Tenderloin Earning a Finer Cut |
St. Boniface Catholic Church is a refuge for Tenderloin denizens and visitors alike.
BOUNDARIES: Market St., Taylor St., Post St., Polk St.
DISTANCE: 2 miles
DIFFICULTY: Easy
PARKING: Street parking is metered and not necessarily safe. There’s a lot next to Original Joe’s (corner of Taylor and Turk) and another at 550 O’Farrell St.
PUBLIC TRANSIT: Civic Center BART station; all Market St. buses and streetcars
Squeezed between Union Square and Civic Center, the Tenderloin has long been a marginalized part of town: block after block of skid rows lined mostly with residential hotels, rescue missions, and dive bars. The name dates back to the 1800s, when beat cops could afford better cuts of steak working rough districts thanks to the bribes passed by business owners who wanted increased police protection. Day and night, the sidewalks are crowded with sidewalk sleepers and the mentally ill, as well as a retinue of hustlers and drug dealers—all in all, an uncomfortable reminder that the American Dream doesn’t quite pan out for everybody. But beneath the grime is a real sense of community. Many of the people aren’t actually homeless but rather live in tiny SRO (single room occupancy) units and treat the sidewalks like their living room. And while drug use is up, gunshots are down.
It’s admittedly not a very pretty or even pleasant place, but the Tenderloin is an incredibly interesting part of town that has intriguing history, good Vietnamese restaurants, inviting drinking establishments, and buildings that intimate compelling stories—stories perhaps in the Dashiell Hammett vein, for it was here that the great crime writer penned his best works. The gay community has had a presence here for decades. Immigrants and families have settled and started small businesses here, and a growing number of techies favor the neighborhood’s urban edge. We’d like to introduce you to the rich history of the area, as well as some of the people making a real difference in people’s lives here. There is inspiration and hope amid the grit, along with art and stories to buoy your spirit.
We’ll start from United Nations Plaza on Market Street and head up Leavenworth into the ’Loin. On the corner of Golden Gate Avenue and Leavenworth, duck into King Carl’s Emporium, the pirate-supply storefront for 
826 Valencia Tenderloin Center, a nonprofit dedicated to helping kids with their writing skills via academic tutoring, writing workshops, and more. A much-needed resource given that the Tenderloin is home to the city’s largest concentration of children, 826 makes learning (and avoiding scurvy) good fun. Across the street you’ll spot 
St. Boniface Catholic Church, built in 1906. Its German Romanesque style is a reflection of the immigrant parishioners of that time. Today St. Boniface, while still quite beautiful, is better known for opening its doors each weekday morning as a daytime refuge for the homeless, hundreds of whom snooze in the pews from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Daily Masses, funerals, and even weddings take place in the church to the accompaniment of a quiet chorus of snores. Known in the neighborhood as a place of “sacred sleep,” The Gubbio Project, which coordinates the effort, emphasizes that “it also sends a message to those attending Mass that the community includes the tired, the poor, those with mental health issues, and those who are wet, cold, and dirty.” It is a moving experience to witness, and you are welcome to observe; Gubbio Project volunteers are in the back of the church and gratefully receive donations of clean socks and toiletries. Sunday Mass always livens the place up, and when the weather is nice, parishioners sell homemade tamales in the church’s courtyard.
Past St. Boniface, still heading east on Golden Gate Avenue, ropes along the sidewalk lead around the corner to 
St. Anthony’s Dining Room, where hot meals have been ladled out to the needy since 1950. When they first opened their doors, they served 400 meals daily; today, they provide 2,400 meals each and every day to the hungry. The St. Anthony Foundation (SAF) also provides clothing, housing, and medical care in a determined effort to “put ourselves out of business,” as foundation literature puts it.
On the corner of Jones, stop to admire artist Mona Caron’s 
Windows into the Tenderloin, a mural honoring the neighborhood and its history as it depicts the street’s past, present, and utopian green future. In it, you’ll see buildings demolished long ago drifting into the sky like ghostly balloons and hundreds of painted figures based on local residents. Don’t be deterred by people sitting on the sidewalk in front of the mural—they don’t mind if you want a closer view, as the art is a celebration of their community.
