Wait, people still use Facebook? The Snitch says people do.
Also, Newsom-related controversy, and the big question: Would Medjool go out of business if the city yanked their rooftop patio? Link (via Curbed SF).
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Allan Hough (7858)
Brittany Janis & Katie Cruz (104)
Authors
Would Medjool go under without the patio? I don’t know, but I’m certainly happy to find out. Let’s try this.
(If that doesn’t work, I suggest revoking their liquor license.)
I’m not sure if they would go out of business without the rooftop bar. Truth is, they probably wouldn’t.
that said, let me get this off my chest early:
the notion that Medjool “should” go out of business (ie @Doctor, above) because it doesn’t conform to someone’s definitions of “cool” or “hip” or “not douchey”…or even because (like me) you’d never step foot in the place in a million years…
is selfish, arrogant and childish.
just what we need on Mission Street is another giant, derelict building. now THAT’S smart thinking.
I grew up in the Mission district, went to Bryant elementary and have know Gus, the owner of Medjool, since he moved to this country.
The notion that he is some shady character blows me away. When he moved here he was able to buy a corner store, where he worked 16 hour days, seven days a week. He hired Mission kids then and continues to hire Mission kids at Medjool.
He contributes more to community & civic life in San Francisco than most business owners and his business ideas have always been innovative. If they have violated some zoning law that says his building is 20 feet to high, fine it needs to be fixed or the law needs to be amended. That’s how the process works. But why all the hate?
i had a bad experiences at medjool, and it had nothing to do with the posers there, although they came in and annoyed us as it was happening. it was not too long after they open, we were leisurely enjoying a really average (at best) meal and all the sudden, they had a party going on, so they basically moved our table to the side. they were very rude about it too.
if you cant let your customers relax and enjoy dinner then you should not seat them.
i am sure the owner is a nice guy and hard worker, but he does not deserve special permits because he is friends with the mayor
of course i wont go back there, rude service (at a service establishment) is not ok and doesnt deserve a return visit
I don’t know whether or not the roof top bar is or is not illegal, but it doesn’t seem to be creating any problems — so I am OK with it. Actually, I should correct that — it does seem to cause some problems for people who have a very narrow view about who should be permitted to step foot in the Mission. But I don’t think we really want to give the douche police veto on what businesses operate in the Mission.
zinzin: I’m at least 70% kidding. You know I’m with you on the vacants-vs-anything-else issue.
But the employees and clientele at Medjool really are authentically loathsome. I won’t shed any tears at their passing if they go.
@Doctor – i appreciate your comment, but seriously, we all WOULD shed tears if they go.
not because we’d miss them specifically (i have never been in the place…i have no clue who works there or who goes there or what the rooftop lounge is like), but because it would probably take YEARS for someone else to assume the space, and in that time, it would be a derelict hulk attracting drug dealers, bums & hos…just like the rest of the derelict storefronts in the mission.
i have no love or hate for medjool. it’s just another business doing business in the hood far as i’m concerned. and that’s cool with me.
re: gus, he seems like a real shrewdy to me, typical of long-time, well positioned businessmen all over the city. politically connected and working all the angles. he just happens to be working it in the hood here, where folks have a certain gritty sense of propriety and a self entitled sense of territory.
far as i’m concerned, he can keep medjool and its rooftop, turn New Mission Theater into a nightclub, turn Giant Value into condos, and then take on the el capitan on my block. it’s all good.
mission street needs development to bring it into the 21st century….for the benefit of EVERYONE in the hood. jobs, commerce, density, political voice.
if he’s the connected guy to do it, and he makes profit for himself in the bargain, i am 100% in support.
cause if it ain’t him…it’s just going to be someone else. change is inevitable.
http://www.savemedjool.com
!!!
We went ahead and did it:
http://www.savemedjool.com
You can help!
The bottom line here, as far as I understand it, is that the guy didn’t have the right permits to open the rooftop bar. Doesn’t matter if he’s a stellar guy or a miscreant – everybody gotta play by the same rules.
That being said, I’ve been up there (on a Sunday afternoon – perfectly pleasant and douche-free), and it’s a cool space, and I hope they can sort this all out. Regardless of who the clientele is.
I’ve commented on this elsewhere and will sum it up with: More rooftop terraces. Less douche bags.
Oh it would most definitely go out of business sans patio. That’s the only thing Medjool has going for it.
Um. I say nay on closing this douche magnet establishment. All the decent people in our neighborhood long ago realized that all of the Marina’s 20 and 30 somethings flock here every weekend. Therefore, said decent people frequent other bars, rooftop or not. If Medjool closes, who knows which untainted watering hole these douchebuckets will ruin next….
Look, Medjool has all that cash to throw around because he skims all that money from the roof (That’s why Cash Only, Now you know.) That money probably cycles too because where do they have the fundraisers-the roof! In this day and age with the financial problems our state and Federal Government is having I have no sympathy for someone who screws the taxpayers to acquire political leverage. Let him play fair like everyone else. I respect that he is an Employer and worked hard to get to where he is, but at whose cost???