TV Restaurants

What Happened to Sam Jordan's Bar After Bar Rescue? (San Francisco, CA)

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Sam Jordan's Bar has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, September 2026.

Primary source
Wikipedia ·
Secondary source
savingplaces.org ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Wikipedia's entry on the San Francisco Designated Landmark documents the bar's closure in November 2019 after financial struggles; the National Trust for Historic Preservation's coverage of the same building independently corroborates the closure and its Bayview community history.

  • Season / episode Season 5, Episode 8
  • Original air date
  • Address 4004 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94124

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What happened after Bar Rescue?

Sam Jordan's Bar in San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood, a fixture on 3rd Street since 1959, was featured on "Bar Rescue" in the episode "Gettin' Jigger With It." The bar carried significant local history: it was founded by Sam Jordan, a light-heavyweight boxer and World War II Navy veteran who won a championship diamond belt in 1948, and it had operated for decades as one of San Francisco's oldest Black-owned bars and a gathering place for the Bayview community. By the time of the 2016 episode, the bar was facing the kind of declining sales, dated interior, and inconsistent drink program that typically bring a bar to Jon Taffer's attention. The rescue team remodeled the space and refreshed its bar program while keeping the Sam Jordan's Bar name intact, treating it as a neighborhood institution rather than a candidate for rebranding.

That respect for the bar's history was formalized outside the show as well: the building had been designated San Francisco Landmark No. 263 in February 2013, a status noted in later encyclopedic coverage of the site and unrelated to the television rescue itself.

The "Bar Rescue" remodel and the landmark status were not enough to keep the bar financially stable long-term. Sam Jordan's Bar closed in November 2019, according to coverage summarized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and by Wikipedia's entry on the building, both of which attribute the closure to years of financial strain that predated the bar's final months. Reporting compiled around the closure pointed to a predatory lending arrangement as a significant contributor to the bar's debt burden in its last years, though the full financial history behind that arrangement was not independently verified for this summary.

The Bayview storefront has remained closed since 2019. Some later reporting referenced efforts by newer operators to revive a bar under the Sam Jordan's name at the same address, but no dated, corroborating source confirming an actual reopening was found during this research, so the location is treated here as closed pending further confirmation.

Featured on Bar Rescue

Season / episode
Season 5, Episode 8
Original air date
Episode title
Gettin' Jigger With It
What was featured
A historic Bayview bar's remodel and drink-program refresh
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Sam Jordan's Bar

Frequently asked questions

Is Sam Jordan's Bar still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Sam Jordan's Bar has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, September 2026.

What happened to Sam Jordan's Bar after Bar Rescue?

Sam Jordan's Bar in San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood, a fixture on 3rd Street since 1959, was featured on "Bar Rescue" in the episode "Gettin' Jigger With It." The bar carried significant local history: it was founded by Sam Jordan, a light-heavyweight boxer and World War II Navy veteran who won a championship diamond belt in 1948, and it had operated for decades as one of San Francisco's oldest Black-owned bars and a gathering place for the Bayview community. As of September 2026, Sam Jordan's Bar has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, September 2026.

Is Sam Jordan's Bar permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Sam Jordan's Bar has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, September 2026. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Sam Jordan's Bar located?

4004 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94124. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Bar Rescue featured Sam Jordan's Bar?

Season 5, Episode 8 of Bar Rescue, first aired October 16, 2016. The episode is titled “Gettin' Jigger With It”.

Did the makeover last at Sam Jordan's Bar?

The episode first aired October 16, 2016. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 10 years later —: As of September 2026, Sam Jordan's Bar has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, September 2026.

Is Sam Jordan's Bar still using the Bar Rescue menu or branding?

The rescue team remodeled the space and refreshed its bar program while keeping the Sam Jordan's Bar name intact, treating it as a neighborhood institution rather than a candidate for rebranding. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
4004 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94124
Venue type
bar
Official website
None found

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Jordan%27s_Bar
  • savingplaces.org — https://savingplaces.org/stories/sam-jordans-bar-in-san-francisco

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