Mission Mission

It feels a lot like Pop’s, but it smells a whole lot better and the bathrooms are clean. It’s definitely true to the vision co-owner Spike put forth in our lengthy Q&A with him from last December. Had a great time!

Here’s the menu:

It opens at 3pm today fyi!

Also, the photobooth gives you two copies of your strip AND emails you another:

Excellent news! Remember how sad we all were when Pop’s got busted for doing DJ nights under the radar? Such a bummer!

But a new era is about to begin. Mission Local reports:

The historic bar’s new owner, Michael Krouse, who also owns Madrone on Divisadero, applied for a permit to have a full entertainment license, meaning the bar could legally offer its patrons live bands and DJs. With some conditions, the commission unanimously approved the change of use.

“Pop’s Bar has been around for 79 years, and through 11 owners; our goal is to continue that tradition of a great neighborhood bar,” said Krouse, who bought the bar last fall. “We want to complement the district with a variety of music and entertainment options.”

The change of use was greeted with no opposing public commentary. Erick Arguello, of Calle 24, shared with the commission that he’s been working closely with Krouse, who has been responsive to most of the merchant association’s concerns.

“As a Latino Cultural District, we’ve talked about how they are accommodating us by playing once or twice a week Salsa, Cumbia, Reggaeton or other Latino music to connect with the existing community in the area,” Arguello said.

Read on for more info.

[Photo by Google Maps]

Sleek!

[via Capp Street Crap]

We’ve made fun of Trick Dog’s unusual and ever changing menus before, but I have to admit, this menu/map combo is pretty cool:

Better yet, the drinks are named after SF locations, which is almost as cool as Virgil’s Sea Room’s tradition of naming signature cocktails after notable San Franciscans.

There are about 500 bars in town, which means that there are about 10 birthdays a week. This past Monday, Kilowatt had it’s 20th birthday, reverting back to 1994 pricing and attitude.

I mean, everyone was super chill, there were a multitude of tasty beers and a steady stream of tunes from the 19nineties. Most beers were $3 and pool was 25¢, meaning that $10 could buy two beers, a congratulatory shot for the bartender, then a game of play with a quarter you found. Also, this totally happened at the table.

So, what do you think about wishing your favorite bar down the street a happy birthday? It’s probably soon.

[Thanks @ckchew]

-Chris Bunting

A quite handy new guide to drinking your way through the city and letting your friendly neighborhood Muni operator be your designated driver. Thrillist put this map together, and breaks it down further on their site.

LADIES NIGHT IS BACK!

ALL YOUR FAVE POST PUNK, 80S LADIES, FREESTYLE, BASS, EARLY 90S GIRL GROUPS, NEW WAVE, SYNTHIES, PUNKIES, DIVAS, RIOTS, JIVE BABIES! BRING YOUR FEET, LEAVE THE BROS AT HOME!

ALL LADY VOCALS!!!!!!!

$3 drinks for the ladies and moms get in free!  Check out all the details here.

The first bar I ever went to (besides with my dad as a kid) was the Uptown. It was a great experience, just what I always thought a bar would be like: Dark, damp and a little scary. I felt totally at home. Last week the owner, Scott Ellsworth, passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. I didn’t know Scott that well, but the couple times we talked he was always really friendly, and very supportive of the weird artsy place my buddies and I were building across the street. He ran a bar that didn’t have a cocktail program or a dress code. He ran a bar where you could sit down, have a shot and a beer and chat with familiar regulars. Inside the Uptown I’ve stored paintings during a scavenger hunt art show, made business deals, broken up fights, maybe gotten in a fight, tried in vain to get up the nerve to talk to a girl, watched my team dominate the World Series, and seen Sean Penn close it down.

[via Facebook]

The Bold Italic has a great tribute to him today, which would have been his 60th birthday.

In 2011, when I posted a picture of “KiTOS”, the letters on the back of the bar, Scott wrote in to tell us that it stood for the previous owner’s names, Kim and Tony. Let’s just say now it stands for “Keep in Touch, Ol’ Scott.”

[via Pop's on Facebook]

Esta Noche’s last night has come. I lived across the street from the queer Latino bar for a number of years, in the same building of my good friend Marco. We had some fun times there together, but he had many more without me. I asked him to share some thoughts and stories of the bar. We’ve seen a lot of closures recently, but this one hits hard. It’s a rare safe space for a community that doesn’t have many. Sad to see it go. Anyway, I’ll get out of the way and share Marco’s piece:

Rie, llora
que a cada cual, le llega su hora
rie, llora
vive tu vida y gozala toda

laugh, cry
that to each of us our time comes
laugh, cry
live your life and enjoy it completely

[Photo by Nehemiah Lazo]

Soon after I arrived in San Francisco in 1993, directo from Sinaloa, a gang of immigrant locas, known to me as Las Latinillas, became mi familia in all senses. Meaning, they were supportive, caring and fun to be with but also complete bitches and a beautiful hot mess. Always in your face. They will snatch your new boyfriend, get you a green card and a job, trash your soul con canciones de Juanga and uplift your spirits ala Gloria Trevi, as they revere Selena y Los Dinos and eat pupusas revueltas at Balompie. All this, a la luz del sol.

And at night, we had Esta Noche. It was my friend Mario, well, I called him La Marieta, who took me there the first time. La Marieta was dying of AIDS at the time but as he put it, “Despues de la novela, vamos a esta noche mana, hoy canta La Ronnie Salazar.” You always knew you were at Esta Noche because of a huge self-portrait of a naked Joe Dallesandro with an eternal spotlight on his even larger penis and how can you miss the Esta Noche smell . . . a mix of tequila, piss, and Chanel N°5. Running into friends, making new friends and losing friends all happened at Esta Nasty. It was the place for new immigrants like myself to listen to our music, speak our language and just for a few hours not to feel inadequate. It was also the place for young Latinos, to come out at night and join the festivities of music, drag, stripers, and drinks. But las reynas de la noche were the drag queens!

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