Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
30
Buddha Lounge
BAR
Vintage red neon promises evenings worthy of WWII sailors on shore leave. Drink in the
atmosphere, but stick to basic well drinks and beer straight from a laughing Buddha
bottle. Cue selections on the eclectic jukebox (Dylan, Outkast, The Clash), ask the bar-
tender for dice and you're in for the duration. Bathrooms are in the former opium-den
basement. Cash only.
(
415-362-1792; 901 Grant Ave;
1pm-2am Mon-Sat;
8X, 30, 45,
Powell-
Mason, Powell-Hyde)
Understand
The Barbary Coast
By 1854, San Francisco's harbor near Portsmouth Sq was filling with rotting ships abandoned by crews with
Gold Rush fever. Here on the ragged piers of the 'Barbary Coast,' a buck might procure whiskey, opium or a
woman's company at 500 saloons, 20 theaters and numerous brothels - but buyer beware. Saloon owners like
Shanghai Kelly and notorious madam Miss Piggot would ply new arrivals with booze, knock them out with
drugs or billy-clubs, and deliver them to sea captains in need of crews. At the gaming tables, luck literally was a
lady: women card-dealers dealt winning hands to those who engaged their back-room services.
Prohibition and California's Red Light Abatement Act drove the Barbary Coast's illicit action underground,
but it never really went away. US obscenity laws were defied post-WWII in anything-goes North Beach clubs
near Broadway and Columbus, where burlesque dancer Carol Doda went topless and comedian Lenny Bruce
dropped F-bombs. Today San Francisco is undergoing a Barbary Coast saloon revival, with potent 19th-century-
style cocktails served by apparently harmless bartenders - just don't forget to tip.
