Whenever I read about local coffeeshop news in TechCrunch, I generally expect the news to not be good.  But in Philz' case, it might not actually be so bad.

According to TechCrunch, Philz raised over 3.75 million cups of Tesora worth of money to expand the 13-shop operation outside the Bay Area:

Today, Philz Coffee is adding some growth capital of its own. Although the company isn’t ready to disclose the exact amount, [Phil] Jaber says that the company has raised an eight-figure round that’s on the lower end of the spectrum. From what we can gather from sources, it appears to be in the $15 to $25 million range. The lead investor in the round is Summit Partners, and as a result of the firm’s investment, Summit Managing Director Greg Goldfarb will be taking a seat on the startup’s board of directors.

It's been a helluva story for Phil and his emerging startup.  Founded 25 years ago as a modest corner store at 24th and Folsom, he spent decades perfecting his secret coffee blends. Then in 2003, after decades of limited growth in the corner store market, Phil pivoted the company launched Philz Coffee in the same location.  Philz soon brought on rockstar Silicon Valley CEO “his son”, opened over a dozen more stores, and cemented partnerships with Virgin America and Facebook, giving the small neighborhood coffee house the totally reasonable $40-70 million dollar valuation they have today.

Of course, one of the best features of Philz was never the coffee itself, but rather his shop felt like the kind of welcoming, worn-in den that only an old artist would open.  How they'll be able to replicate that freewheeling culture which they've become know for across hundreds of stores remains to be seen.

[Photo by Ed Schipul]

Ever since we brought you breaking coverage of the boar head theft at Four Barrel back in April, we've been carefully monitoring the situation for new developments.  After all, with only three boars, shouldn't the place change their name to Three Boar-el?  No?  What, that was a good pun.  Stop hitting me.

As of this week the cafe's gallery was refreshed with new work by Aaron Rodriguez.  With the new art, the dotted line where the boar head once stood is no longer empty — it's now filled with a whimsical collage.

This, folks, means there is hope. If an artist can use that space, who's to say their art itself cannot be an actual boar head mounted on a wooden shield?  The act of artistic re-boarment would not only restore Four Barrel's rightful fourth boar, but would also make the artist a hero to coffee nerds who make snarky comments about their shitty iPhone photos in local blogs.

Get on it, artists.  We're counting on you.

I've been trying to figure out what's up with Silver Stone Cafe (which is moving into the old Carlos Club spot on 24th and Mission) crossing out breakfast and lunch from their coming soon signage alllll morning.  Are they returning us to a time before coffee shops felt compelled to serve small plate nonsense, offering up a little “fuck you, we don't mess with that shit” smack talk in the process?  Perhaps they tasted their coffee and realized the line would be out the door regardless, so why bother?  Just an honest mistake?  Their oven broke?

Guys, this is important.  Someone deliver me from this maddened curiosity and produce a suitable explanation forthwith.

I always found this place to be appalling, so please excuse my reluctant smirk, but the overly tech-centric Valencia coffee shop The Summit can no longer afford to pay their rent and are moving on to new things, says Mission Local.

From a message posted to their website:

After a year and half, THE SUMMIT SF will close it’s operations at 780 Valencia to re-open at a soon to be determined location. During this time, we’ve received press and accolades from Food and Wine to Business Week, created a community of entrepreneurs/digital thinkers/and creative like minds, helped launch many start-ups, hosted several culinary pop-ups, produced buzz worthy art shows, and threw some legendary parties. We could not have achieved such accomplishments without our amazing community of managers, staff, and of course, our patrons. We are proud of our time at 780 Valencia, and excited to take The Summit to the next level: a social enterprise spreading entrepreneurship and innovation around the world.

We are thankful for the opportunity to launch The Summit SF at IO Ventures and we wish them the best of luck on their future endeavors. We are hopeful the next tenants of 780 Valencia will carry on our spirit and become an asset to the vibrant Mission community.

Our doors are scheduled to close on 1/28/2012.

Should you be worried, the landlord (i/o Ventures, some nerdstuffs) is doing just fine and intends on finding a “new vendor” for the space.

(I should note, I don't quite know why I hate The Summit, seeing as though I enjoy buying a beverage I don't particularly like or want so I can thieve internet access.  But, yeah, something about that place makes you feel like an asshole.)

(Also, I sincerely apologize for that horrible “they're fucking dead” pun; I recently read Krakauer's Into Thin Air and I can't quite shake the image of a frozen, dying Nepalese Sherpa partnering up with a cup of Blue Bottle to found a social network and exchange warmth.)

[Photo by Indra Kupferschmid]