Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. The Bold Italic staff has spent a decent amount of our drinking (and pretzel-eating) time at The Orbit Room Cafe, so when we read Hoodline’s post about the Market Street bar’s somewhat abrupt closure last week, we felt a profound sadness.The Orbit Room was a gem of a bar. It had charming Art Deco details, you could usually find a seat during happy hour, the pizza was good, and no one was ever putting on airs there.
After the Hoodline story came out, I went down to the bar to get more details on the closure, and although there was no one to talk to when I stopped by, I was touched that Kymberly Pipkin, sister of Orbit Room owner Jay Johnson, responded to a note I tucked into the door.
Pipkin emailed, “I just picked up your note today in the Orbit Room as I met the property manager who will be marketing the location for the owners of the building. Sadly, my brother, Jay Johnson, passed away on March 21, 2015. He had been unable to negotiate a new lease with the owners’ agent that would have allowed us to carry on with the Orbit Room. Very sad — my brother was at this location for over 20 years and designed and built the interior himself.”
I never knew that Johnson gave the Orbit Room its unique look and feel, and it’s certainly something I’ll miss. Pipkin added, “My brother lived in the Lower Haight for over 30 years and loved his neighborhood, even through some very dodgy times. He had an independent streak a mile wide, an entrepreneurial spirit, and was a very talented singer and musician. Glad to know so many others will miss him too.”
Regulars like Olivia Warnecke have made their mourning known on social media. Warnecke reflected on the special neighborhood spot in an email to me, “I lived a block up the hill from the Orbit Room from 1994–2005. During the ’90s, I spent almost every day there, either studying for a final, writing papers, doing laundry next door, or skipping classes to hang out with the other regulars. I met some of my closest friends there. It was my second home. Highlights included: the many scooter rallies that would meet there, the day 9/11 happened when we all gravitated down there for shots of Fernet, writing art papers over beers on those damned cone tables that left bruises for days, neighbors bringing their parrots in to have a ‘drink,’ walking out with blue lemonades and just taking the drink home, reading the paper in the morning over a bagel while Chet Baker played on the jukebox, Alberta bringing her ferrets into the bar. Times change, I get it … but that place had a huge impact on my life. Lots of strong bonds.”
There’s no news of who the new owners of the space will be yet, but they certainly have large shoes to fill. If you’ve never been to Orbit Room but like the sounds of what Johnson was about, you can visit his other beloved bar, Club Deluxe, at 1511 Haight Street. Club Deluxe has an equally loyal fanbase, having over the years hosted excellent jazz and comedy shows, as well as serving killer pizza and their signature greyhounds with fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. Johnson’s friends Sarah Wilde and her husband Chris Pankow are taking over there and they’ll have a drink waiting for you.
[Photo by rick via Flickr]
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