Rambler is a modern interpretation of a classic American restaurant or pub, with understated, elegant elements of the 1920’s Art Deco era. It is being designed to attract local residents, tourists and office workers for breakfast and lunch by day and dinner and drinks in the evening. With its breadth of food and beverage menu options, Rambler will fill a niche in the restaurant, bar and hotel industry that does not exist in the neighborhood today. It will bring an inclusive, bohemian dining and drinking experience to the Union Square and theater district, embodying an old-world feel with a little bit of a rock n’ roll flair.
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Rambler will be a beautifully designed restaurant and bar opening just a block away from Union Square, right in the heart of San Francisco. The restaurant is opening in early October and is built within Hotel Zeppelin, the newest concept in the Viceroy Hotel Group’s successful line of modern boutique hotels.
Rambler is a modern interpretation of a classic American restaurant or pub, with understated, elegant elements of the 1920’s Art Deco era. It is being designed to attract local residents, tourists and office workers for breakfast and lunch by day and dinner and drinks in the evening. With its breadth of food and beverage menu options, Rambler will fill a niche in the restaurant, bar and hotel industry that does not exist in the neighborhood today. It will bring an inclusive, bohemian dining and drinking experience to the Union Square and theater district, embodying an old-world feel with a little bit of a rock n’ roll flair.
Rambler’s menu will be centered on a bistro theme and will serve organic and locally grown vegetables as well as naturally raised meats.
Its home inside Hotel Zeppelin plays a key role in its business. After purchasing the historic Prescott Hotel in 2015, Viceroy Hotel Group renovated the space and relaunched it as Hotel Zeppelin in May 2016. Zeppelin has been one of the hottest hotel openings in San Francisco in recent memory.
Rambler is taking over the former location of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck’s first San Francisco restaurant, the iconic Postrio. From the early 1990s until its closing in 2011, Postrio was one of the city’s best and most influential restaurants. Wolfgang Puck’s famous wood fired pizza oven and grill are being renovated and refurbished for Rambler’s use.
In addition to its own dining room and bar spaces, Rambler is contracted to provide all of the food and beverage to the entire hotel. This includes staffing the hotel lobby bar, catering on-site events and providing 24-hour room service for hotel guests.
Rambler will cater to its guests with authentic cuisine, a social atmosphere and a beautifully designed dining room and bar. Business executives from the Financial District will rub elbows with the Mid Market tech crowd, members of the Olympic and Bohemian Clubs, and hipsters on their way to live music shows at The Warfield and The Fillmore.
Rambler will have its main entrance off of Post Street as well as a side entrance connecting it to the Zeppelin’s lobby. By having its own separate identity and decor, Rambler will feel like a stand-alone restaurant tailored to San Francisco locals. Rambler has hired interior designer Lori Yeomans to lead the transformation of the space’s texture and ambiance. Her portfolio includes decades of design experience and knowhow, including the tasteful designs of Chef Tyler Florence’s Wayfare Tavern (Financial District) as well as his iconic El Paseo Restaurant (Mill Valley).
The Brixton, a successful restaurant and bar opened and operated by the ownership team.
Concept development and day-to-day operations of Rambler will be overseen by veteran operators of restaurants and bars in San Francisco. With a combined experience of over 45 years in the restaurant/bar development and management business, the team behind Hat Trick Hospitality Group has an innate understanding of the requirements to run a successful venue in this market.
Together, this team of restaurateurs launched The Brixton in 2011, a uniquely American gastropub on Union Street that significantly outperformed the team’s initial forecasts. The team followed up with a second project together in 2013 with the opening of Redford, also located in Union Square. Redford has also delivered strong returns for investors within a short time period.
Rambler will be open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner and will serve brunch on weekends. A grab-and-go option and a consistent happy hour program will also serve hotel guests, neighbors, workers and shoppers throughout the week.
The restaurant will have approximately 2,675 square feet on the main floor and an additional 2,000 square feet in the bottom level.
