Bar Oliver, a popular New York City restaurant and vermouth bar, is slated to open in Pacific Heights as part of the Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project.
Provided by Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project
Before starting a small nightlife empire in New York City, Aisa Shelley worked in the Bay Area’s restaurant and hotel industry. He and his business partners went on to open hotspots in Manhattan, including hip, Asian-inspired bar Mr. Fongs, hotel bar Primo’s and Bar Oliver, a Basque-inspired restaurant and vermouth spot.
Shelley is now planning a homecoming of sorts in San Francisco, where he will open the second location of Bar Oliver at 2259 Fillmore St. in Pacific Heights, he confirmed to the Chronicle. The restaurant, which was first reported by the San Francisco Business Times, is in its early planning stages and does not yet have an estimated opening date.
“I spent my teens and early twenties in the East Bay and San Francisco and cut my teeth in hospitality there,” Shelley wrote in an email. “For my partners, it’s an opportunity to celebrate the Bay Area’s extraordinary culinary traditions and its access to the best produce and ingredients.” Shelley’s business partners at Bar Oliver in New York City and San Francisco include Daniel Bennett, Evan Bennett and Jonas Lafortezza.
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Bar Oliver is the latest restaurant slated to open on a stretch of Fillmore Street, between Clay and Pine streets, where the at-times controversial Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project has spent more than $100 million to rev up commercial activity. The investment is led by billionaire venture capitalist Neil Mehta, who, in the wake of pandemic closures and vacancies in the area, bought several properties on Fillmore with the goal of bringing new businesses into the neighborhood where he grew up. This sparked concerns that longstanding businesses could be displaced from the neighborhood.
Bar Oliver will open on the corner of Fillmore and Clay streets, next to the historic Clay Theater.
Brian Feulner/Special to The Chronicle
Cody Allen, executive director of the Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project, said that the team selected Bar Oliver for the space. He visited Bar Oliver on a recent trip to New York, and has mutual friends with Shelley. “We prefer to seek out specific tenants for our spaces, or operators we believe will bring a unique approach to a concept or business type that we feel the neighborhood needs,” he wrote in an email to the Chronicle.
Bar Oliver opened in 2024 in Lower Manhattan, quickly becoming a destination for pintxos, the skewered snacks eaten at bars in Spain’s Basque Country, and vermouth on tap. Bar Oliver also serves patatas bravas, “bikini” sandwiches — stuffed with ham and cheese, toasted and cut into triangles — and larger entrees such as a dry-aged ribeye with piquillo pepper jus. It offers all-day service, from coffee in the morning through dinner.
The San Francisco location will mostly mirror the original, but unlike its New York counterpart, which only serves beer and wine, it will have a full bar, Shelley said. He also plans to install an open hearth where cooks will grill whole fish and steaks over open fire.
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Bar Oliver will take over a space last occupied by boutique Alice & Olivia. It shares a structure with the historic Clay Theater, which screened foreign, art house and cult-classic films for more than 110 years until its closure in 2020. (The Clay is currently being restored as part of the Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project and could open by next year.)
As the Upper Fillmore project took shape over the last several years, displacement fears swirled among established business owners. Some, such as 46-year old sushi restaurant Ten-Ichi, have since closed but others, including the decades-old La Mediterranee, were able to negotiate a lease extension.
When it opens, Bar Oliver will be within shouting distance of new spots from Pim Techamuanvivit, chef-owner of Michelin-starred Thai restaurants Kin Khao and Nari. Her casual curry-and-noodle spot Khao Soi Shop is moving into a vacant Starbucks at 2222 Fillmore St., while the owners of Michelin-starred Korean restaurant Ssal are opening a steakhouse at 2001 Fillmore St. In August, Mehta’s group purchased the building at 2035-2047 Fillmore St., previously home to four small storefronts, with plans to transform it into a single restaurant, the Business Times reported.