Over The Hill Gang Saloon stops swinging its doors to the public on Sept. 20 after serving up drinks to locals in a western-themed time warp for the past 35 years. This is the fallout after owner Peter Cirina was served a 60-day notice to vacate by Gianluca Pecora — landlord Romolo Pecora’s son — on June 1 following the end of the business’s five-year commercial lease.
When Romolo moved to a senior living facility, his son Gianluca took over his father’s affairs, says Pete, and they reached an impasse on negotiating terms of the new lease.
“It’s gonna be hard, man,” Pete says, tears welling up in his eyes when I ask him what’s next.
With a handful of employees, including his daughter, who works as a bartender, Pete Cirina has been running the show at the spacious lot at 3530 Portola Drive for the past seven years. His retirement plan was to pass on the four-generation-strong family-run business — the legacy of Over The Hill Gang Saloon — to his daughter, Brooklyn.
Jimi Hendrix plays in the background of the dimly lit, legendary Portola neighborhood dive bar. Located on a spacious lot off Portola, you step through the swinging doors into a part of the old Santa Cruz personality in all its lovable quirkiness.
The bargaining was rough: no more live bands, no more back-door access, a 12% increase in rent; and here’s the kicker: the five-year lease the Cirina/Hill family business had been accustomed to renewing for more than three decades was now diminished to a month-to-month lease. The new lease also includes a non-compete clause preventing the family business from reopening within 3 miles of the current location.
A lot of good ideas, love, and hard work have gone into the Saloon to keep it alive and kicking. When COVID threatened indoor businesses, Pete said he had to do something. With the help of a loan, he invested $25,000 in upgrading the front of the bar to build a patio and have live bands play, all with landlord Romolo Pecora’s blessing at the time.
Much of the bar’s success in recent years has come from the addition of its outdoor patio space and live bands playing several times a week. All of the changes to their lease, with no room for negotiating the terms, says Brooklyn, made it difficult for them to imagine staying open.
Mitzi and Ed Hill opened this watering hole in 1991, remodeling the bar with a country-western flair. They decorated it with their personal collection of “old-time guns that won the West,” including hand-engraved six-shooters with ivory handles. A theatrical saloon scene — a life-size Native American figure and stuffed-animal renditions of gunslinging cowboys — occupies an alcove at one end of the saloon.
An antique roulette table stands against one wall, while an etching of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hangs on another. Frank Hill (Uncle Hill) painted the mural of a desert scene from the Wild West that runs the length of the exterior wall. It’s a family affair.
Pete Cirina turns 69 next month. He hasn’t had a drink in 25 and a half years and heads the family-run bar. Cirina hadn’t worked at the Saloon since his stint back in the ’90s, but after losing his mom, Mitzi, in 2019, Pete felt compelled to come back and help out with the business, especially since his sister, Joann Cirina, was struggling with her health. Leaving his construction business and El Cerrito behind, he and his daughter, Brooklyn Cirina, 25, moved to Santa Cruz. Joann would pass within 11 months of their mom, Mitzi.
In the family tradition, the bar’s reins were passed on to her brother, Pete, who envisioned eventually passing the legacy on to his daughter, Brooklyn.
Pete would bring Brooklyn along on his way to work so that she could visit with her grandmother, then living in the family apartments on the lot behind the Saloon.
“I remember I went on Mother’s Day once to see my grandma,” Brooklyn reminisces. “She brought me in the back door, gave me the biggest cup of Coca-Cola my eyes have ever seen. She smiled at me, gave me a hug and we talked for a bit. She introduced me to all of her friends at the bar and each of them gave me a warm hug, just like her. I knew that day, this is a community, not just a bar. This is a family, not just a business. It’s a place where you can walk in, have your drink ready for you — and the bartender remembers your name — and your stories. It’s a personal experience and we’re sad to see it go.”
Over The Hill Gang Saloon is a staple of social life in “the Point” neighborhood, employing seven people and offering a venue for local musicians to perform.
Dawn Pacheco, on break from her bartending shift, recalls stories of the bar’s history: dancers performing on the first story of the family duplex out back, reenactments of shootouts instigated by Ed Hill, or when local stars like James Durbin showed up with his fiancée to celebrate their engagement party, drawn to the friendly vibe and no-frills vibe of the Saloon.
Pacheco works there two to three days a week. She enjoys the people. “It keeps me sane,” she says, smiling.
“I’m in a little bit of a pickle. I’m 72,” says bar manager Melynda Lynch, raising her eyebrows. “Who’s gonna hire me now?”
East-sider Jared Anderson, a sixth-generation Santa Cruzan who plays in three bands, including the Surf Creeps, sits at the bar chatting with the bartender on break. “I was born very depressed and suicidal,” shares Jared. “I struggled with that the majority of my life before I did a lot of therapy and things like that. But before that, when I came here younger, this was a wonderful support group.
“I self-medicated for a long time, and honestly for some people it doesn’t work out that way, but (here) I had people who looked out for me and loved me. And yeah, the owner here, Joann, she was like an older sister. And she would always remind me that everything would be OK.
“I’m proud to say I may not be alive if it wasn’t for this bar. And honestly, that’s not sugar-coating or nothing.”
Joann Cirina — a real personality behind the bar — would unearth photo albums documenting the bar’s history and events, making newcomers feel welcome and entertained — part of the family.
I recall one night when I came into the Saloon with a visiting friend from abroad. Joann got all passionate about music and went out back to bring out her saxophone and play us a few tunes.
That may have been the same night she offered me a sky-blue satin blazer with the name of the saloon on the back. I was honored. That was the sort of thing that could happen there.
A live-music bar, a haven for the weary soul to recuperate or escape in discussion with newfound friends; a timeless sort of place Baron Munchausen may have accidentally wandered into for a little respite. It will be thoroughly missed.
Pete Cirina thanks the community for being here and supporting his family for the last 35 years. A farewell BBQ is planned for Sept. 19 (time to be announced).
Anyone holding on to fond memories from the Saloon may want to get a memento. Stop by the bar to preorder a hoodie or T-shirt.
Check out their Facebook page for info on live bands playing through their closing date: https://www.facebook.com/petcir/
Saturday, Sept. 19: The Beach Cowboys, 3–6 p.m. / John Michael, 7–10 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 20: Alecia Haselton Band, 3–6 p.m. / Shawn Yanez & Nick Disalvo, 7–10 p.m.
I am a bit confused. Is Pete Cirina the owner or Ed Hill? In the 2nd paragraph, you refer to Hill. Who is Frank Hill? A son?
one less bar in santa cruz is fine with me. we have enough of them in the county already.