Rambler will serve clientele both in its immediate footprint as well as the rest of the hotel. The kitchen, bar, and wait staff are contracted for all of Zeppelin. The team will be servicing the hotel’s lobby bar, providing 24-hour room service for the hotel’s 196 rooms and suites, and servicing the food and beverage needs of the game room lounge and private dining. To date, the hotel has sustained a 90%+ occupancy rate.
Hotel Zeppelin’s lobby bar and game lounge serve as an extension of the restaurant’s space
The Viceroy sales team will be booking the hotel and Rambler with a full slate of private dining and drinking events. Private banquets and events from the hotel sales staff are expected to generate approximately $4 million in annual estimated revenue – approximately half of Rambler’s total projections.
The ceiling in the bar is being raised and the old drywall will be torn down, revealing a beautiful 100-year-old brick wall that will become the new back bar. Seating in the bar area is estimated to accommodate 40 people.
The stairs guide clients from the first-floor bar down to the mezzanine level. This level is Rambler’s main dining room, holding approximately 65 guests. Seating will consist mainly of richly upholstered banquets along the walls and few booths for larger parties. A beautiful small bar will be built to enliven the dining room back and to give it more ambiance.
Rambler will be located at 545 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. The restaurant and bar will be inside Hotel Zeppelin, formerly the historic Prescott Hotel. Hotel Zeppelin, which has garnered numerous media and press mentions, channels the city’s energetic bohemian personality and caters to a diverse clientele group. Rambler will take over the former location of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck’s first San Francisco restaurant, the iconic Postrio. Located at the center of San Francisco’s Union Square and Theater District, Rambler is situated on prime real estate.
Union Square has been one of the most recognizable landmarks in San Francisco for the last 150 years. Known as San Francisco’s crown jewel of shopping, this area is one of the world’s premier shopping districts, housing one of the largest collections of department stores, upscale boutiques, art galleries and theaters in the U.S. The neighborhood is a major tourist destination and a vital, cosmopolitan gathering place in downtown San Francisco. Companies such as Twitter, Uber and many others are within walking distance. The high-density location allows Rambler to attract a large breakfast, lunch, happy hour and dinner crowd seven days a week by capitalizing on tourists, office workers and local crowds.
San Francisco is a highly populated metropolitan area, and Rambler sits on a block that is over 2700% more dense than the national average. Growth is still projected to increase by approximately 20% by 2024 (PiinPoint Data).
Within a one-mile radius, average household income is approximately 140% of the national average. Median age of 43 years old is similar to the national average of 42 years. Average expenditures are approximately 125% of the national average, and both food and alcoholic beverage spending is approximately 130% of the national average (PiinPoint Data). The area is serviced by Muni Metro street cars, buses and BART underground subway systems, and an extension of the Muni Metro is currently scheduled for completion by 2019.
Hugo is an industry veteran with nearly 30 years of experience launching and operating nearly twenty new restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
While still an undergrad at San Jose State University, he helped open six different venues in California. His success attracted the interest of Heart Throb Entertainment, the company behind New York’s famed Crobar, who recruited him right out of school to launch three nightclubs in cities throughout Southern California. In 1992, Gamboa realized his longtime dream of opening and operating his own venue, the San Jose based Dos Locos Cantina, which he ran for five years. After selling the business he teamed up with several other industry veterans to form The One Industry Group, which has become a leading restaurant, nightclub and bar management company on the West Coast.
Since 2011, Hugo has partnered with Adam Snyder and Andy Wasserman to launch and operate three restaurants: The Brixton, Redford and Sabrosa in San Francisco.
Adam Snyder began his career in the nightlife industry while studying at the University of San Francisco. After graduating, he spent the next four years working in some of San Francisco’s most popular establishments, developing a deep knowledge of what truly makes venues attractive to the consumer.
