One of San Francisco’s most successful craft beer makers is laying anchor in a part of the city most locals avoid: Fisherman’s Wharf.

Woods Beer & Wine Co. (opens in new tab) is set to open its sixth location in the city, and seventh overall, this summer on the ground floor of the Fisherman’s Grotto space. The prime waterfront location has been vacant since 2023, when the Port of San Francisco evicted the seafood restaurant, which had accrued more than $300,000 in unpaid rent.

This Woods outpost will be a long-term pop-up, founder Jim Woods said Thursday. “We’re not doing any work on the space. We’re just going to open,” he said, adding that the brewery fits in with the wider neighborhood as well as the 2,000-square-foot interior. “It’s got good bones to plant our flag for two years, maybe even three.”

After launching in 2012 with Dolores Park-adjacent Woods Cerveceria, the brewery expanded to Cole Valley, Lower Haight, the Outer Sunset, San Anselmo, and elsewhere. Woods locations often complement pours of MateVeza IPA or Retro Pilsner by partnering with buzzy pop-ups — offering chicken tinga tacos by Tacos Oscar on Haight and smashburgers from Lovely’s on Cole. The wharf location is likely to involve a similar collaboration. “Nothing has been confirmed, but we are trying to make it compelling,” Woods said.

The San Francisco Business Times was first to report (opens in new tab) the news.

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Woods is only the latest food business to embrace the wharf, long derided by many San Francisco residents as a tourist-choked hotbed of sock shops and middling seafood restaurants. Taco Bell Cantina is open there, and the waterfront is set to get San Francisco’s first location of cult-favorite fried-chicken chain Raising Cane’s and its second Saigon Sandwich. 

Nearby Pier 39 already has a brewery: Humble Sea, which opened in May 2025. “They brew great beer,” Woods said of the Santa Cruz-based business, adding that a manager of his Cole Valley location is an enthusiastic fan. 

For Woods, the combination of outdoor seating, easy access to public transit, and Golden Gate Bridge views underscored the desirability of his new location. He notes that he’s open to establishing a permanent home in the area once the soon-to-be-signed lease runs its course.

Woods made its name on beer and wine, but this taproom will be the first to operate under a Type 47 license, permitting hard alcohol sales. “We will have a cocktail program,” Woods says, noting that former Outerlands bar manager Jeremy Lucca-Flaherty has signed on. 

“There’s going to be a lot of barrel-aged and batched cocktails, and probably several slushy items as well,” Woods said, adding that his business partner, Matt Coelho, “would be very upset if we didn’t have a piña colada on the menu.”

In the meantime, Woods points to Scoma’s, the 60-year-old waterfront institution, as proof that excellent food and drink will draw locals to the area. “I’m a big believer in the wharf,” he says. “I think it’s due for a resurgence.”