Over The Hill Gang Saloon to Close After 35 Years

An old-time Pleasure Point neighborhood bar and music venue—the Over The Hill Gang Saloon—will stop swinging its doors Sept. 20 after serving up drinks to locals in a Western-themed time warp for 35 years. The bar’s owner, Pete Hill, said he was served a 60-day notice by Gianluca Pecora, the landlord’s son, after its five-year lease ended June 1.

Hill said he received the notice after he and the landlord were unable to reach an agreement on a rent increase to $3,842.85 per month.

Mitzi and Ed Hill opened this watering hole in 1991, remodeling the bar with 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 painted a desert Western mural that runs the length of the exterior wall.

Pete Hill turns 69 next month. He hasn’t had a drink in 25 and a half years. Hill hadn’t worked at the Saloon since his seven-year stint back in the ’90s, but when his sister, Joann—who was running the bar with his mom, Mitzi—was diagnosed with liver and mouth cancer, he felt compelled to come back and help out. Leaving his construction business and El Cerrito behind, he and his daughter, Brooklyn, 25, moved to Santa Cruz. “It’s gonna be hard, man,” Pete says, tears welling up in his eyes when I ask him what’s next.

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. ⬛