Iconic bar to close

The Prince of Wales Pub at 106 E. 25th Ave. will close its doors and shut off the neon fish ‘n’ chips sign on Jan 21. The building where the bar began more than 50 years ago was recently sold and the new owner is giving current owner Jack Curry the boot. The new owner, Warren Chapman, is already creating a bar on the second floor and plans on taking over the ground floor. He was recently issued a liquor license and plans to call the place "The Swinging Door,” Curry said.

The pub once hosted the Kingston Trio, Ronald Reagan and Bing Cosby, but is better known by locals as the best kept secret in town. People can lie low, talk for hours and play a great game of darts.

News of the closure spread quickly yesterday when Curry placed a stack of newsletters on the bar announcing the closure. Some regulars received the newsletter in the mail. The hand-written note to regulars shocked most patrons.

"I didn’t want 32 years of pub ownership to end this way. I am very sorry for all our great friends who have made the pub a most unique, fun spot,” Curry said in the newsletter.

The sad tale gives new meaning to drowning your sorrows in a glass of beer.

"It’s an institution ... This is like the Cheers pub on the West Coast. You walk out and you’re friends with somebody,” said Massachusetts native Mark Allen who began visiting "the Prince” in the 1980s.

POW — affectionately referred to by regulars — attracts a wide range of visitors. Last night, an elderly British woman was there for the fish and chips, a young couple ordered their first world famous habanero burger and Allen, a salesman, traded stories with a former Silicon Valley executive. About a dozen people congregated in the dingy British style pub last night — some unaware of the bar’s impending going-out-of-business party.

The pub’s history is written on the walls of cozy establishment. Old newspaper articles run like wallpaper in some sections. The pub was most recently mentioned this summer in Rolling Stone magazine for selling the habanero burger — the self-proclaimed hottest burger in the world. The magazine featured the burger after the Daily Journal ran an article featuring Curry and the burger.

There are pictures of famous visitors and names of favorite regulars. The Kingston Trio played some of their first shows upstairs. Ronald Reagan bought patrons a round of beer in 1964 during a stop on his road to state governor. Famous crooner Bing Cosby quietly sipped Bass Ale at the far end of pub between 1970 and 1974.

That’s a small taste of the pub’s history and its crowd.

"It’s a fine place to come and talk about anything you want to, sports to politics,” said Rick Harper of San Mateo.

Harper was drinking his 2,999th beer — one away from winning his free trip to London. Curry established the Beers of the World club in 1979. One must drink 30 international beers to be inducted. On the third trip around the world, Curry awards the patron with an engraved beer stein that hangs above the bar. On the 300th trip around the world, Curry awards a round trip ticket to London.

Curry has a similar American Beer Club that awards a trip to Hawaii and a stay in his personal condo.

Since its inception, the pub has issued 14 trips to London and 12 to Hawaii, Curry said.

The pub brings in a regular crowd. Business is never off by more than 5 or 10 percent in any given month. The pub hosts regular dart tournaments, Jazz nights and serves up Curry’s homemade chili every Thursday — for 970 weeks, Curry said.

"In the last year or so, between the Villa [Hotel], Bay Meadows, Tower [Records], Albertsons, everything is kind of spiraling away,” Curry said.

Curry is seriously considering re-opening in a new location, leaving behind a storied past at the current location. But, it may not be the same.

"Other places have no soul. This place has soul. How are you going to recreate that?” asked Mike Maguire, who plays acoustic rock at the pub on Thursday. Last night was his last show.

Maybe the new owner, who could not be reached for this article, is planning to recreate the feeling. The pub’s reported new name, "The Swinging Door” isn’t new at all. It is the name originally given to the pub when opened in 1955 by the Fey brothers, grandsons of Charles Fey, the inventor of the slot machine.

Ken Gilley purchased the pub in 1971, named it Prince of Wales and developed the cozy atmosphere people know today. Curry, a then 28-year-old quality assurance manager at Anchor Brewery in San Francisco, purchased the pub after Gilley asked to run a ‘for sale’ add in a dart newsletter he managed.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.