Nik Blaskovich/News-Press
Eddie Beltran has that mix of friendly and imposing we imagine works well for a bar owner and bartender. Military background, stocky — we weren’t all that surprised to hear he also works the door on Tiburon’s rowdiest night, Friday’s karaoke. We could imagine him throwing some people out, literally. But he looked after us well on our return trip to the Tiburon Tavern, upper State’s neighborhood bar of choice. Five regulars sat at the bar, nursing beers and watching the game.
We first came to the Tib in our guise as cocktail wiseguys in 2007, but did not meet Beltran. Six years ago, Beltran bought the Tiburon and decided not to change the name of the five-year-old establishment. “It was on its last legs,” he says, and set about repainting, redecorating and revarnishing. A few large mirrors stayed, but most of the décor is his.