2124 Market Street
San Francisco, Califonia 94114
(415) 503-0630
BlackbirdBar.com

Status: LGBT/Mixed Bar

Previously: 2124 Market Street Bar, The Metro, The Expansion

In Their Own Words: It’s your neighborhood drinking hole. Local wines, artisanal craft beers, and cocktails so good, you just might cry. Ever classic, never stuffy. Welcome to the ’Bird.

History

Summary

Details

Although we’re still researching the full history, we do know that the bar at 2124 Market Street was The Expansion for many years – for how long, we’re not yet sure. Though it was not officially a gay bar, it did have a drag show towards the end called Addiction, organized by Artemis Chase.

Then Richard Pearson and Mario Enriquez, owners of the Metro City Bar & Grill, lost their lease at 3600 16th Street at the end of August of 2007, which had been there for 26 years, and ended up taking over The Expansion. Pearson was a former owner of the Rainbow Cattle Company in Guerneville. They reopened The Metro at 2124 Market Street on September 1, 2007 after a brief remodel, but by the end of 2008 they sold the space to Doug Murphy (who was also co-owner of Moby Dick with Joe Cappelletti and 440 Castro with Gordon Boe and Mark Wilson) and his business partner Shawn Vergara (who had bartended at a number of other neighborhood bars).

The bar was briefly known as the 2124 Market Street Bar, a name that appears to have been a temporary placeholder. It soon closed for a remodel, and after a four month renovation, the bar reopened in July of 2009 as Blackbird. The Bay Area Reporter described it as having a “laid-back speakeasy vibe.”

Though the owners described it as a “people’s bar” rather than a gay bar, and it definitely attracts a hip, mixed crowd, we’re still listing it as an LGBT bar for now.

But only a week after opening, co-owner Murphy fell ill and unexpectedly died from the H1N1 virus, commonly known as the Swine Flu. Vergara took over sole ownership of Blackbird while Murphy’s other business partners took over ownership of his other bars.

In 2014, readers of the Bay Area Reporter named Blackbird the Best Gay/Gay Friendly Bar as well as the Best Place for Mixed Drinks.

Sources

Aguilera, Ray, “Holiday Cheer: Cocktails with a Christmassy Kick,” The Bay Area Reporter, December 12, 2013.

Bajko, Matthew S., “Bar owner’s death shocks Castro,” The Bay Area Reporter, August 27, 2009.

Bajko, Matthew S., “New year brings Castro bar changes,” The Bay Area Reporter, January 8, 2009.

Flanagan, Michael, “Besties: Bars,” The Bay Area Reporter, April 3, 2014.

Flournoy, Roy, “Bao’s house,” The Bay Area Reporter, August 23, 2007.

Flournoy, Roy, “Blackbird sings anew,” The Bay Area Reporter, August 13, 2009.

Uncle Donald’s Castro Street

Location

2124 Market Street, San Francisco