A Peninsula drinking tradition

A trip to Molloy’s Tavern can feel like a journey back in time. Numerous black and white pictures and old newspapers line the walls, revealing that this old-style Irish pub has been around for a very long time.

This watering hole is in Colma, but its mailing address is in South San Francisco. It has been a local fixture since 1937, offering a place to relax with a drink, meet up with friends or even celebrate. It has stayed pretty much the same since the beginning, but that’s just the way the owners (and customers) like it, said proprietor Owen Molloy, 39.

"We don’t change much around here,” Molloy said. "Any changes, people talk about.”

The building on Mission Road that houses the tavern has been standing since 1883, when it was built as a hotel. It’s one of the oldest buildings on the Peninsula, Molloy said. His father’s family immigrated from Ireland in 1906 and his grandfather bought the building in 1927. He leased it out for 10 years and then took it over and started Molloy’s. His father chose the name Molloy’s Springs for the business on a trip to Calistoga with some friends, Molloy said, and that name stuck for quite a while. It only changed to its current name in 1982 and their liquor license is still under Molloy’s Springs.

The tavern is across the street from Holy Cross Cemetery (the building was built five years before), and that was one of the main reasons Molloy said his grandfather bought the place. It’s an Irish tradition to go have a drink after burying a loved one, he said, and so his grandfather bought it to serve as somewhere people could host wakes after funerals.

Molloy’s Tavern has seen a variety of history over the years — evidence can be found in the pictures and newspapers on the walls. When boxing was outlawed in San Francisco in the early 1900s, Molloy said the fights moved to Colma. There used to be a training facility up the road from the tavern, and boxers would grab a beer at Molloy’s when they were out running. Later in the 1950s and 1960s, the community was a prominent drag racing spot, he said, and there were races on the street out in front of the tavern. In the 1970s, Evel Knievel once rode through the bar, Molloy said.

And the tavern itself has worn a number of hats — it was an (unsanctioned) casino when it first began in the 1930s, Molloy said, and there’s even a story that it was a brothel at one time.

"This was the Wild Wild West back here,” Molloy said.

Today, Molloy’s also caters to sports fans. Customers can relax and watch a number of sports including football, basketball and baseball on the tavern’s televisions. If patrons are feeling especially competitive, they can try their hand at pool or darts.

Despite the years, the tavern still has an Irish pub feel today, Molloy said. They have a lot of working class and union customers, and still host celebrations after funerals. A local Irish step-dancing school holds classes upstairs from the bar, and every first Saturday of the month the San Francisco Banjo Band plays live — the same group that’s been playing since the 1950s, Molloy said. The look of the venue itself has also remained the same over the years, he said, although his father added more of the pictures and newspapers when he took it over.

His grandfather treated everyone who came into his tavern like family, Molloy said, and that treatment of customers is how they’ve stayed open so long. They have customers who have been regulars for several decades, he said.

"They say they came here while they were visiting relatives up in that gravesite and their parents would come by and have a cocktail and they’d have a Shirley Temple or a Roy Rogers,” Molloy said.

Business has stayed good at Molloy’s over the years and has never been in danger of closing, Molloy said. Business was really down two years ago, he said, but picked up after the San Francisco Giants went to the World Series.

"There’s always someone needing to mourn a relative or celebrate a birthday,” Molloy said. "It’s home. Why have a party at your house? That’s no fun.”

While he said there’s always something that needs work in the 129-year-old building, Molloy’s Tavern is something that’s "always been” for Molloy and his family. His seven brothers and sisters still help out, Molloy said, and they all plan on keeping it "the same way forever.” There’s a possibility of having a kitchen put into the tavern, Molloy said, but he’d have to get that change past his family first.

His grandfather would love the place he began back in 1937 today, Molloy said, and he’s personally happy with the way his family’s business has been run.

"I think we do a great job of carrying on the Irish community,” Molloy said. "We keep it real around here.”

Molloy’s Tavern:

1655 Mission Road

Colma, South San Francisco, CA 94080

(650) 755-1580

Sunday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-1:45 a.m.

www.molloyscolma.com/