Philz Coffee to Close Original Cafe in the Mission District

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.

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