Piattini Out, Bullitt/Tonic Guys In on Mission Street

Chef Gino Assaf took his best shot at saving his six-year-old Mission Street Italian restaurant Specchio, transforming it into a small-plates spot, Piattini, earlier this year. But the attempt to appeal to the younger Mission crowd didn't pan, and Piattini is now closed. The new tenants: the highly prolific Duncan Ley and Benjamin Bleiman, who also own Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem—right next door. Yup, that's right, the bro-bar kings (also of Bullitt, Tonic, Lightning Tavern, Soda Popinski, Wild Hare, and the now-shuttered Royal Tug Yacht Club and Rebel) are increasing their foothold in the Mission. Their takeover of Assaf's roomy, two-story restaurant space, with a tentative moniker of The Buffalo Club, is intended to complement both Dr. Teeth and the neighborhood; it comes with a prized full liquor license.

Ley and Bleiman, along with partners Mark Devito and Joshua Callen, are no strangers to opening multiple bars in a small area; Bullitt and Tonic have been operating almost next door to one another on Polk Street for years. Given their 7/8 track record of successful bars and the continuing popularity of their current formula (wings, sliders, cheap beer, Fernet and Fireball on tap), it seems that we could soon be seeing a lot more of this type of establishment (and its patrons) in the Mission. No details yet on when the new concept is slated to open.

—Ellen Fort