North Beach sports bar the Boardroom has a loyal neighborhood following, four Yelp stars and a spot on CNN's list of the nation's top sports bars, but this week, it will receive another distinction: on Thursday, it will become one of San Francisco’s first official ocean-friendly restaurants.
Coinciding with World Oceans Day, Surfrider Foundation will hold the official launch party for its Ocean Friendly Restaurants Program (OFR) at the Boardroom on Thursday, June 8 at 6pm.
Surfrider SF, the local chapter of the activist organization dedicated to protecting oceans and waterways, is officially recognizing the Boardroom fosr its ocean-sensitive practices, making it one of four San Francisco eateries to receive the honor (Blue Plate, Piperade, and the Taco Shop at Underdogs also made the cut).
Boardroom owner Keith Wilson said his restaurant strives to be eco-friendly. “We’ve been really close to their standards for a long time. I think the last holdup was finding compostable straws,” he told Hoodline. Today, everything they throw away is fully compostable, "including the to-go stuff.”
“I think it’s really cool to be around people who care about the environment and are interested in learning about ways they can help keep our oceans clean,” said Corinne Gentile, Surfrider's co-chair of the program. “It’s going to be a great group.”
Now in its initial stages, OFR encourages restaurants to help the environment by eliminating plastic pollution, following best recycling practices, and giving discounts to customers who use reusable containers. “Restaurants go through so much waste. We know that, so we try to make a difference,” Wilson said.
“We try to partner with companies that are trying to do a better job protecting the environment," he added. He expects his other North Beach spot, Tope on Grant Avenue (which he co-owns with partner Casey Gray), to be in compliance with the program soon.