In 2003, Snyder joined forces with Hugo Gamboa and Andy Wasserman to launch his first nightclub. Over the next 6 years, Snyder owned and or managed four other ventures, ranging from neighborhood restaurants to a 26,000 square foot nightclub in Las Vegas.
In 2009, Snyder helped create and launch The Ambassador and Taverna Aventine.Now in its sixth year of business, Taverna Aventine has increased revenue every year since opening.
Over the past few years, Snyder has reunited with Hugo Gamboa and Andy Wasserman to create the The Brixton, Redford, and Sabrosa. Each location is built around a carefully crafted theme and has outperformed initial forecasts.
Andy Wasserman was born and raised in the city of San Francisco and has had an active role in shaping its ever evolving hospitality scene over the past two decades.
After graduating from USC with a degree in Entrepreneurship and Business Administration, Andy began his career as a financial consultant for Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch in downtown San Francisco. While at Merrill, Andy started to organize and promote weekend nightlife events at a variety of night clubs around San Francisco. Andy’s reputation within the bar and nightclub world began to grow, as his events drew larger and larger crowds and he turned the venture into a full-time business.
In 2003, Andy partnered up with Hugo Gamboa to open, own and manage his first venue –overnight sensation Suite 181. He was 181’s managing partner until they sold the business in 2007. He also opened the upscale bar Otis Lounge, managing its financial operations for a decade before selling the business in 2015.
In 2011, Andy once again teamed up with Hugo Gamboa and Adam Snyder to open up The Brixton restaurant on Union Street. Andy and these same operating partners then opened Sabrosa Restaurant in November of 2013.
Robert Leva has an impressive resume, having served as the Executive Chef at several high profile restaurants and venues throughout the Bay Area.
Robert Leva grew up in Binghamton, New York in a first generation Italian household. Cooking was an intrinsic part of Robert’s home, with the kitchen being the focal point of family, celebration and nourishment.
After obtaining a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and a brief stint pursuing his graduate studies, Robert realized that he needed to fully pursue his passion and switched gears. He enrolled in the culinary program at NECI in Montpelier, Vermont and began the journey he’s been on ever since.
Robert’s resume includes L’Espalier (Boston), Hamersley’s Bistro (Boston), Jardinière (San Francisco), multiple roles within the Auberge Resorts, eventually becoming the Executive Chef at Calistoga Ranch. He cooked under such renowned chefs as Chef Traci Des Jardins (James Beard Award Winner) and Chef Richard Reddington (Napa Valley success) as he developed into a celebrated chef in his own right.
Robert was recruited by Mitchell Rosenthal of SOMA powerhouse Town Hall, becoming the opening Executive Chef of Rosenthal’s second SOMA venture, Salt House in October of 2006. Robert garnered strong reviews for Salt House (San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Magazine), along with being named Most Booked Restaurant on Open Table from 2006 through 2008. Robert built a successful 5 year run at Salt House, departing in 2012 to pursue and consult on other food ventures.
Kingston Wu was born and raised in the Bay Area and has had an active involvement in the local service industry for nearly two decades.
After obtaining an undergraduate degree and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, Kingston spent several years working his way up within Blue Chip companies like KPMG and Oracle. He eventually found his calling in the investment business and joined Industry Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm with $1.9 billion in assets under management. With over 9 years at the firm, he is currently a Principal at the fund.
In 2011, Kingston began investing in the local restaurant and bar scene. His first investments included Brixton and Sabrosa, operated by the Hat Trick Hospitality group owned by Hugo, Adam and Andy. His success begot additional opportunities. With years of accounting, sales and investment experience under his belt, Kingston launched Proof Positive in 2015 – an activist fund that invests in restaurants, bars and event venues in the Bay Area. The fund differentiates itself by providing value-added backend services such as cash flow management, record keeping and accounting, real estate acquisition and PR/marketing to business owners. Furthermore, the fund continues to identify synergies and cost reduction opportunities across its portfolio of service businesses in the Bay Area.
Proof Positive is a significant minority investor of Rambler.
