End of an Era

Click on the blog title for the complete article. My friend Laura emailed me an article from the San Fran Examiner that has brought a tear to my eye. Our (me and my friends back home) version of the bar "Cheers" is closing it's doors after 36 years!!!! Yes, the home of the Habanero Hamburger and the Windsor Burger and the home of the best Fish and Chips in the area according to famed Columnist Herb Caen; the Prince of Wales Pub in San Mateo is closing it's doors. Apparently Jack Curry (the Pub's owner) doesn't own the building (I thought he did) and the owner of said property wants to open a bar of his own?????? WTF????? Number 1 it's not in the greatest of locations. The only thing that keeps it running in spite of it's bad location is the fact that the Prince of Wales is a San Mateo institution. The High Tech companies in the area; Oracle, EA, etc often initiate Noobs by bringing them to the POW for a Habanero Hamburger. I've been frequenting this establishment since the early Nineties. We used to have a Fencing class at the College of San Mateo and used to head to the POW afterwards for dinner. Jack knew your name when you walked through the door. I can't imagine someone wanting to throw away guaranteed rental income for the risk of running a business that no one will go to because you just took away their favorite place that was there. It's like closing down the best family run Italian restaurant so you can open your own. Ah well, such is the way of things. Jack will find a new location and this replacement bar will fail. Lot's of memories........