Barbary Belle · Founder Round
5 seats.
$25,000 each.
Lease signed.
San Francisco's next cocktail-forward lunch destination. 653 Commercial Street, Jackson Square. Two blocks from the Ferry Building.
A 15-Second Moment
Watch first. Read second.
Belle Cora·653 Commercial. The room before the room opens.
Follow @barbarybellesf →
01 · Concept + Location
653 Commercial Street.
Jackson Square.
A lunch-first, cocktail-built destination in the highest-density lunch corridor in San Francisco. Two blocks from the Ferry Building. FiDi foot traffic. Jackson Square architecture.
The lease is signed at 653 Commercial Street. Build-out cleared to start. Jordan White is locked as Co-Founder + Managing Partner. This is the founder round — we're closing the table during build-out, before doors open.
02 · The Moment
San Francisco's downtown is reanchoring.
Anthropic 479,000 SF. Charles Schwab 115,000. Atlassian 122,000. Over 720,000 SF of new Financial District commitments in a single quarter, Q1 2026. Office foot traffic up 34.7%quarter-over-quarter — the largest increase of any U.S. city tracked.
Mid-tier operators thinned through the pandemic. Top-tier sharpened. The cocktail-first, founder-proven, mid-tier price-pointroom this corridor needs — does not exist.
Barbary Belle lands at exactly that intersection.
The right room.
4,320 SF · 45 seats · two levels
The right operators.
30+ years · 7 venues · founder-led
The right block.
653 Commercial · Jackson Square edge
The right year.
Q1 2026 · AI boom rebase
03 · The Program
5 revenue streams. Day-one operational.
Multi-spoke isn't a hedge — it's a structural answer to FiDi's specific traffic pattern. Lunch funds the evening. Private events de-risk the daypart. Commissary + catering activate the lower-level kitchen.
$1.5M
Year 1 Revenue
Plan A target
31%
COGS Blended
SHIELD baseline
$285K
EBITDA
19% margin
Daytime Program
Day 1Lunch + happy hour. Food-led lunch with NA-bev-heavy Pina Colada Lassi hero. Pina Colada on draft pours in 6 seconds at 14% pour cost for lunch service speed. M-F 11:30am-3pm + 3-6pm.
Private Events + Chef Dinners
Day 1Rose Pak Foundation $16,619 (Hotel SF, 2022) + 8 more events at this address. Guest Chef Series: Manish Tyagi (Aurum, Beat Bobby Flay winner) + Ryan Galleo (Trifecta Sushi) — same consulting clients, returning as guest chefs.
Corporate Catering
Q1 rampForkable / DoorDash for Business platform. Manish lasagna signature SKU at $7.22 gross margin per portion (61.8% contribution margin) — flagship of the catering rotation.
Commissary (LCC closed-loop)
Day 1BB batch cocktail program for LCC consulting clients: Castro RB (active retainer), Aurum (Manish Tyagi, verbal), Trifecta Sushi (Ryan Galleo, verbal). Same accounts re-enter as Chef Dinner guests + Forkable lasagna sourcing — the consulting practice IS the supply chain.
Themed Programming (DJ + Signature Events)
M2+DJ nights ($6K/mo SHIELD anchor) anchored by Beau (DJ Mojo Entertainment, @djmojoentertainment) — resident DJ for late-night pop-ups + private events. Signature one-off events: New Orleans crawfish boil with 610 Stompers live (Brian's friend Patrick, NOLA brass band), invitation-only investor events, pop-up collaborations. Revenue spikes + brand-building, not baseline.
The Cocktail Program
Cocktail-first by identity.
Lunch-led by structure.
Pina Colada Lassi·Coconut yogurt + Chaokoh + caramelized pineapple Perfect Puree, finished with a Blackstrap rum float.·14% pour cost · $15 menu · $12.90 margin
Barbary Belle's beverage program runs on the same R&D rigor I built into Hojoko, August 1 Five, Cityscape, and Hilton Cityscape — only this time it's mine. The hero is a Pina Colada Lassi, served straight-NA or with a Blackstrap rum float on top. Coconut yogurt, Chaokoh coconut milk, caramelized pineapple Perfect Puree, sugar to taste. It's the cocktail I want to drink at lunch in FiDi.
It also runs at 13–14%pour cost on draft when we keg the spirit version — which means we can serve our flagship cocktail at lunch-service-speed for $14 and still take home $12 in margin per pour.
