Occidental locals lament loss of popular Barley and Hops Tavern

Some Occidental residents are bemoaning the sudden closure of the Barley and Hops Tavern, a beloved pub that attracted both locals as well as tourists for its craft beer selection and musical performances.

The tavern along Bohemian Highway closed late last month. Owner Molly Shanley wrote in a Facebook post Saturday that “the action and manner of this occurrence is both disheartening and out of my control. As for the future of the old Victorian, I know little.” Shanley declined further comment when reached by phone.

Shanley and her husband, Giancarlo Musso, bought the business from Noah and Mirjam Maggio Bolmer in December 2015. The Bolmers opened the tavern in the summer of 2008.

The restaurant’s food selection was upgraded after the purchase with items such as sautéed prawns with buttery sofrito sauce over cilantro rice appearing on the menu.

Still, the tavern’s popularity was based in large part on its strong beer selection, featuring local breweries such as Moonlight Brewing Co. and Fogbelt Brewing Co., both of Santa Rosa.

Barley and Hops also was one of the few Sonoma County pubs that annually received a keg of Pliny the Younger, the triple India pale ale from Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa. That honor allowed local residents to get a taste of the beer - proclaimed by some critics as one of the best in the world - without having to stand in line for hours outside the Russian River brewpub every February during Pliny’s two-week release.

“That was a huge thing for us,” said Rose Young, who works at the nearby Bohemian Market. “It was so nice not having to go Santa Rosa to wait for it.”

The tavern also provided a varied menu for the small town of 1,200 residents as two other restaurants, Negri’s Original Italian Restaurant and the Union Hotel Restaurant, both focus on hearty Italian dishes. Another restaurant, Hazel, serves upscale pizzas, and steak and chicken dishes.

“You get tired of Italian food after a while,” said Kevin Morris, an Occidental resident for 15 years. “They (Barley and Hops) did fish and chips really good.”

The venue also provided local musicians a stage to play their songs, featuring genres from Americana to improvisational gypsy jazz.

“They got plenty of bands to come and play here in Occidental,” said Young. “It’s taken away what to do on a Friday night.”

One beneficiary of the closing has been the Union Hotel’s saloon, which has picked up many of the Barley and Hops customers.

“We were slammed last Friday night,” said bartender Joelle Amand.

The saloon was able to hire a bartender who was laid off from Barley and Hops to help out on additional shifts, Amand said.

Barley and Hops is the second West County pub popular with locals to close within the last month. In June, Jasper O’Farrell’s in Sebastopol shuttered its doors.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com.