Tornado: Legendary Beer Bar Might Not Be Getting Sold to a ‘Crypto Bro’

A contentious purchase of longtime Haight Street bar Toronado has gone Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Days after would-be buyer Orion Parrott visited the bar with a San Francisco Chronicle reporter and photographer — a visit that devolved into chaos and shouts — current owner Dave Keene’s lawyers told Parrot that the sale was off, supposedly because Parrot didn’t waive “certain contingencies within a given period of time,” the Chronicle reports. Parrott told the paper that he can’t waive those contingencies because he’s waiting on paperwork from Keene. So for now, the sale of a neighborhood institution and one of the city’s most important beer bars is on ice.

Toronado is closing because Keene, who opened the bar in 1987 and also founded the Barleywine Festival, is retiring. Parrott, a former Raytheon employee and current crypto entrepreneur, seemed like an odd match for Tornado, an old-school place that doesn’t even take credit cards. When the San Francisco Standard broke the news in March that he was buying Tornado, the paper called him a “tech bro” and quoted a group chat message where he said that he was trying to build “the next great San Francisco food & beverage brand in the steps of Blue Bottle.” The Standard also reported that Parrott planned to launch a ToronadoCash crypto coin, but the reaction from the bar’s regulars was so negative he gave up on the idea, he told the Chron.

The reaction to Parrott himself also seems harsh. The Chron came to the bar with Parrott to interview and shoot photos on Friday, May 30. The atmosphere was tense, and bartenders cursed at Parrott, the reporter, and the photographer — they were particularly annoyed by the idea of the photographer taking pictures of staff and patrons. By the time they left, Keene was calling the reporter to make it clear he was still the owner. “I own the Toronado! He does not!” Keene told the paper “over and over.”

Parrott told the Chron that his plans for the space included a 3,000-square-foot rooftop bar and that the former Rosamunde location next door is included in the $1.75 million asking price. Parrott plans to open that as a restaurant again.

But now it’s unclear whether any of those plans will come to fruition. Per the Chron, Keene and Parrott have not spoken directly, only worked together through the brokers handling the sale, and now Keene seems like he doesn’t want to sell, or at least not to Parrott.