Longtime San Francisco saloon owner passes away

[Auggie]

Richard Simmons, who owned and operated Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe, one of the most celebrated bars in San Francisco’s North Beach, died Wednesday morning. Mr. Simmons, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, was 88.

Mr. Simmons, who was always called “Specs,” was one of the last of the old-school San Francisco bar owners, much admired by his customers and the North Beach community.

“He was one of the great, great saloon keepers of our time,” said Janet Clyde, an owner of Vesuvio’s, another famous bar just across Columbus Avenue from Specs’.

Mr. Simmons bought a rundown bar in 1968 and turned it into something special.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Richard-Specs-Simmons-popular-owner-of-9967709.php

Specs is located next to Tosca Cafe on Columbus Avenue. Any longtime San Franciscan has probably stopped by one time or another for a drink -- or at least walked by the place. You mention Specs and Simmons in the same breath as Ed Moose (Washington Square Bar & Grill) Enrico Banducci (Hungry i & Enrico's), Jeannette Etheredge (Tosca), Mario Crismani (Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe) ...

I remember him. Nice guy. Another S.F. icon gone ...

[Brother Buzz]

1. Right across Columbus from City Lights, too

Always cracked me up that Specs was connected to the strip joint upstairs. It wasn't until I made a wrong turn in the maze of passageways returning from the restroom and I ended up in the strip joint that I solved the riddle of why exotic women were always mysteriously appearing in Specs, then just as mysteriously, disappear.