Popular downtown Santa Rosa bar and lounge Upper Fourth has shuttered.
Color me as surprised as anyone, because in this economy, if anything can survive it’s a bar. But Saturday (9/20) was the final night for the almost three-year-old cocktail fixture on the square. Signs posted on the door confirm the closure.
UPDATE: I spoke to owner Molly Gallaher, about her decision to close. She tells BiteClub that the bar did well the first couple of years but that she’s “ready for new opportunities”. That translates to her father (Oakmont developer Bill Gallaher, who was a major investor in the lounge venture) offering her a job at a Palm Desert retirement community. Gallaher told me she would be on a plane south within a few hours to start the new gig. As for the bar? She says its just “done.”
Gallaher did confirm that she’s had 4-5 interested buyers contact her after hearing the news of the closure but isn’t ready to say who.
Karen Kirn, a BiteClubber who was at the bar on Saturday, says it seemed like businesses as usual — with no public announcements about the closure — but a teary waitress confided in her that Saturday was the final night. Kirn confirmed that Gallaher was telling patrons she planned to moved on to something new. At that point, Kirn says she sent a flurry of texts to let friends know the bar was closing. “People were really surprised,” she said.
It’s a bit of a shocker for the downtown scene, but it seems plausible that someone will take over the space soon.
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