From Fluffernutters to the Hotsy Totsy Club: Jessica Maria on creating her own path to opening up one of the Bay Area’s most beloved neighborhood bars, and everything in between.
In this episode of The Walk-In Club Podcast, we sit down with Jessica Maria, whose journey started at 13 year. We trace her roots back to Massachusetts working at Uncle Tony’s, where teenage shifts were full of flirting, fluffernutters were important, and the spark of discovering community in and what that really means. From cocktail waitressing in hotel bars to a surprise stint behind the scenes at Bill Graham Presents, Jessica learned every rung of the ladder through hustle and heart—including deadlifting kegs, tracking inventory for every show, and translating cocktail specs into Thai during her time running a bar in Thailand.
Her story winds through reinvention after reinvention—management roles taken by instinct, improv gigs, a move across the world, and the important rebuild of Hotsy Totsy. Through it all, Jessica reminds us that hospitality isn’t just about service—it’s about play, pressure, perseverance, and choosing love for the industry again and again.
We get into:
Jessica’s story is a reminder that there’s no one way to show up in hospitality—but showing up with intention, curiosity, and care will always be the way forward.
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