21 Club to Shutter As Big and Its Former Bartenders Each Plan New Downtown Bars

Big, the itty-bitty cocktail bar that's been much-lamented since its 2013 shutter, is coming back in a big way—as two separate projects, it turns out. Owners Pete Glickshtern, Jordan Langer, Ryan Melchiano and Ryan Hisamune are planning to take over long-running Tenderloin dive 21 Club and turn it into a new iteration of Big, under the same name. But they'll be doing it without Brian Felley and Mo Hodges, the two bartenders who custom-crafted drinks for patrons during Big's brief run—and are plotting a cocktail bar of their own, Benjamin Cooper, just down the way.

Inside Scoop got the jump on Big 2.0, which will be right across the street from the first location of Daniel Patterson and Roy Choi's forthcoming healthy fast-food chain, Loco'l. The space is roughly as small as Big's former home, and the partners (some of whom also run the Mission's Oddjob, which has a Big-like bar-within-a-bar called SRO), plan to keep it as similar as possible, including the menu-free, bespoke format. The 21 Club will remain open for another couple of months until the liquor license transfers over, with Big making its debut in early summer.

Meanwhile, Felley and Hodges are working on putting together Benjamin Cooper, which will be housed in the new Hotel G (also home to 398 Restaurant and Bar and Klyde Cafe & Wine Bar). Tablehopper reports that the duo are planning to have approximately 50 seats, as well as an oyster bar, and that the bar will open really soon, possibly in the next couple of weeks. (The name is an amalgam of their parents' surnames.) In the meantime, drinkers can sample their cocktails at 398, where they're also doing the menu.