{"id":200533,"date":"2026-03-02T14:08:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T14:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/200533\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T14:08:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T14:08:23","slug":"when-bearbucks-closed-the-castro-lost-more-than-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/200533\/","title":{"rendered":"When Bearbucks closed, the Castro lost more than coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a convenient spot for coffee that shifted into a ritual over the course of two decades. Nearly every morning, Jerry Cain and Scott James would walk into Peet\u2019s in the Castro, where the couple would have a daily moment of connection with each other and their community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The cafe chain represented a certain kind of stability and a place for Cain and James to steal a few moments together before work. But at the end of January, when its parent was acquired (opens in new tab)<\/a> by Keurig Dr. Pepper, their beloved Peet\u2019s closed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now the two start their mornings at Epicurean Trader across the street. They like it, but it\u2019s not the same. \u201cIt\u2019s very small,\u201d Cain says. \u201cPeet\u2019s was large enough to house 30, 35, at a time. That was how I saw many of my people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peet\u2019s joined the ranks of several popular Castro coffee spots to go dark in recent years. In September, the beloved \u201cBearbucks<\/a>\u201d on 18th Street closed; it was also a victim of corporate cost-cutting<\/a>. In the coming months, Castro Coffee Company (opens in new tab)<\/a> will close and move from its decades-old location next to the reopened<\/a> Castro Theatre to a new home in the neighborhood. Looking further back, Sisters Coffee Shop closed in January 2025 after a two-year run, while Reveille and Weaver\u2019s Coffee & Tea both closed in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ASource: Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

These were more than just places to scratch the caffeine itch. In fact, the quality of the coffee hardly mattered to regulars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

James said that on more than one occasion, he and Cain learned about the death of a friend because they ran into a mutual connection at the dated-looking Peet\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s certainly dying,\u201d Cain says of the cafe culture. \u201cWe rely on it. We want a 7 a.m. watering hole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morning delight\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morning rituals have long been a part of the fabric of the Castro. As food writer and historian John Birdsall writes in \u201cWhat Is Queer Food?,\u201d the Castro had a booming morning scene in the late \u201970s. Ordering quiche lorraine (a dish so popular it became shorthand for gay men of that era) was a hangover ritual at the Duo, which was once located on the corner 18th and Castro streets. In the \u201990s, Cafe Flora was a hot spot for locals. Cain and James both note that when they moved to the area decades ago, smoothie bars dotted the streets. These days, gyms rule the roost.<\/p>\n

But there are a handful of Castro residents trying to preserve \u2014 and build back \u2014 the neighborhood\u2019s morning scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ASource: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard\"PeopleSource: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard\"\"Source: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard<\/p>\n

Giovanni Liguoro owns Poesia Cafe (opens in new tab)<\/a> on 18th near Castro Street. He\u2019s a bit of a coffee snob, but in the neighborhood, the label is less blemish than badge of honor. \u201cIn the Castro and San Francisco, the cafe culture is very deep,\u201d Liguoro says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When he arrived in San Francisco from Italy in August 2022, his neighbors were splitting their coffee budgets between Peet\u2019s, Starbucks, and local cafes like Spike\u2019s and Castro Coffee Company. With the spate of recent closures, he saw an opportunity. He spent weeks collaborating on custom-roasted beans from Oakland\u2019s Mr. Espresso (opens in new tab)<\/a> and introduced a latte of the month \u2014 butterscotch vanilla in February; matcha pistachio last month. He\u2019s making cold brew for the first time.<\/p>\n

The changes seem to be working: Over the last six months, drinks accounted for an increasing portion of sales, about 40%, and the cafe\u2019s dining room is regularly full with laptop warriors and locals just hanging out. Liguoro is pleased to see Poesia evolve into a neighborhood hangout. \u201cThis is where we are now,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Good to the last drop<\/p>\n

One block away, Spike\u2019s is also bustling. The independently owned coffee shop hosts a near-constant gaggle of older gay men and dogs, who loll around the seven seats. Barista Austin Miller has worked at the 19th Street cafe for 15 years and has lived in the Castro for 20. He says Spike\u2019s is packed every morning with writers, bankers, teachers, and dog-walkers because the shop, which does not offer Wi-Fi, has always prioritized its role as a gathering place. \u201cWe\u2019ve held down the fort as a local coffee shop that\u2019s also a social hub,\u201d Miller says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ASource: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard<\/p>\n

Longtime resident Jacob Paronyan hopes to become a steward of the Castro\u2019s coffee culture. He recently signed a lease on the Cafe Flore space on Market Street, where he plans to open an all-day restaurant called Parasol at Flore. He\u2019ll renovate the space over the next year, but his first goal is less ambitious: \u201cJust open up for simple coffee and croissants,\u201d he says, \u201cjust to give people the space back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paronyan says neighborhood cafes are difficult propositions. A hoard of regular customers who buy a coffee and a pastry is great, but the revenue may not be enough to cover the high San Francisco rent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the cafe culture is that no-pressure environment where you can just come hang out,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd that has to be balanced against, you know, making enough money to stay open.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a convenient spot for coffee that shifted into a ritual over the course of two decades.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[21856,16221,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-200533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-castro","9":"tag-coffee","10":"tag-san-francisco","11":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","12":"tag-san-francisco-news","13":"tag-sf","14":"tag-sf-headlines","15":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}