Tucked away in the quiet Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco sits a secret portal to Boston sports fandom.
Step inside the Connecticut Yankee bar and you’re suddenly in a western outpost of New England. On the Friday before Super Bowl LX, one TV broadcast the Celtics game while another replayed Super Bowl XXXVI, the first time the Patriots hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.
Around the room, the walls are decked with Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics gear. A stack of signs pledging love for Drake Maye rests at the entrance. A cutout of Tom Brady peers over it all.
“It’s funny, it actually gets confused as a [New York Yankees] bar sometimes and they show up and they’re like, 'Oh, I am definitely in the wrong place,'” said bar manager Jon Broyer.
The New England-loving bar, aptly located on Connecticut Street, is a hub for Boston sports fans in the Bay Area.
With Patriots fans in town from around the world, it’s something of a Foxborough West. On Super Bowl Sunday, it will be all hands on deck.
“For us alone on any given Sunday, we’ll have 100 to 150 people in here,” said Broyer, who is originally from New Hampshire. “We’re expecting probably about 300 for the Super Bowl with everybody who’s flying out for the festivities and whatnot.”
The Yankee serves New England staples like clam chowder and has regional favorites like Sam Adams and Allagash on tap. Broyer said the bar’s previous owners split their loyalties between Boston and San Francisco.
These days, though, it’s largely Boston-focused. With the Patriots playing the Super Bowl just down the road in Santa Clara, the bar has drawn extra attention. One regular even was surprised with tickets to the game on Good Morning America.
"It’s funny, it actually gets confused as a [New York Yankees] bar sometimes and they show up and they’re like, 'Oh, I am definitely in the wrong place'"Jon Broyer, manager
For out-of-towners, the Connecticut Yankee offers a small slice of home. Wayne Kimball and his wife, Kim, were in town for the game from Mendon, Massachusetts. They heard about the bar from their niece.
“She does all the research when we all go away on football trips and she said we had to try the Connecticut Yankee,” Kimball said. “It’s a great Boston bar, so here we are.”
John Tierney lives in Whitman, but his daughter, Kelsey, is in San Francisco. She suggested around Christmas that they look into getting tickets. The price initially made him wary.
“She calls me a week ago, 'Dad, I got tickets,'” Tierney said. “I go, 'How’d you get them? How much do I owe you?’ She says, 'The ticket fairy got 'em. Just shut up and get out here.’ So here I am.”
That kind of dedication has made Boston fans famous — or infamous, depending on who you ask.
It has helped create a community at the Connecticut Yankee, where six replica Patriots Super Bowl banners hang from the ceiling.
For Broyer, that loyalty is paying off as the bar prepares for a historic weekend. But even if the Patriots were not in the Super Bowl, he is not the type to switch sides — like other Boston faithful. That allegiance may help explain how a Boston bar thrives on the West Coast.
“I’ve been out here 20 years. I’ve watched the Giants win three World Series. I’ve watched the Warriors win a bunch of championships. Niners have been good,” he said. “And I would never, ever put a different hat on my head. And that’s the way most people feel.”
