Bill Lewis wasn’t sure what to expect from longtime customers when he took over as owner of Toronado, San Francisco’s most revered beer bar.
Lewis, a resident of the city for the past 30 years and “semi-regular,” had never worked in a bar or even owned a business. He’s so green, in fact, that he was late to our phone interview because he was running his first payroll and didn’t want to make a mistake.
It’s doubtful he would. The new owner, who recently purchased the bar and its building from founder Dave Keene, is a math nerd with a Ph.D. who ended up in finance and, later, tech. Lucky for him, those persnickety Toronado regulars didn’t hold either against him. Rather, they’ve been stopping by the Haight Street dive to thank him for keeping the 39-year-old legacy going…