RIP Franchises of our youths

[Drunk Monk]

Having a sad. I didn't hang out here much, but I did go a few times, once for a memorial for a dear friend. 

Legendary San Francisco bar and venue closes after over 60 years
By Timothy Karoff, Culture ReporterAug 18, 2025

A Tenderloin landmark, popular among San Francisco’s punks and writers, has closed its doors. Edinburgh Castle, the two-story Geary Street dive, poured its last drink this month, ending a decades-long run starting in 1959.



Tay Kim, who has owned the bar since 1999, first confirmed the closure to Broke-Ass Stuart. U.S. Bank foreclosed on the property in February after the bar’s owner allegedly stopped making payments on a loan, and Edinburgh Castle went into receivership in June, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. (SFGATE and the Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.) SFGATE was unable to confirm the bar’s exact date of closure, and Kim did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
The pub, recognizable for its rare indoor smoking room and the Scottish flags lining the walls, made for an ideal filming location for a classic barroom shot. Scenes from “Venom” and “So I Married an Axe Murderer” were shot in Edinburgh Castle. The bar was also a hub for the local arts scene. Edinburgh Castle was a venue for at least one Noise Pop concert, plus scores of punk shows in the early 2000s.
“In the early 2000’s when I was finally old enough to attend bar shows, Edinburgh was one of the best spots for underground music in the entire city,” Fred Schrunk, co-owner of the Knockout, wrote in an email to SFGATE. “Whoever was booking back then really had their finger on the pulse of outsider music.”
“Really sad to see it go,” Schrunk added. “Hopefully whoever takes it over does something remotely cool with the space, but I won’t hold my breath.”
In the wake of the pandemic, the bar remained an occasional concert venue, hosting recent shows for Psyched! Fest and Tenderloin Music and Arts Festival. Earlier this month, Edinburgh Castle hosted a three-band concert, advertised as “Cumbia at the Castle,” and had another concert planned for Aug. 23, which has since been canceled.


Owner and bartender Tay Kim takes a moment from behind the bar for a portrait and some amazing stories from his classic San Francisco bar Edinburgh Castle.
Kevin Kelleher/Special to SFGATE
The bar also enjoyed a spell as a literary hub in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Local writer Alan Black, then-Edinburgh Castle’s bar manager and bartender, brought fellow authors into the bar’s orbit, including Irvine Welsh, the Scottish author of “Trainspotting.” The bar hosted four months of sold-out play performances of the book before it was adapted into a 1996 movie that went on to earn critical acclaim. At one point, the bar hosted regular readings with local writers, as well as visits from established pens like Aimee Bender and Pushcart Prize winner Kim Addonizio.
Tay Kim started working as a waiter at the pub in 1994 and became owner in 1999. He purchased its building in 2010, and in 2019, Kim listed Edinburgh Castle for sale for $3.995 million, a deal that included the business, its building and its liquor license. Business was slow, Kim told SF Weekly at the time, in part due to the city’s changing demographics. “Different crowd, not a drinking one,” he said. “In the past it was more of a band watching, drinking one but they’ve either started families and/or moved out of the city. The recent ‘tech’ transplants are not drinkers or social.”
Apparently, the business did not change hands, since Kim remained the Castle’s owner until this month, when the bar closed for good.