SF painter hones craft restoring vintage bar and restaurant signs

A San Francisco artist has found his calling restoring vintage signs for businesses around San Francisco.

Not far from the bright neon lights of some of the city's legacy bars and restaurants is a small studio where Manny Fabregas hones his craft.

"I've always enjoyed packaging and signage and just the whole graphic aspect of it," said Fabregas.

He's been an artist his whole life. When he took a workshop on sign restoration in 2011, a brand new focus was born.

"The next thing you know, restaurants and other businesses who know I do art just asked me to do things here and there and the projects just kept getting bigger and bigger."

His latest project involves restoring the iconic sign that once hung above the legendary North Beach Columbus Café. This isn't Fabregas' only job. He has always kept one toe in the service industry, working at a restaurant for a stable income. Of course, when the pandemic hit, that work dried up.

Fabregas decided to make the best of a bad situation. He printed off postcards, leaving them on doorsteps all around San Francisco, offering to paint address numbers on people's homes.

"A lot of them have wanted it for years and just didn't know who to call and who to talk to and it was kind of fortuitous for me and for them," said Fabregas.

Fabregas, who is an immigrant from the Philippines, started becoming a part of the fabric of the city he loves. He still remembers his first visit as a teenager.

"The restaurants that I saw, the people, the vibrancy. It was just like bright and inviting," he recalled.

Through word of mouth, Manny's clientele grew. Now as old businesses evolve and new ones open, his art is at the forefront.

One example is at the Halfway Club , which is a new bar in the city's Excelsior District. It used to be the Broken Record, but that closed during the pandemic. New owner Ethan Terry saw an opportunity.

"Some of the things we were into are sort of retro, and we wanted to make it like a 'dad's basement' showcasing art and making this a little more home-like," said Terry.

Fabregas was the man for the job, designing and painting their window sign in gold leaf and solidifying his signature on another corner of San Francisco.