Nashville Chicken and Bay Area Beer Booming at Foghorn Taproom

By Sean Rinn

As Nashville is experiencing exponential growth as a city, Nashville hot chicken is growing here in San Francisco. Foghorn Taproom, approaching five years since its original location opened on Balboa Street, has just opened its third location at 846 Divisadero St., a short walk from Alamo Square overlooking the Painted Ladies.

Before its successful expansion into three locations, David Heft, Foghorn Taproom’s co-owner, started his journey in the restaurant industry in 2012 when he opened a “little beer bar restaurant” called Chomp N’ Swig serving craft beer and pork sandwiches. 

Heft experienced growing pains at Chomp N’ Swig, like every person who opens their first restaurant. 

“Neither of us had any experience, so we were making mistakes as we went and it was so small that two dedicated owners were able to make it work,” Heft said. 

In 2014, Heft opened his next spot, the Richmond Republic Draught House, which is still open on Clement Street, a spot offering a rotating menu of craft beers that draws particularly well on days with big soccer or NFL games. 

“I would never have been able to open Richmond Republic Draught House right off the bat, but from the things we learned at Chomp N’ Swig, we were able to kind of fumble through Richmond Republic Draught House and make mistakes and still survive,” he said.

As Heft and his crew were learning lessons about operating a bar and restaurant, ironically Heft met future co-owner of Foghorn Taproom, Ender Markal, through trivia nights at Richmond Republic Draught House. Markal was a regular who would assist in running trivia nights at the draught house. 

Heft and Markal eventually became close and decided to open a restaurant together, opening Foghorn Taproom’s doors in 2019. 

“We wanted a smaller restaurant,” Heft said. “We think the size was the thing that was hurting us, and we wanted to slim down. When we started Foghorn at Balboa, that was the right formula, the right amount of customer base around you and not a whole lot of competition, and then just trying to keep payroll and rent down.”

Initially, business was good. People flocked to the new neighborhood spot where they could enjoy local craft beers and crispy fried chicken, but then COVID-19 offered its own unique challenges. The lessons Heft learned from his previous restaurants, he knew having a smaller spot would make more sense, and it paid dividends. 

“It worked out pretty well because the size of the restaurant, a bigger restaurant would have failed,” Heft explained. “We didn’t get help from landlords. If we were a bigger restaurant and didn’t have a customer base to draw off of, we would have failed off the bat.” 

Foghorn Taproom earned its customer base by serving great wings, a great chicken sandwich, and tasty Bay Area beers. They offer fairly priced wings available in classic flavors like Buffalo and Nashville Hot, but also has unconventional flavors like Hot Honey Crunch, Pineapple Basil, Chimichurri and Tajin for those who want something more outside the box. Even with the prime selection of wings, it is the chicken sandwich that sparkles most on the menu for Heft. 

“We make good wings, but the Nashville hot chicken sandwich is what I hang my hat on,” Heft said. “That’s the one where I think we’re doing the best job in the city making one.” 

Chicken and beer bars typically elicit imagery of wings, chicken sandwiches and beer on tap, obviously, but that is not all Foghorn has to offer. 

“When people come to us, it’s for the wings and fried chicken sandwiches, but our rice bowls – everybody who has them absolutely loves them,” Heft said. “People I guess don’t think of us for our chicken and rice bowls, but they’re delicious,” 

That is just the food. To drink, Heft cycles through beer menus constantly to offer local beers and to keep customers anticipating what Foghorn has on tap the next time they walk in. 

“We’re constantly rotating tablets, so it’s never the same when you come next time and it’s hyper local. We try to serve the best the Bay has to offer, and then keep it rotated to keep it fresh,” he said. 

As craft beers have exploded in popularity in recent years, Heft values serving the best tasting beers he can find while staying loyal to local companies.

“Our offerings have gotten to more what people want, we have options for what people are actually drinking. We’re always rotating hyper local craft beer to try and get the best of the best,” Heft said.

People keep coming. In just under five years, Foghorn has expanded to Irving Street, and now Divisadero, and they aren’t just expanding locations. The Divisadero location is expanding its menu adding Detroit-style pizza to the existing menu that made them a hit. 

In terms of the atmosphere, Foghorn is a casual spot that is inviting and not too rowdy. It is a great place to catch a game; three large TVs are hung on the walls, and one is even in the front-facing store window for people passing by to check scores. They even have their own mug club with special perks like free $7 dollar beers on Mondays and 10% off all food and drink. It is a family friendly sports bar where people can bring their kids to watch football and enjoy chicken. 

“People come in, it’s casual,” Heft said. “There’s no hyper-loud crowd where someone’s going to feel uncomfortable. There are certain bars families feel comfortable bringing their kids to and Draught House and Foghorn are definitely them.” 

As Heft has evolved running Chomp N’ Swig to the Draught House to now three Foghorn locations, he says his favorite part of the journey is growing something by maintaining its quality, and operating on one of the best food streets in San Francisco.

“There’s everything you could want on this block,” Heft said. “It’s fun being part of something like that. I’ve been here for 10 years. I figure we’ve been doing something right for a while. In terms of running my business, there’s no better street to live.”

Foghorn Taproom loves being a part of the community in the Richmond, Sunset and now Nopa, but recently they have been getting robbed. If you are looking to support a local business by chowing down on chicken and washing it down with beer made in the Bay Area, give Foghorn Taproom a try. 

The original Foghorn Taproom is located at 450 Balboa St. Learn more at foghorntaproom.com.