So when something comes back — and comes back better — it's worth paying attention.

Beauty Bar on Mission Street reopened earlier this year with a revamped cocktail program that takes the place seriously without taking itself too seriously. The glittery, campy DNA is still there — this is still a bar inspired by vintage beauty parlors, after all — but the new iteration ditches whatever wasn't working and leans into legitimately good drinks. Think elevated but not pretentious, the kind of cocktail menu that doesn't require a translator or a second mortgage.

For a neighborhood that's cycled through more closures than most of us can count, a smart reopening matters. It signals that the Mission can still support independent, personality-driven bars — not just another minimalist coffee shop or chain-adjacent concept. That's not nothing.

As one local put it, reflecting on the broader wave of San Francisco closures: "I think you just miss 2010 in general. We all do." Fair. But nostalgia doesn't pay the rent, and Beauty Bar appears to be doing the harder thing — evolving while keeping what made the original worth visiting.

Another SF resident struck a more optimistic note, arguing that "as of right now I think that era is back," pointing to a wave of spots around the city carrying real old-school personality. Beauty Bar fits that mold.

Here's the thing we don't say enough: the businesses that survive (or revive) in San Francisco do so despite the regulatory gauntlet, the permitting nightmare, and the tax burden this city puts on small operators. Every reopened bar is a minor miracle of paperwork and perseverance. The least the city can do is not make it harder.

If you're in the Mission, go spend money at Beauty Bar. Supporting places that actually try is how you get the city you claim to miss.