161 Years Later… 7 Mile House Is Still Where The Locals Go

From Toll Gate to Award-Winning Restaurant, Sports Bar, and Live Music Venue

By now you may have enjoyed a basket of lumpia, celebrated a special event, and had a few rounds of drinks while watching a sports game, or enjoyed performances by world class musicians. A Brisbane gem really, 7 Mile House seems to be untouched by the woes of most restaurants in the area. Surviving and thriving, its spirit is strong and the drinks are too.

This year, 7 Mile House rings in 161, now with an award-winning book under its belt. Written by owner Vanessa Garcia along with her cousin Regina Abuyuan, they immortalized the history and personal stories so that 7 Mile House would always be remembered, long after they are gone.

Last year Vanessa spoke about the history of mile houses in the Bay Area, and presented book talks for "See You at the 7: Stories From the Bay Area’s Last Original Mile House" at dozens of libraries and historical organizations, including: The California Historical Society, SF History Days, and the San Francisco Library (main branch), to name a few.

7 Mile House was featured on numerous print, radio, online, and TV appearances, and was awarded multiple accolades from the SF Weekly, SF Examiner, and a National Indie Excellence award for their book last year. They also raised thousands of dollars for local organizations through various fundraisers including their annual Adobo Cook-Off For A Cause.

It proved to be a knock out year, but also a year of sorrow, losing several, long-time, extremely talented musicians. 7 Mile House said goodbye to Don Alberts, Bobby ‘Spider’ Webb, and Ed Serrano within a few months of each other. The most personal loss was the unexpected passing of Regina Abuyuan, editor of the 7 Mile book and cousin of Vanessa Garcia. A memorial will be held for her at the anniversary celebration on Saturday January 26, 2019, at 6pm.

This year’s anniversary will also feature a book talk and presentation on mile houses by Vanessa Garcia at 11:30am. Then, starting at 12pm, guests will enjoy their famous pork adobo and rice for free (until it runs out), now an annual tradition for the past six years. In the evening, the 7 Mile House stage will be graced by Dakila, a legendary Filipino American San Francisco band with music known as Bay Area RockLatinJazzPopFunkapino!

7 Mile House continues to be a place for us locals, a place where you can stop and have a good meal and cold beer, be treated fairly and with respect, where you’ll most likely leave with a smile on your face, maybe you’ll even find love. It’s where legendary musicians keep playing until they can’t play no more, where people stick around even when the home team is on a losing streak, where milestones are celebrated, where history is made. As they say, “We’ll see you at the 7”.