The Liberties, the longtime Irish bar and restaurant at Guerrero and 22nd streets in San Francisco, has closed indefinitely, leaving the future of a Mission District institution uncertain.
Owner Ian Duggan said financial problems, including a legal dispute over a business loan, have made it difficult to keep the restaurant open. He told Mission Local, which first reported the closure, that he is trying to resolve the dispute and is considering finding a new operator to take over the business.
Duggan announced on Instagram in September that The Liberties would close for Labor Day and reopen the following Tuesday. It never did.
Kalamata Capital Group LLC, as assignee of Black Olive Capital LLC, sued Duggan and several entities tied to The Liberties in a commercial breach-of-contract case.
Duggan said the lawsuit involves nearly $160,000 in unpaid debt after penalties, attorney fees and interest. He said liens tied to the dispute have also frozen payroll funds, and he is using his remaining personal money to pay attorneys and get the funds released so employees can receive their final paychecks.
The Liberties has been a fixture on the corner for more than 25 years. The pub opened in 2000, serving food and drinks, and Duggan, a longtime customer and neighbor, took over in 2019.
Under Duggan, the bar continued to host the neighborhood rituals that made it a gathering place, including trivia and bingo nights, live music and jam sessions.
During the pandemic, the restaurant offered $5 meals to people in need, with Duggan saying that as many as 9,000 meals were distributed.
In 2020, The Liberties was one of eight Bay Area restaurants selected by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan to receive $100,000 in food orders during the COVID-19 shutdown. The money helped keep the restaurants operating while providing meals to health care and frontline workers.
Duggan said he still hopes to find a way forward, though he does not have a reopening timeline.
He would prefer to keep running The Liberties himself, he told Mission Local, but is willing to hand it over to someone else if that gives the bar a chance to survive.