Specs' Twelve Adler Museum Cafe

Specs’ (And Its Giant Wheel of Cheese) Returns After a Long Year | Eater SF

"Tucked down an alley at the iconic crossroads of Broadway and Columbus, I stumbled upon the eccentric dive more formally known as Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe — a North Beach institution that opened in 1968 and has been a haunt for poets and musicians for 53 years. The bar, originally opened by Richard “Specs” Simmons (who died five years ago) and now owned by his daughter Elly Simmons and granddaughter Maralisa Simmons-Cook, had been closed for more than a year — the longest shutdown in its history — but is set to reopen in mid-May; the owners insist they haven’t changed a single tchotchke. I learned they briefly tried a takeout bottle shop, ran GoFundMe drives and applied for PPP loans, paid a small portion of rent while landlords stayed understanding, and delayed reopening until they could avoid repeated openings and closings that would ruin them. Given their tiny indoor and outdoor footprint, they plan limited indoor service via a food partner and share a small parklet for 12 outdoor seats, and they hope to bring back the occasional poetry reading, solo blues guitarist, and favorite singer despite the financial and spatial challenges of being a super old-school bar." - Becky Duffett