The cocktail menu is engineered, not assembled. Every signature cocktail clears the same four-axis review I applied at Hojoko and August 1 Five — brand voice, service viability, cost discipline, repeatability at scale — across a portfolio of 28+ global practitioners (Don Lee at Existing Conditions, Jeffrey Morgenthaler at Clyde Common, Shannon Mustipher at Women Who Tiki, Charles Joly at Crafthouse, the team at Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City). Each cocktail clears all four axes before it ships to the menu.
The Pina Colada House recipe was the Pilot 1 Signature Menu winner across 23lens proposals. Don Lee's coconut-oil fat-washed rum carries the load; Morgenthaler's $16 sell at 18%pour cost is locked; Mustipher's anti-cruise-ship discipline keeps it in Punch Noir register; Jardón's “5 ordered tonight, all consistent” gate is mandatory. Pineapple cured in salt and umami, set with coconut, finished dark.
33 lens proposals across 4 cocktail intents. 23 of BBCOS's 48lenses contributed to the Pilot 1 Signature Menu winner. Full R&D methodology + lens attribution available on request under NDA.
Unit Economics
Per plate. Per pour. Per stream.
Underwritable from real menu engineering — not aspirational. SHIELD-aligned acrossbrand-shield.mdand the operator's lunch + cocktail matrices.
Guest check · lunch
$22–$35
per guest · food + 1 cocktail typical · M–F 11:30am–3pm
Cocktail program
14% pour cost
best-margin pour: Pina Colada on draft · $12.04margin / pour · per-cocktail detail below
Menu item · sample plates
Price
Plate cost
COGS %
Niçoise Tuna Salad
$20
$6.00
30%
Miso-Braised Beef Bowl
$21
$6.20
30%
Burrata & Heirloom Tomato
$18
$5.30
29%
Saffron Seafood Grain Bowl
$20
$5.80
29%
Lunch program blended
$17.71 avg
$5.20 avg
29% blended
Cocktail program · per-pour
Menu
Liquid cost
Pour %
Margin $
Pina Colada Lassi
NA hero · Brian original · highball service
$15
$2.10
14%
$12.90
Pina Colada (House)
Signature menu · Morgenthaler-validated math
$16
$2.92
18%
$13.08
Pina Colada (Draft)
Best margin in BB portfolio · kegged · 6-second pour
$14
$1.96
14%
$12.04
Cocktail program economics
$15 avg
$2.33 avg
15.5%
$12.67 avg
1.77×
EBITDARM coverage
Y1 conservative
M6–9
Breakeven window
Plan B conservative
12.32%
Rent as % of Y1 revenue
Plan A baseline
Menu engineering is locked at the item level. Investor-grade unit economics from day one.
04 · The People
Built by operators.
Backed by 25 years of receipts.
Owner & Founder
Brian Howard
Tales of the Cocktail Top 6 (2010). 25 years in bars. 17 venues built. 200+ original cocktails across 3 cities. Continuous hospitality W-2 employment 2022 → 2024.
- Tales of the Cocktail Top 6 — 2010
- Hojoko — Boston (Beverage Director)
- August 1 Five — San Francisco (Managing Partner)
- Cityscape, Hilton Union Square — Beverage Director (2024)
- Condé Nast Traveler · TimeOut · NBC Chicago · StarChefs
Co-Founder + Managing Partner
Jordan White
Co-Founder + Managing Partner. Hired and trained by Brian at August 1 Five. Knows the program from the inside. Available and locked.
- August 1 Five — trained under Brian
- Beverage program lead (Day 1)
- Floor operations + service standards
- Co-Founder + Managing Partner — locked pre-open
05 · The Round
Five founder seats. $25,000 each. 2% equity + 8% preferred return.
Year 5 mandatory buyback at the greatest of 2× invested capital, 6× trailing 12-month EBITDA × pro-rata equity, or fair market value by independent valuation. Cumulative 8% preferred return per seat. Cash flow priority before founders take distributions. Full upside if BB exceeds plan.
Founder perks: named investor on permanent display, one free private event buyout per year, $1,000 annual dining credit, VIP access to Guest Chef + Bartender Series, right of first refusal on BB#2 or platform round.
Closes at 5seats. Won't reopen post-launch.
Express interest →Capital Stack
$290,000 total. Four sources. No single-lender dependency.
Diversified by structure so any one delay doesn't stall the launch.
Floor scenario
$100,000
2 founder seats + Kiva + minimal SBA. Operates lean — discipline already proven at this address.
