Philz Coffee to close original SF cafe in the Mission District

“Our lease ended and we have made the difficult decision not to renew,” SF chain says

Philz Coffee founder Phil Jaber; 3101 24th Street, San Francisco (Philz Coffee, Getty)
Philz Coffee founder Phil Jaber; 3101 24th Street, San Francisco (Philz Coffee, Getty)

The original Philz Coffee in San Francisco’s Mission District will soon drip its last cup of joe.

The San Francisco-based chain will not renew its lease at its original green-colored storefront at 3101 24th Street, Mission Local reported.  

The Philz at 24th and Folsom streets, founded in 2003 and festooned with local art and a cloud-covered ceiling, will close on Oct. 16.

“We have loved serving the Mission District community over the past 20 years. After a long and fulfilling journey, our lease ended and we have made the difficult decision not to renew,” the company said in a statement.

The owner of the building was not disclosed. 

Philz, which now has dozens of cafes across the state and a handful in Chicago, was launched at the 24th Street spot in 2003 before expanding across the Bay Area. The corner cafe was previously a liquor store owned by the cafe’s founder Phil Jaber, for whom the chain is named.

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Jaber said he researched coffee for a quarter century before opening Philz, dropping in on more than 1,100 cafes and spending up to $6 at each one. The chain favors custom blends and Turkish-style coffee over espresso.

According to company lore, he perfected a drip coffee method that removed acidity from the beverage, though a former business associate claimed that method was stolen from him, according to Mission Local.

A line of Philz coffee cups pays homage to its original neighborhood, declaring the chain “Mission Made.” The company also launched a signature Mission Cold Brew.

The Mission store faced a backlash in 2020 for allegedly laying off employees who feared Covid-19 and for firing an employee who posted a meme that said, “What’s your favorite iced coffee drink, because ours is, ‘Arrest the cops that killed Breonna Taylor.’”

The coffee chain maintains 12 other locations across San Francisco.

— Dana Bartholomew

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