Heritage Happy Hour: Savoy Tivoli

Heritage Happy Hour: Savoy Tivoli

Heritage Happy Hour is a convivial “no-host” gathering of heritage professionals, young preservationists, aficionados, friends, and Legacy Business cohorts interested in safeguarding San Francisco’s unique architectural and cultural identity. We get together on the Second Thursday of each month from 5-7 pm at a registered Legacy Business bar in San Francisco.

Savoy Tivoli is a historic community bar in North Beach renowned for its cocktails, live music, and vibrant events. It originally opened in 1907 as a traditional Italian restaurant and boarding house (as "New Tivoli"), serving Italian immigrants and the working-class community who were helping to rebuild the city after the 1906 earthquake and fire. At 40 cents for a “regular meal,” which included soup, salad, pasta, veal, and fried potatoes, it offered what founder Nick Finocchio desired—a great meal at a fair price. When Finocchio could no longer provide meals at prices working-class people could afford, he sold the business to Fred Kuh in 1967.

Kuh renamed it the Savoy Tivoli, and used one bocce court inside the restaurant for screening experimental films and turned the other two courts into a theater. He also installed a silver fountain in the center of the dining room, painted the support columns with faux bark, and topped the posts with aluminum palm fronds. His connections to Truman Capote, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Bob Kaufman, and Ken Kesey brought the Beatnik crowd to the Savoy. In 1974, Steve Silver approached Kuh to launch what would later become the longest running play in the history of the United States–Beach Blanket Babylon. Though this show later moved to the larger Club Fugazi space in North Beach, its early life at the Savoy is part of its legacy as a distinctly San Francisco phenomenon.

The counterculture vibe of the Savoy made it a natural place for subversive bands to play to rowdy crowds. From early antiestablishment bands like Jefferson Airplane to headlining punk legends like the Ramones; the Savoy became one of the clubs hosting San Francisco’s emerging punk scenes. And just as impactfully, blues and jazz were featured at the Savoy. In 1983, Kuh sold the Savoy to partners Louis Magliulo and Agnes Claire Kozel. This era would start with the go-go 80s, which brought in coffee-obsessed Gen Xers and a stylish European crowd. In the 1990s, noise complaints plagued the Savoy, and their liquor license was briefly revoked. It took grassroots efforts by patrons, including then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, to get the Savoy open again.

In 2022, the Savoy, renewed with a stronger foundation, came roaring back to life as the famed and favorite North Beach establishment where art, music, drinks, and good times come to life.

Savoy Tivoli was added to the Legacy Business Registry on September 23, 2024.

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San Francisco’s Legacy Business Program is the first-of-its-kind in the U.S. The program supports and promotes iconic, small businesses over 30 years in operation that are long-standing pillars of our communities and neighborhoods.

San Francisco Heritage (est. 1971), has protected the city in the face of rapid change by advocating for historic resources, hosting educational programming, and interpreting and preserving cultural heritage. The Legacy Business Program (est. 2015) provides marketing, business assistance, and specialized grants for local small businesses included on the Legacy Business Registry.

Host or Publisher San Francisco Heritage