2369 Market Street
San Francisco, California 94114
(415) 834-5840
CafeSF.com
Status: LGBT Bar
Previously: The Café San Marcos
In Their Own Words: Located in the heart of the Castro, The Café represents the best of the 21+ Castro bar scene, demonstrating the next generation of San Francisco entertainment. The Café finished a multi-million dollar complete remodel in July 2009, creating an atmosphere that can only be described as “The Café Experience.” The Café has been a staple of the Castro night scene for years, and now with its recent renovations, has become one of the most unique venues in San Francisco, let alone the Castro.
History
Summary
| Name | Dates of Operation |
| The Café | 1992 – present |
| The Café San Marcos | 1976 – 1992 |
Details
The Café San Marcos opened in 1976 as the lounge bar above — and accessed through — the restaurant beneath at 2367 Market Street. It didn’t start using the address of 2369 Market until later when it got its own separate entrance.
Over the years, the bar slowly expanded. By the late 80s, it was primarily known as a lesbian bar with carpeting and a fireplace. In 1992, new owners contracted the name to The Café, and the carpeting and fireplace gave way to a new dance floor.
In 2009, The Café closed for several months for one of its largest remodel to date. When it reopened, it had pushed out to 17th Street and now has the largest capacity of any bar in the Castro, nearly double the size of its next competitor, which is now Beaux.
Some of The Café’s regular parties includes Gus Presents’ Friday night party, Boy Bar; JC Events’ L!ve, with celebrity guest performers (including many stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race); Pan Dulce, a Latin night, on Thursdays; and Sunday Funday on Sunday afternoons.
Sources
Location
2369 Market Street, San Francisco
Not sure where you got the info that it was primarily a lesbian bar. I went there in the late 80s and rarely saw lesbians there. I did see Sylvester hanging out there though.
Thank you so much for your comment. My primary source was my own personal recollection from hanging out there around 1989 with my then-boyfriend’s friends, which may well be faulty. We were all gay men, so it clearly wasn’t exclusively lesbian, but my boyfriend and his friends said it was a “mostly lesbian” bar. That said, they may well have been wrong. I just flipped through some copies of Damron’s Guides from the 70s and early 80s, and it was listed in their directory as mixed. However, in a full-page ad that The Cafe themselves ran in the 1995 issue of the Damron’s Guide (after dropping “San Marcos”), they called themselves “San Francisco’s Most Popular Gathering Place for WOMEN And A Few Good Men” (emphasis theirs). The directory listing that same year only tags it with “NH” (neighborhood bar) and “F” (food served), but does not use the “W” code for “mostly women/lesbians,” so…? If I have a chance this weekend, I will go through the Damron’s Guides to revise/expand upon what I have here. Thank you so much for your input and memories.
I think it may have bee considered a lesbian bar to some extent until the mid90s, as they always had some attractive lesbian bartenders. It was always a shared space with men around, sometimes women would get annoyed about it. Later the women’s scene switched over to the Lexington.
It was primarily lesbian through the late 80’s and early 90’s, their SF Pool League team reflected this (all lesbians, I was the only male on the team for a couple seasons).
If was definitely – not – a big lesbian hangout in the mid-80’s, when I frequented. It had reputation then for a clientele of rather snooty, blow-dried, collar-up, jacket-sleeve-zhuzhed-up “masculine” queens. (Guilty as charged!) Lots of blue drinks, etc. It was my happy place. : )
looking for info about Francines in 1988 for book. Thank you!