Port of SF tells longtime SF waterfront restaurant Sinbads its time to go

Last call is looming for longtime waterfront restaurant Sinbad's.

The restaurant's landlord, the Port of San Francisco, wants Sinbad's gone from its prime location on Pier 2 near the Ferry Building by March 21.

With its unmatched views of the Bay Bridge, Sinbad's has been a waterfront institution in The City since the 1970s. Despite decidedly mixed reviews from diners along with repeated warnings from the Public Health Department about food-safety issues the restaurant is a popular cocktail destination for service-industry workers, locals and tourists.

Sinbad's has also been a thorn in the Port's side, documents show.

It has often been late with rent payments and has bounced checks at one time the eatery owed the Port $220,000. Sinbad's also has caused at least five sewage leaks into San Francisco Bay over the past six years, the most recent of which was in January, according to a Port memo.

The restaurant is currently in the clear with its rent after paying $142,000 to the Port. But other major agencies along the waterfront say it is past time for Sinbad's to go.

The Port is on notice from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which oversees waterfront activity, to demolish Pier 2 entirely by March, a deadline agreed to during the negotiations leading up to the America's Cup regatta in 2013.

An expansion of The City's downtown ferry terminal is also on hold until the restaurant leaves. That terminal is a vital transit hub for the Water Emergency Transportation Agency, which is tasked with figuring out how to evacuate San Francisco via water in the event of a disaster that knocks out the Bay Bridge and/or BART Transbay Tube.

Sinbad's owners, the Stinson brothers, agreed to go.

The restaurant said in 2012 it would close by Dec. 31, 2014. At that time, co-owner Tom Stinson thanked the Port for allowing the restaurant to stay until then. But last summer, Sinbad's asked for and received an extension from the Port to stay until March 21 of this year, with the stipulation that there would be no more extensions.

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Port of SF tells longtime SF waterfront restaurant Sinbads its time to go