Plan B target
$290,000
Full 4-source stack as detailed below. Active raise + parallel applications in motion.
Plan A upside
$450,000
Full Plan A target use-of-funds scope. Adds program depth + working capital cushion.
Source
Amount
Type
Status
Founder Round
5 seats × $25K · ~2% equity per seat
$125,000
Equity
Active raise
Main Street Launch SBA 7(a)
Darius Mahajer · lender-confirmed qualification path
$75,000
Debt
May 2, 2026 call
Working Solutions CDFI
Parallel CDFI application under LCC LLC · reinforces lender diversification
$75,000
Debt
Application Step 3 of 5
Kiva Microloan
0% interest / 36-month term
$15,000
Debt
Confirmed
Total
$290,000
Equity ~43% · Debt ~57%
ABC Type 47 license is structured as a seller-financed promissory note — off SBA proceeds, separate monthly obligation, not included in stack above.Founder round proceeds fund FF&E + opening capital only. Equity coexists with debt facilities; no overlap with debt proceeds.
Use of Funds
Where the $450K goes.
Rounded allocations shown. Line-item breakdown available on request under NDA.
FF&E
Bar build, kitchen, front-of-house fixtures
$175,000
40%
Opening inventory
Spirits, wine, beer, food prep, smallwares
$75,000
17%
Working capital runway
Payroll + fixed costs through ramp
$125,000
28%
Tenant improvement
Plumbing $0 (locked per LOI)
$31,900
7%
Contingency reserve
Buffer for overruns + early pivots
$43,100
10%
Total Use of Funds
$450,000
Track Record
Receipts.
The Drawing Room
Chicago · 2010
Tales Top 6 · NCB Cocktail Lounge of Year · JBF nominee
Hojoko
Boston · 2014–15
Tim Cushman izakaya · JBF award winner
Shin-Mai
Oakland · 2016–17
220-seat modern izakaya, multi-zone build
August 1 Five
San Francisco · 2016–19
Managing Partner · Y1 sales beat projections by $1M · GGRA 2017
Berber
San Francisco · 2018
350-seat North African supper club
Ettan
Palo Alto · 2018–19
Michelin · SF Eater anticipated openings
Hotel San Francisco
653 Commercial · 2022
Prior tenant of this address · Rose Pak Foundation $16,619
Cityscape
Hilton Union Square · 2024
46th-floor skybar · $5M renovation · 25% bar revenue lift
Eater portfolio
- SF Eater (Hotel SF · Apr 2018)
- Eater Boston (Hojoko · Aug 2015)
- SF Eater (August 1 Five · Nov 2016)
- SF Eater (Shin-Mai · Jul 2017)
- SF Eater (Berber · Dec 2018)
- SF Eater (Ettan · Feb 2020)
Recent · Cityscape 2024
- Time Out San Francisco (Cityscape · Sept 2024)
- PR Newswire (Hilton Cityscape · Sept 2024)
- David Perry & Associates (Sept 2024)
Legacy editorial
Condé Nast Traveler · TimeOut · NBC Chicago · StarChefs · James Beard Foundation
Request the Deck
Full materials.
One email away.
Send a quick note and I'll be in touch personally to continue the conversation. Every exchange is one-to-one — no drip sequence, no marketing flow.
Materials shared under NDA after a brief introduction. Response within 24 hours.
Questions
What investors ask first.
What's the timeline to open?
Lease signed 2026-05-20. Roughly six months from funding close to doors open, pending build-out + permit timelines. We'll have the full schedule in the deck.
Is this a Reg D offering?
Private placement, accredited investors only. Operating agreement and subscription docs are provided once an NDA is in place.
What's the exit scenario?
Year 5 mandatory buyback at the greatest of 2× invested capital, 6× trailing 12-month EBITDA × pro-rata equity, or fair market value by independent valuation. Cumulative 8% preferred return per seat above the floor. Distribution mechanics and the full pro forma are walked through one-on-one after a brief introduction.
Why only 5 seats?
Tight cap table. Friends-and-family round by design. Preserves operational control and keeps investor communication personal instead of corporate.
Can I visit the space?
Yes. Scheduled walkthroughs post-NDA — 653 Commercial Street, Jackson Square. Bring questions.
Talk to Brian
One conversation.
No pitch required.
Brian Howard — Owner & Founder, Liquid Chef Consulting
Pick a time that works. We'll keep it to 20 minutes unless you want longer.
Follow along: @barbarybellesf