opened, the Mission was full of restaurant workers, artists, working people: our people. For the first nine years of our tenure, our kitchen was open until 1 a.m. every night and we kicked people out at 2 a.m. Back then, we had a second rush for dinner at 10 or 11 p.m., when people from the industry got off work and came over for a drink and a meal after their shift.”
Other factors Albertson cited for the city's change included the introduction of Postmates and other delivery services, a shift toward a tech economy in which workplaces offered employees free food and drink on the job, and its transient nature of tech contract workers.
“San Francisco is a transient place, even more so than ever, and the city’s economic situation is making it increasingly impossible to put down roots,” Albertson wrote.
“There was a time when SF was the place to be, and we hope it can return to that status,” the letter continues, “but currently there seems to be a reason why everyone is looking have fled to a better path somewhere else.” .”
Monk's Kettle plans to reopen a new tavern called The Monk's Kettle Oakland in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood.
“In many ways, we are striving to go back to the beginning, to the time when we were surrounded by our community and were that community,” Albertson said.
Monk's Kettle plans to open its Oakland location in the fall. According to a report from SF Eater, the Mission District location plans to keep its doors open through June.
