Comstock Saloon

Comstock Saloon is a historic saloon in San Francisco, California, located in San Francisco's North Beach. The building, since 1907, housed several different bars and owners. The predecessor being the San Francisco Brewing Company (1985–2012), which is the oldest microbrewery in San Francisco. The bar is named after Henry Comstock and for his Comstock Lode, and is currently owned by Jeff Hollinger and Jonny Raglin, both also bartenders for Absinthe Brasserie & Bar. The bar is preserving most of the building's history, including the interior of the building which has been remained unchanged.

1. History

The building that houses the Comstock Saloon has been around since the late 19th century, being a part of the Barbary Coast. The earliest known owner was Pigeon-Toed Sal of the Billy Goat Saloon. After the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, the building was rebuilt and has stood since then, housing the Andromeda Saloon in 1907, owned by Jim Griffin. During the Prohibition era, it was renamed to the Andromeda Cafe, which sold alcohol under the guise of 'medicinal purposes'. It was one of the few bars in the United States that stayed after the end of the prohibition. In 1977, restaurateur Sam DuVall acquired the building, renaming it to The Albatross and began renovating the place, buying out the barber shop next door and turning it into the bar's kitchen. In 1985, Allan Paul acquired the building and established the San Francisco Brewing Company, which was one of the first microbrewery companies in San Francisco. In 2009, Jeff Hollinger and Jonny Raglin, both owners of the Absinthe Brasserie & Bar, acquired the building to start on the Comstock Saloon project, which Raglin states, "Instead of talking about their drinks and food, we want to try to get people to think about what’s really important in life, like history and life." The Comstock Saloon opened the same year and, since the acquisition, the building was slowly being restored and preserved, saving and keeping the interior as it was unchanged. The Comstock Saloon is under The Absinthe Group, which overlooks Absinthe Brasserie & Bar, Arlequin Wine Merchant, and Spanish-themed bar and restaurant called Bellotta. The saloon was featured in an episode of Anthony Bourdain: The Layover, where he describes it as "a no-nonsense, old school bar." On September 15, 2014, a car struck the Comstock Saloon, injuring two patrons, crashing into the side room which was called the 'Monkey Bar', as well as the doors which needed to be rebuilt. The Comstock Saloon was temporarily closed in March 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders. After the pandemic, the Comstock Saloon reopened for both walk in patrons and by reservation.

1. Interior

The interior of the Comstock Saloon has remained mostly unchanged since its rebuilding in 1906. The 18-feet mahogany bar top dates back to the late 1890s. "Punkah" ceiling fans that hung on the roof dates back to the 1910s, only being installed in the 1970s when it was known as The Albatross. The building, now under the name Comstock Saloon, also operates as a museum, housing the building's history along with the history of being a bar and saloon. Owner Jeff Hollinger describes the setting of Comstock Saloon as a place that shows the history of drinking in San Francisco. The wooden booths and paraphernalia, which were behind glass cases, also defined the bar's personality as vintage and antique.

1. See also

Historic bars and saloons in San Francisco

1. References


1. External links

Comstock Saloon

Nearby Places View Menu

Barbary Coast, San Francisco

The Barbary Coast was a red-light district during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries in San Francisco that featured dance halls, concert saloons, bars, jazz clubs, variety shows, and brothels. Its nine block area was centered on a three block stretch of Pacific Street, now Pacific Avenue, between Montgomery and Stockton Streets. Pacific Street was the first street to cut through the hills of San Francisco, starting near Portsmouth Square and continuing east to the first shipping docks at Buena Vista Cove. The Barbary Coast was born during the California gold rush, when the population of San Francisco was growing at an exponential rate due to the rapid influx of tens of thousands of miners trying to find gold. The early decades of the Barbary Coast were marred by persistent lawlessness, gambling, administrative graft, vigilante justice, and prostitution; however with the passage of time, the city's government gained strength and competence, and the Barbary Coast's maturing entertainment scene of dance halls and jazz clubs influenced American culture. The Barbary Coast's century-long evolution passed through many substantial incarnations due to the city's rapid cultural development during the transition to the 20th century. Its former location now is overlapped by Chinatown, North Beach, and Jackson Square.

Historic Site Landmark

Ping Yuen

Ping Yuen and North Ping Yuen (sometimes collectively called The Pings) form a four-building public housing complex in the north end of Chinatown, San Francisco along Pacific Avenue. In total, there are 434 apartments. The three Pings on the south side of Pacific (West, Central, and East Ping Yuen) were dedicated in 1951, and the North Ping Yuen building followed a decade later in 1961. Some of the largest murals in Chinatown are painted on Ping Yuen, which are prominent landmark buildings taller than the typical two- or three-story Chinatown buildings that date back to the early 1900s. The formal effort to build Ping Yuen started in 1939 after Chinatown was called "the worst [slum] in the world"; it was the first public housing project completed in the neighborhood, and unlike the typical single room occupancy housing of Chinatown, featured private bathrooms and kitchens for each apartment when the first building opened in 1951. Like most buildings in Chinatown, it was designed by western architects with Chinese thematic elements. Although it was touted as potentially drawing more tourists to the area, it soon became known as a dangerous place, with the July 4 shooting over fireworks sales that occurred at Ping Yuen leading to the Golden Dragon massacre of 1977. The murder of Julia Wong in 1978 inspired residents to go on a rent strike, led by future mayor Ed Lee, for improvements to building maintenance and security. Ownership of Ping Yuen passed from the city to the Chinatown Community Development Center in 2016, which is continuing to work with residents' associations to improve conditions.

Landmark Neighbourhood

83 m

The Purple Onion

The Purple Onion was a celebrated cellar club in the North Beach area of San Francisco, California, located at 140 Columbus Avenue (between Jackson and Pacific). With an intimate, 80-person setting, the club was a popular influence in local music and entertainment during the Beat era of the 1950s and 1960s.

Landmark Music

Great Star Theater

The Great Star Theater, formerly known as Great China Theater, is a 410-seat theater located at 636 Jackson Street in San Francisco's Chinatown. It was built in 1925 for the Chinese opera and is the last Chinese theater in any Chinatown in the United States.

Theater