The fire at the Riptide burned more than the bar or the irreplaceable memorabilia that livened its interior. It burned a home away from home for many, particularly outer Sunset neighborhood residents who came to know it as a chill place: light years ahead of whatever is second place in SF’s southwest corner.
It wasn’t always that way. Twelve years ago the bar, then known as the Sand Dollar, had fallen on hard times during which rumors of crystal meth as a profit center held sway. The dying bar was a bargain that Les James (Red Meat) and David Quinby found and turned around. It wasn’t just a matter of the bar, it was community. They organized street parties, clean-up campaigns, and upped the ante for culture in the outer Sunset beyond anything it had seen since SF’s zoo opened.
The Riptide as it’s been can not be replaced, but it can be resurrected which is what the partners plan to do. After all, it’s home to them too. more
