A San Francisco coffee popup that operates out of a wine bar, known for long lines and daytime DJ sessions, has found its own home.
Hi NRG (pronounced like “high energy”) will move from its current location at High Treason on Clement Street nearby to 5801 Geary Blvd. in August, the owners announced on Instagram Wednesday. With the new space will come a new focus: Luis Gonzalez and Nathan Kruse will operate Hi NRG as a wine bar “that just happens to serve the best coffees in the world,” Gonzalez told Mission Local, which first reported the news.
“We think this new location will be perfect to bring our complete vision to life. Since the beginning, wine and music have been part of our mission statement, but we never really had the ability to fully incorporate those aspects into our operations,” Gonzalez wrote on Substack, noting its new home is “a beautiful corner spot nestled among trees” near restaurants like Pearl 6101 and Pizzetta 211 and the Four Star Theater. The founders did not immediately respond to an interview request.
Hi NRG, named as one of the best places to drink coffee in the Bay Area by Chronicle restaurant critic Cesar Hernandez, started in 2024. Gonzalez and Kruse previously worked at the Coffee Movement, one of the Bay Area’s most revered shops (and one of its locations is blocks from the new Hi NRG). The popup became known for specialty espresso drinks like malted mocha and spotlighting niche roasters like Dak of the Netherlands, whose Halo Berry espresso Gonzalez described on Substack as “vibrant and berry-forward.”
Hernandez lauded the popup’s focus on naturally processed beans from Ethiopia, drinks including a warming, cinnamon-spiced caffe de olla and the owners’ “infectious, friendly affect.”
“In a few months, we’ll be able to open our doors to the public and get the party going, with the same great coffees and same familiar faces behind the bar, in an entirely different setting,” Gonzalez wrote on Substack.