Regulars return to Rumpus Room
Beloved SoMa bar reopens after COVID shutdown
They described it as a homecoming.
Old friends embraced, seeing each other for the first time in almost 16 months. They raised their pints of West Coast IPAs to toast the occasion. Outside, on Sixth Street in SoMa, it might have looked like a regular Tuesday afternoon, but inside the Rumpus Room, it was a fullon celebration — marking the first time this beloved dive bar was reopening since the original COVID19 shutdown on March 16, 2020.
By 3:30 p.m., a dozen or so people had populated bar seats. Beyond the bar, a spinning disco ball was providing sparkly flashes inside the dim, redlit room, a dark oasis from the bright afternoon sun outside.
“It’s my home away from home,” said Erik Parra, who had ordered a beer and a mezcal shot. He’d started coming to this bar when it was under its previous ownership, known as the Showdown, since his office was just around the corner. It was his afterwork drinking spot about four times a week, he said. Tuesday was his first time being inside a bar without a mask since the pandemic began. It felt surreal.
Mike Amaral, a longtime regular, moved from the Bay Area to Las Vegas in May. He’d flown back to San Francisco just for the Rumpus Room’s reopening day.
“We all became involuntarily connected,” he said of the commu
nity that had formed within the bar. “We may not have all worked in the same industry or had much in common, but we all loved it here.”
When he moved to Las Vegas, Amaral had worried that some of his favorite San Francisco establishments might not make it.
“I kind of assumed everything would close forever,” he said. Being back now, sitting at the bar among
Hours: Open 2 p.m.-2 a.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
Location: 10 Sixth St., San Francisco.
Contact: 415-795-1413 or www.therumpusroomsf.com