Frank Bar closes its doors without informing employees after Maksoud Plaza in SP ends

The Frank Bar, famous house known to cocktail lovers in São Paulo, closed its doors after occupying the lobby of the Maksoud Plaza hotel for six years, located in the Avenida Paulista region.

The news comes in the wake of the announcement of the closing of the hotel created 42 years ago and which ends its activities on Tuesday, the 7th, due to the crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic and by the restructuring plan of the Hidroservice Group, which it controls the establishment.

It is not yet known if Frank will close permanently or if he will reopen at another address, but the last day of the bar’s opening was Saturday (4). According to an employee interviewed by the report —and who preferred not to be identified—, the team learned of the closure on Thursday (2) after a leak of information from the board.

After that, bar workers were not formally communicated or made aware of the last days of operation. According to the employee of the place, it was not even possible to throw a farewell party for Frank.

The announcement of the closure only came this Tuesday, with a meeting scheduled at the last minute, in the morning. Employees must work until the 27th, but as of today there are no guests at the hotel and all events and reservations have been cancelled. At the foot of Maksoud Plaza was also the Vino bar, which has closed its doors, but maintains its other unit in Pinheiros.

Opened in April 2015 with a name that honors singer Frank Sinatra, who in 1981 made a single performance in São Paulo, on stage at Maksoud Plaza, Frank evoked the atmosphere of 1980s New York bars with live jazz, low light and red leather armchairs.

Frequently awarded, the bar has earned a reputation as one of the best in the world. His biggest asset was the presence of experienced bartender Spencer Amereno Jr., who raised the bar’s quality and made Maksoud Plaza regain its bohemian energy. He was responsible for giving face to the bar, commanding the musical attractions to the famous drink cards.

“Frank is so important because I see that he was the only classic cocktail bar that Brazil has ever had. He is an icon and will be missed in the Brazilian cocktail industry because he revealed several talents — many good bartenders left there and also waiters who are they turned bar heads with super interesting jobs,” Amereno told the report.

The bartender was Frank’s first recent casualty — he left the bar in August of last year, when the venue was still closed because of the high number of Covid-19 cases. Currently, he runs the new Carrasco bar, open on the top floor of the Guilhotina, in Pinheiros.

Businessman Facundo Guerra, one of those responsible for creating Frank, commented on the closure in a post on social media. “It hurts to see such a beautiful bar, surrounded by characters so important to the national cocktail industry, getting lost in the legal imbroglio where Maksoud and its current management are buried. ⁠I dedicated my maximum energy there for a few years (also in the late PanAm), and one day I had the illusion and hope of bringing the hotel back to its glorious years. Sad end,” he wrote.