Related Articles: Restaurants, All

Alexander's Buys Bacar

Cupertino steakhouse takes over once-trendy San Francisco eatery.

by Stett Holbrook on Apr 27, 2010
 Email  Print Share

Alexander’s Steakhouse in Cupertino has purchased Bacar restaurant in San Francisco. Bacar will close May 7 and reopen under the Alexander’s name this summer.

For Alexander’s, one of Silicon Valley’s premier fine dining restaurants, the move marks the beginning of a new era. For Bacar, it’s the end of the road.

“You achieve some success and want to expand your business model,” says Alexander’s owner James “JC” Chen. “We’re going to see if we can step it up a notch.”

Chen said he and Executive Chef Jeffrey Stout had been looking for the right opportunity in San Francisco for a few years when a broker told them Bacar might be available. The restaurant was never listed for sale.

“This one just kind of fell in our lap,” he says.

Chen had been approached by restaurant groups to open locations in Las Vegas and Los Angeles but, he prefers to expand closer to home for now.

Alexander’s offers a menu of premium dry aged and Kobe-style beef as well as Asian leaning line up of seafood and appetizers backed by an comprehensive wine list and professional staff, 50 percent of whom have been with the restaurant since it opened five years ago. The food at the new San Francisco restaurant, which will also be called Alexander’s, will be virtually the same. Stout will be executive chef for both restaurants.

As part of the sale, Chen agreed to retain as many of Bacar’s staff as possible.

“I don’t want to put anyone on the street,” he says.

Bacar, located on Brannan Street near AT&T Park, was not the high-flying restaurant it once was when it debuted in 2000 at the height of the free-spending days of the dot-com era. There had been several staff changes in the kitchen and dining room that at times produced inconsistent meals. Since the original owners sold it in 2007, the restaurant had undergone several changes and appeared to be working to redefine itself.

Chen says he will make minimal changes to the restaurant before he opens.
He hopes to be able to compete with San Francisco heavy weight restaurants like Gary Danko, Michael Mina and La Folie. He’s and his staff will take possession of the restaurant May 10.

“If we can make a name for ourselves in San Francisco, my goodness, imagine the possibilities.”



by Stett Holbrook on Apr 27, 2010
 Email  Print Share