HalCall's Profile

Wild Side West is a landmark, being the oldest gay or lesbian bar in SF. But the lesbian owners have always said that it's a neighborhood bar that just "happens" to get a lot of lesbians. And that's true. It has a warm, smallish interior with fireplace and the pool table Janis Joplin once played pool on (and was reportedly laid on as well). The interior looks very old. Outside they have a back yard. Most places would call it a patio. It's a back yard. And it's perfect for this non-pretentious place where you might as likely meet a radical dyke as a gay male programmer or a straight guy from the 'hood just stopping in for a drink. The staff are friendly types, they mix good drinks, and for major holidays and some birthdays they often have a food spread. I think I'd be there every day if I still lived in the neighborhood.

I can't say enough good things about Martuni's! It's a faggy piano bar! I'm happy that such places still exist in the world. What's more the management had done it exactly right. The drinks are first-rate, the decor is absolutely beautiful, and the pianists are top quality all the way. In the back room, you can sit at the piano and take turns singing to the piano each night until way late. Be on the lookout for Katy Stephan, first-rate vocalist and songwriter. She's world class quality. Martuni's is the place to go with your foofy hairdresser and fashion model friends, or with your best buddy. The customers always seem friendly, the bartenders are great, and sometimes you're treated to performances by folks such as the cast of Beach Blanket Babylon. A MUST SEE!

It must be that you have to know somebody to be treated well at Marlena's. I was ignored by one bartender and treated like crap by another one. I tried to talk with folks at the bar, but got nowhere. In fact, when I did get a little conversation in with one guy, he turned his back on me in mid-sentence and walked over to a drag queen and fussed over her gown. Maybe this kind of attitude works for some people, but not for me. It is positively the worst experience I've ever had in a bar, gay or straight.

You want an unpretentious fag bar? You've got it. Unassuming, longtime dive, the Gangway scratches that itch when you want to relax with a drink and talk to local characters.

Hey, if you want a sample of the REAL old-style gay bar from SF's heyday this is it! Various theme night including a male strip contest on Sunday nights with cash prizes. The bartenders are friendly, the place is MASSIVE with an upstairs, main floor (nice deco style), a downstairs and an outdoor smoking area. Being the Tenderloin, the crowd is sketchy, or interesting, you be the judge. I happen to like sketchy, especially compared with trendoid, so the Deco is on my regular visit list.

The Eagle is several things. (1) It's an old school hippie leather bar. You'll find longhaired men, bikers who ride real motorcycles, leather guys who are down to earth. (2) You will hear the BEST music of any bar. The DJs are spectacular, combining hard rock with blues, Western music, and glam rock. (3) Thursdays is live band night when 2 or 3 bands play and the place becomes mixed gay/straight, old/young, etc. It can be very very cool! (4) The Sunday beer bust is massive. (5) The bartenders are some of the best, friendliest guys you'll ever want to meet! They also know how to mix everything from a red headed slut to a gin & tonic. (6) Age ranges are about 25 to 75, with lots of respect shown for everyone. It's a relief to have a bar for everybody.

I must say that the owners went overboard with the stained glass window in front. How many gay bars have stained glass? The new Hole would work much better if they found a way to deaden the noise -- it sounds like a high school gym in there -- and made it cozy. Inside it looks way too industrial. Fix those two problems and the new Hole will be a winner. The crowd is good, the drinks are good, the bartenders friendly.

It's unfortunate that the former My Place reopened as a stale leather bar. It just doesn't work, and the fence decor is just plain tired. Better they should have taken a cue from the former longtime manager, Cip, and made it a mash-up bar, say leather and metal music, or something. As it is, this place just doesn't make it.

The Stud has a history, but unfortunately most of the history took place elswhere before the Stud moved to its current place. The sign that says "Universal Live Corral" survives from the time (at the other location) when they became a "Universal Life Church" so that they could have "religious services" in order to run an after hours dance club. It was that kind of chutzpah that made the Stud what it was. Today, however, it survives mostly on theme nights. The place has that well-worn hippie feel to it, which is cool. I wish they can find their niche because the bartenders are nice and the place feels warm and cozy, and they deserve more business.

The Bad: Some bartenders are self-obsessed and can be very rude. There is an actor working there who is really into himself and not much more. It's also packed on the weekends, which can be bad if you don't like getting jammed in. The Good: It's an old-style leather bar kind of place. People are friendly on the slow nights, and some bartenders and barbacks go out of their way to be friendly. It's also a great place to meet new visitors to town, and to learn about the history of the scene from the oldtimers. Ages are mixed from 21 to 70s, and people all seem to get along. They have some of the most ridiculous contests (wet underwear, etc) and theme nights ($1 off on Tuesdays if you have a tattoo or a piercing). This can be good depending on your fetish. All in all I give the place an A- because I like it during the off-times and the drinks are good.

A bar that bills itself as catering to a "gay young and affluenct crowd" is going to get that kind of crowd in SF. This is not NY or LA. We're a mixed, diverse kind of place. Places that advertise themselves the way Eight Nightclub does always turn into thuggy places with big Samoan bouncers and negative vibes. We've seen it with 1015. I'm afraid to say that Eight has gone that route. It's unfortunate because they had some promise