Longtime friends and Innerbloom co-owners Anthony Niboli, left, and Ronald Rodriguez have never opened nor operated a bar or restaurant before.
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
Rodriguez and Niboli are optimistic about opening Innerbloom’s doors by January, if not sooner.
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
Last month, while driving through Lower Nob Hill, Anthony Niboli noticed an empty storefront on the corner of Polk and Post Street.
He and business partner Ronald Rodriguez were looking for a place to open a wine bar and Niboli thought the building’s nondescript exterior wall would be the perfect canvas for a mural. But when the pair asked around about the space, they were warned away.
The 1101 Polk St. location has housed at least five other establishments in the last 15 years, according to permits filed with the San Francisco Planning Department. Three have opened and closed since 2021, when sandwich shop Eleven O One shuttered after a decade in the space.
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“Everybody just says it’s cursed,” Niboli said. “We’re like, ‘Alright. This sounds like the one we want.’”
Innerbloom is set to open in January, serving wine, beer and small plates in a space Niboli and Rodriguez hope will double as a venue for local visual artists and musicians. Neither of the men, both Fresno natives, have opened or operated a bar or restaurant before: Niboli worked in advertising and organized an annual wine festival, Cabfest, in San Francisco and Rodriguez is a commercial lawyer who plans to keep his day job.
Niboli previously worked in advertising and organized an annual wine festival, Cabfest, in San Francisco before deciding to open a wine bar with Rodriguez.
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
They came to understand the previous tenants’ struggles almost immediately. The electricity was still off when they got the keys. The pair discovered a locked sidewalk hatch to a cellar filled with “hazardous who-knows-what” that flooded with every rainfall, Niboli said. Not long after, they returned to find the storefront’s front-facing windows broken, along with the flowerpots Niboli left outside the front door. “We didn’t ask any of the right questions,” Niboli said. “We’re just fixing problems every day.”
Despite — or perhaps because of — their inexperience, the early setbacks have been “kind of exciting,” according to Rodriguez. He and Niboli have made fast friends with the owners of neighboring businesses, such as New India Bazar next door and Jackalope across the street. “They’ve been super supportive,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a whole project.”
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The storefront is on the border between Lower Nob Hill and the Tenderloin, neighborhoods where the strain on small businesses since the pandemic has prompted city-funded grants and loan funds to new storefronts. Innerbloom is self-funded, Niboli said, but it was Mayor Daniel Lurie’s vision of revitalization for the city that “really motivated us to want to do something like this.”
The pair also believes that the lively cluster of bars and restaurants around Innerbloom, such as Jackalope, BlindPig Speakeasy and Sushi Sato, often gets unfairly overlooked. “It’s changed over time, but there’s still a spark there,” said Rodriguez, who lived in Lower Nob Hill for about a dozen years before he moved onto a boat moored in Alameda. “Every neighborhood has its own reputation, but I’d say it’s a fun, exciting place.”
Innerbloom, slated to open in January 2027, will occupy a space that has seen numerous businesses open and close there in the past 15 years.
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
Innerbloom takes its name from a 2016 song by the electronic trio Rüfüs Du Sol, but Niboli originally wanted to call it simply “Flowers and Wine.” He partnered with a florist friend who agreed to create floral arrangements for the space, as well as “flowers to go” alongside food and drinks.
Niboli and Rodriguez hope to soon hire a chef — they plan to serve baked goods and “little bites” with wine pairings, Niboli said, but otherwise will give whomever they hire free reign over the food menu. Niboli has begun developing a heavily Californian wine list, in hopes of building relationships with nearby winery owners: “The more that they want to be involved, the more I’ll put them on the menu,” he said.
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That sense of collaboration extends to the artists and musicians Innerbloom plans to feature. Niboli and Rodriguez will set aside a section for visual artists, especially those based in the neighborhood, to exhibit work. They also want to become a venue for acoustic and jazz musicians, with ambitions of hosting DJs on the weekends and building a parklet for live music on Polk Street once they secure the necessary permits.
Niboli and Rodriguez say they make up for their lack of industry experience with tenacity. “I truly believe that we can make it something special,” Niboli said.
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
For now, they’re still working on sealing leaks and sourcing an artist to paint the mural that Niboli envisioned the first time he saw the building. But they’re optimistic about opening Innerbloom’s doors by next January, if not before.
“I truly believe that we can make it something special,” Niboli said. “We like the challenge.”
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