Planning Commission Extends Café Flore’s Hours of Operation
Popular Market and Noe Street eatery to serve food to 2 a.m., have amplified music

Friends (from left to right) Spunky John, Kevyn Sulieman Speaker and David Neth enjoy a
sun-bathed meal on the sidewalk at Café Flore. Behind them, two Norwegian
tourists (left) Helge Tangen and Hans Lander (right) sample the popular restaurant’s fare.

By Jaime San Felippo

At a meeting on Dec. 6, the SF Planning Commission approved an application by Café Flore owner J.D. Petras to extend the hours and conditions of operation for the busy Castro eating establishment.

Petras is now allowed to serve food 24 hours a day and his liquor license has been extended to 2 a.m., two hours longer than currently allowed. Petras is also now legally allowed to have amplified sound at the restaurant located at the corner of Market and Noe streets.

This comes as a relief for the beloved Castro establishment, which, in recent years, has been struggling to get by. According to Petras, business loans, increased property taxes as well as two minimum wage hikes in the past five years – and another coming into effect this month – has made it increasingly difficult to keep the business running.

“With 35 employees, even a little raise in wages can make a significant impact,” said Petras, who purchased Café Flore in 2002.

The Planning Commission meeting lasted over four hours with hundreds of supporters of extending the restaurant’s hours in attendance and around 50 addressed the commission directly.
Many of the speakers conveyed heartfelt messages of support for the café and touched on the significance of Café Flore, which has been in operation for 35 years and is one of the oldest establishments in a neighborhood that many say is becoming increasingly suburbanized.

Petras was surprised and pleased at how civil attendees were, a change from past community meetings that had become contentious at times.

“It shows we can get several hundred people together and have a discussion and have everyone respect each other with out it turning into a b---- fight,” said Petras.

Conditions of Approval
According to Elizabeth Watty, a city planner who worked on the Café Flore application, Petras’ application was approved with 19 conditions and modifications.

Among these modifications, Petras is required to publicly post his contact information for community residents and neighbors in case they have any complaints or concerns to discuss.

The commission declared the restaurant must not be used as a dance club or concert venue, and that all music and entertainment is required to be kept inside the restaurant. Furthermore, Café Flore must comply with the conditions imposed by the Entertainment Commission Permit and the City’s Noise Ordinance. There will also be two unannounced sound checks by the Entertainment Commission’s Sound Technician to make sure Petras is in compliance.

The outside patio that abuts Market and Noe streets must be closed to patrons by 3 a.m. daily, and after midnight the patio must be closely monitored by Café Flore staff to ensure the patrons are respectful and quiet.

Nine months after the initial December hearing, the Planning Commission will hold an informational hearing to determine whether Café Flore has adhered to all the conditions set forth by them.

Neighborhood Reaction
The proposal to extend the hours of operation at Café Flore has been a hot issue in the neighborhood in recent years. Petras has run into opposition from neighbors, who say keeping the restaurant open 24 hours a day and serving liquor later increases the noise level at night as intoxicated people search for their cars.

Mara Feeney lives half a block away from the café and spoke at the Planning Commission meeting opposing the new operation conditions. Feeney is worried about noise containment, both with the new music rules as well as noise from late night revelers looking for their cars, a trouble she has had in the past.

“People drink booze and get happy and get loud,” said Feeney. “But I’ve also had trouble with people urinating and even defecating in front of my home.”

Feeney explained to the commission other concerns about the new permits and the future of Café Flore. She is worried that if the café goes out of business or is forced to sell a bar or club will move in and her small problem will turn into a neighborhood nightmare.

For now, Feeney has accepted the new conditions granted to Café Flore and hope they can live in the neighborhood harmoniously.

“I feel like we lost fair and square,” said Feeney. “And I wish J.D. the best.”
Dennis Richards is president of the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association and said many residents’ worries are the same.

“Concerns from the neighbors is that it doesn’t turn into a bar,” said Richards.

Richards said many of the residents in the neighborhood are in real estate and some of them, including himself, saw Café Flore listed on California’s Multiple Listing Service (an online resource realtors use to find information on properties for sale) in 2007, which suggested the restaurant was in real danger of closing and raised some red flags for neighbors.

Petras denied to the Courier ever putting the restaurant up for sale.

Vinny Coppy is co-owner of Baghdad Café, which sits directly across Market Street from Café Flore, and has lived close to both restaurants for 13 years. Coppy said he is in support of the changes at Café Flore as long as they keep the noise down.

The opposition Petras has run into does not surprise him.

“This used to be a wild neighborhood 15-20 years ago,” said Coppy. “But now it’s much more of a bedroom community.”

Coppy has experience with the rowdy crowd that can flood local diners after the bars close down as well as those that flood the street he lives on. He says he constantly has issues with intoxicated people wandering around and urinating on his doorstep.

Despite being his competition, Coppy said he loves to go to Café Flore with friends for coffee and conversation.

“The place has lots of good energy,” said Coppy. “Its such a scene, the building is unique and there’s just nothing like it in the city.”

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