Currently: Pesce
Previously: Purple Pickle
2223 Market Street
San Francisco, California 94114
Status: Restaurant
History
Summary
| Name | Dates of Operation |
| Purple Pickle | 1972 – 1977 |
Details
From 1972 to 1977, 2223 Market Street was a gay piano bar called the Purple Pickle that served lunches every day and dinner on Monday nights.
Then it became Burton’s, a restaurant, in 1977, and though the space has always had a liquor license, it has been forevermore a restaurant with a full liquor license rather than a bar that also had food.
Leticia Luna, a straight ally, later took over the space and turned it into Leticia’s, a sit-down Mexican restaurant. Years later, she left the space to open Leticia’s in the South of Market area.
Luna briefly brought Leticia’s back to the Castro at 2200 Market Street, across the street from her old spot. The restaurant later closed and was demolished to make way for a high-rise condo building with ground-level retail spaces. Luna, who owns the new building, leased the restaurant spot to the owners of Hi Tops and sold them her liquor license. They opened Hecho, a sit-down Mexican restaurant, in September of 2014.
When Leticia’s moved out, an unnamed restaurant opened that was eventually simply called 2223. When that closed, it was briefly Jake’s. It’s now Pesce, a seafood restaurant.
Luna, now 61, recently acquired a bar at 1501 Folsom on the corner of 11th and Folsom that was once the site of FeBe’s (1966-1986), the first leather bar in the South of Market neighborhood. The spot was the Paradise Lounge most recently, which closed several years ago. The Planning Department unanimously approved her renovation and expansion plans, including adding a roof deck. Luna – no stranger to the gay leather scene, having owned Line Up, a gay leather bar, in 1979 – plans to add some sort of commemoration for FeBe’s in her new club. She plans to call it Calle Once, which means 11th Street in Spanish.
Sources
Bajko, Matthew S., “New restaurants headed to SF’s gay Castro district in early 2014,” Bay Area Reporter, November 7, 2013.
“Castro Business Ads from the 1970’s,” Uncle Donald’s Castro Street.
Hemmelgarn, Seth, “Bandidos owners change restaurant’s name to Hecho,” Bay Area Reporter, September 11, 2014.
Hemmelgarn, Seth, “Nightclub planned for leather bar site,” Bay Area Reporter, September 18, 2014.
Hemmelgarn, Seth, “SF panel approves plans for leather bar site,” Bay Area Reporter, September 18, 2014.
Location
2223 Market Street, San Francisco
