Bruno’s, the Mission District nightclub that went dark in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, is set to reopen next Saturday, September 12, after a six-year closure. The venue at 2389 Mission Street will hold a soft opening featuring DJ REZA and DJ Ibarra, kicking off a month of weekend test-run events before a possible grand opening during the first weekend of October.
The long-awaited return, first detailed by Mission Local, comes after what the outlet reports was a reopening delayed by difficulties obtaining city permits. Bruno’s has occupied the same Mission Street storefront for more than 60 years, evolving from an Italian restaurant and labor hangout into the nightclub generations of San Francisco know today. General manager Travis Blain told the outlet he was unsure why the opening had been delayed so long.
Six Years of Boarded-Up Blight on the Corridor
The building sat visibly abandoned for much of that stretch. Following its March 2020 closure, the storefront at 2389 Mission Street remained boarded up with plywood and covered in graffiti for nearly four years, according to The San Francisco Standard, becoming a visible emblem of blight along the corridor. George Karas was listed as Bruno’s owner when a 2023 reopening report was first published, though the venue is now owned by Noelle Calixto, whose broader San Francisco hospitality portfolio also includes The Owl Tree in Lower Nob Hill, Chief Sullivan’s in North Beach, and Campus, a bar in the Marina.
Calixto is no stranger to opening nightlife venues in the city. She previously partnered with restaurateur Rick Howard in 2015 to launch Russian Hill’s House Rules and is also associated with Chief Sullivan’s, a North Beach pub, according to Art and Entertain Me.
A Municipal Roadblock and a Statutory Workaround
Part of the challenge involved restrictions on alcohol licenses in the Mission. Bruno’s had an improper restaurant license and could not obtain a new Type 48 license in the restricted district…