Mission Mission

As conversation continues about the future of The Elbo Room, NBC built a fake version for their family drama, Parenthood, which takes place in Berkeley. Emily Savage spotted the exterior, which utilizes the font, but not the layout.

Guys, they made a fake Elbo Room in LA for the Parenthood set.

A photo posted by @tofuandwhiskey on Oct 10, 2014 at 1:18pm PDT

Back in reality, Matt Shapiro, co-owner of the club, explains their current situation on their Facebook page:

OK…the blogs are about to roll out the latest “news”…some with more hyperbole than others…
Here is what is really happening:
We are aware of the building owners plans to build condos on this property…Whether they get approval from the city and how long it will take is really anyone’s guess. The one thing that is definite is our lease goes for another year – Matt Shapiro, Elbo Room co-owner.

Some 30 years ago, your San Francisco forefathers deemed it necessary to protect the youth of tomorrow by limiting the number of pinball and arcade game and bingo games for money machines based on a business’ square footage or their proximity to schools. Presumably, they felt the change-powered entertainment craze would pluck quarters from the pockets of unsuspecting children and rot their tiny brains with too much Elvira and the Party Monsters. In other words, during the 80s the city decided to limit pinball machines in the same way we currently restrict where pot clubs can open and where the taco trucks can park. That anti-arcade legislation is expected to be revised today thanks to prevailing common sense and some hard working pro-pinball activists.

(more…)

This bold flyer, spotted at local fave the Attic, proudly proclaims having the longest happy hour in the city.  Of course, this is a hotly debated topic, as several other bars around the city also make a similar boast.  For instance, the Elbo Room also claims that their happy hour, from 5-9pm everyday, is the longest in the city.

Depending on how we want to look at this, both sides are technically correct.  The Elbo Room offers a more versatile longest happy hour, whereas the Attic’s weekend and Monday specials can not be denied.  Me?  I’d be happy just to know the longest and cheapest happy hours in the Mission.  Where do you go to forget the pain of your job (or just whenever the bar has drinks that you can actually afford)?

Previously:

NIMBY says NO MORE DJs at the Attic

Some of you may have noticed that the regular “Elbo Room” sign had recently been replaced with another older-looking one that reads “Amelia’s.”  Now, it’s back to the “Elbo Room” again.  So, what’s going on here?

Well, after talking to some key Elbo staff, it turns out that around 20 years ago the Elbo Room used to be a rocking dyke bar named Amelia’s that allegedly would have put the Lex to shame.  Every year when Pride rolls around, they dig the old sign out of storage and install it in front as an homage to the bar’s colorful history.  Then, when Pride weekend ends and all the brunches are over, bloody marys flowing in the gutter, they lock it up again and go back to the regular ol’ Elbo Room.  So there you go!

History lesson with Professor Sarkarati over!

Back to Normal

[Normal Elbo Photo by SF Bar Experiment]

. . . at the ELBOW ROOM in Sparks, Nevada.  Better hurry before the Marina gets wind of this.

[photo by chartno3]