When popular game day spot Athletic Club Oakland closed for good after a packed Super Bowl Sunday in February, locals mourned the loss of one of the city’s few sports bars. But now, a new group of owners is bringing it back.
A six-person group incorporated as OIAST, LLC — an acronym that stands for “Oakland is a Sports Town” — hopes to reopen the Uptown bar ahead of the first match of the FIFA World Cup on June 11, said Angela Tsay, one of the new owners and majority owner of local apparel company Oaklandish. The bar’s new operators, all Oakland residents, are Tsay; Chris Pastena, who owned shuttered restaurants Calavera and Chop Bar; Adi Taylor, co-owner of local bars Drexl and Sandbar; Oaklandish COO Aaron Higgins; and two other principals who opted to remain unnamed.
The revival reflects an optimistic shift in Oakland’s bar scene. After a flurry of prominent closures in recent months, several spaces are being brought back to life, including dive bar the Lodge and queer bar There/There, which is set to open soon in the former Friends and Family space…