Sacramento’s oldest bar is getting new owners. What does this mean for Old Ironsides?
Months after closing Holy Diver in midtown, its former owners will soon attach their name to another Sacramento-area business: Old Ironsides.
Old Ironsides, a landmark family-owned bar and restaurant, is in the process of selling its establishment to Sacramento business owners Bret Bair and Eric Rushing, founders of Ace of Spades on R Street.
Bair and Rushing also own Goldfield Trading Post, a midtown bar and music venue on J Street with a second location in Roseville, as well as a few other local bars and venues.
Bair told The Bee they hope to take possession of Old Ironsides by June 1.
The historic bar, founded in 1934 and situated at 1901 10th St., is known for live music, its nightclub and weekday Greek and Italian lunches.
Bair said he and his partners have managed bands that have played at the venue, and are familiar with how the restaurant functions
“The business will operate as is,” Bair said. He said local bands will continue to play, there will be karaoke nights and a dance club.
The Bordisso family, owners of Old Ironsides, first listed the business for sale in 2019 so they could retire.
“We want somebody who will basically … take over and operate the same brand on a bigger scale,” co-owner Billee Jean Kanelos told The Bee in 2020. “We can’t say we know what we’re looking for. But when that person comes, we’ll know.”
The Bordissos did find a buyer in 2019, but they had backed out amid the coronavirus pandemic, the family said.
Now with the new owners taking over soon, the family is excited.
“You have to remember our family’s had this business for 88 years and there’s been a lot of peaks and valleys over that time,” said Sam Kanelos Jr., manager and son of the owner. “But it just got to the point where we were all just ready to look into the next chapter of our lives.”
Kanelos said he’ll miss the customers, the people he’s met running the bar and, of course, the employees.
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 4:30 PM.