Tadich Grill, the oldest restaurant in San Francisco and at 171 years the third oldest in the country, found out this week that it would take up to $ 31,000 a month to keep him afloat after being almost completely closed since March due to the pandemic.
The money comes from the Barstool Fund, a $ 19 million pool set up by the company’s controversial sports website Barstool Sports, as well as donations from celebrities and the general public. The fund supports small businesses affected by the pandemic and the related strike of restaurants and other businesses. The Buich family, who own the classic seafood restaurant, learned of the financial support on Wednesday.
“The Barstool Fund is a lifeline,” said Yvette Buich, who runs the restaurant with her husband Mike. ‘It does not cover the rising bills we have accumulated since we were forced to close in March, but it only helps with the basics of owning a restaurant in the city. The timing could not have been better as all other sources of money are gone or have stopped. ”
That includes more than $ 69,000 that the restaurant raised through a GoFundMe account, said Buich, who came out of nearly eight years of retirement to return to work as a nurse while the restaurant closed. she gives coronavirus vaccines at long-term care institutions. The restaurant was only open for pick-up and drop-off during the summer and was able to pay its employees from March to August using business and personal savings, including Mike Buich’s retirement account, his daughter Melanie Pipas said.
When they apply to the Barstool Fund, they ask for $ 31,000 a month to cover ongoing expenses that did not go away while closed, such as property taxes, utilities, insurance and equipment rentals, Pipas said. The family owns the building in downtown San Francisco.
Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, posted on Twitter on Thursday a video of a call with Pipas’ sister Jen Whitaker about the fund.
“It doesn’t have to matter – you’re in San Francisco, where connections are just as bad as anywhere,” Portnoy said in the call. “We want to be there. We want to help. ”
In a separate video, Portnoy said the Barstool Fund was started with $ 500,000 from the company and then supplemented with crowdfunding, similar to a Gofundme account. The fund has helped nearly 90 small businesses, mostly on the East Coast, including restaurants, sports bars, hair salons and dry cleaners. Tadich Grill is the first Bay Area company to receive it.
According to Pipas, the family is not aware of Portnoy’s history of making racist and misogynistic remarks or the allegations of sexual harassment against him. Last summer, remarks he made in 2016 comparing former 49ers full-back Colin Kaepernick to Osama bin Laden surfaced on social media. The Buich family has in the past been embroiled in its own allegations of racism, linked to a family member who is no longer in business.
“There is no room for racism and racist comments,” Pipas said. “Wherever he has in his heart the ability to make a significant difference for small businesses, he does, and for that we are grateful.”
The family members of Buich have all repeatedly reiterated the importance of the funding, as loans from the government wage were used up for protection program and the restaurant did not qualify for state or local grants. The family kept hearing from loyal customers how much the restaurant meant to them, which is one of the main reasons they want to hang on until the city can resume indoor meals.
“We feel like we’re going to make it now,” Buich said. “It gives us the necessary boost until we can reopen our doors with at least 50 percent capacity.”
Tara Duggan is the San Francisco Chronicle’s assistant food editor. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @taraduggan