Turn left on Jones and right on Turk to reach 
Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, the district’s oldest gay bar, which is short on space but long on personality. You’ll note that this stretch of Turk is also signposted VICKI MAR LANE, a pun honoring Miss Vicki Marlane (“The Lady with the Liquid Spine”), a pioneering drag queen who was a fixture at Aunt Charlie’s. The beloved Marlane—acknowledged as one of the oldest working drag entertainers in the United States before her death in 2011, at age 76—was a mentor to other performers and transgender youth, as well as the subject of an award-winning documentary by filmmaker Michelle Lawler. Aunt Charlie’s continues to host its Hot Boxxx Girls drag revue every Friday and Saturday night, and you can glimpse a large portrait of Marlane toward the end of the bar. Leaving Aunt Charlie’s, turn left on Taylor and go two blocks to reach 
Glide Memorial United Methodist Church. This congregation calls itself “radically inclusive,” and indeed the church has been at the rallying point of counterculture movements since the 1960s. Under the direction of the legendary Rev. Cecil Williams, Glide became the largest provider of social services in the city, providing food, healthcare, spiritual guidance, after-school care, and sanctuary. Not to be missed are their jubilant Sunday celebrations featuring the Glide Ensemble and Change Band, bursting with music, dancing, and inspiration designed to lift even the darkest of spirits.
A divey gay bar and drag venue, Aunt Charlie’s Lounge has been a Tenderloin fixture since 1987.
Turn left on Ellis Street, left again on Jones, and right on Eddy Street to stand outside the historic 
Cadillac Hotel. Built in 1907, the Cadillac was a tony hotel catering to wealthy clientele at its inception, but this is not what gives us reason to pause. In 1924, Billy Newman leased the hotel ballroom and converted it into a boxing ring. And not just any boxing ring: many of boxing’s greatest legends graced Newman’s Gym, including George Foreman, Sonny Liston, and a young Cassius Clay; Miles Davis was also known to drop by and spar when he was in town. And in 1961, Jerry Garcia lived here long before he formed the Grateful Dead. In 2015, the small but mighty 
Tenderloin Museum took up shop next door on the corner of Leavenworth and Eddy. Dedicated to helping visitors understand the rich history of this maligned neighborhood, $10 buys you access to thorough educational, photographic, and artistic displays that celebrate the Tenderloin’s past and present. They also offer walking tours led by Tenderloin residents for an additional fee.
Turn right on Leavenworth and make a left on Ellis to find the red gates that lead you unexpectedly to 
Tenderloin National Forest, a somewhat tongue-in-cheek designation for a rather sweet green space amid the urban blight. Formerly known as Cohen Alley, the space was a literal dumping ground until a group of artists from the nonprofit Luggage Store Gallery took matters into their hands. The first redwood tree was planted in 2001, and the park now boasts a wood-burning oven, a mural by artist Rigo, and dozens of mature trees and plants.
After your time in the forest, retrace your steps to Leavenworth and turn right on Eddy Street. In a few paces, you’ll pass the easy-to-miss 
Onsen Bathhouse and Restaurant. A sign of a changing neighborhood, Onsen is a repurposed auto body shop–turned–Japanese bathhouse and tearoom. Tiny, serene, and artful, it’s a lovely place to take a break from the undeniable grit of the Tenderloin. Turn left on Hyde and walk a block to reach Turk–Hyde Mini Park, a rare public space in the Tenderloin, filling a lot where an apartment building once stood. Also on the Turk–Hyde corner, a vacant parking lot is a poor substitute for the legendary Blackhawk nightclub, which once occupied the site. On this spot, in April 1961, Miles Davis’s quintet recorded the celebrated live album In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, San Francisco. (It’s still available in a four-disc box set.)
Turn right on Turk, and at the corner of Larkin pause to look up and read the latest quotable quote on the marquee above 
Kahn and Keville tire shop, a witty fixture since the 1950s. Herb Caen, legendary San Francisco columnist, once referred to it as the “world’s biggest fortune cookie,” and it was originally the work of co-owner Hugh Keville, a World War I vet who kept inspirational quotes in a notebook to lift his spirits. (An example from 2014: “We would like to welcome Twitter to the neighborhood, but we have too many characters.”) The shop has changed hands since Keville’s passing, but each owner has continued with the tradition, much to locals’ delight. Turn right on Larkin and then left on Eddy Street, and you’ll soon spot the 
Phoenix Hotel. It’s a classic mid-20th-century motel, with parking, two levels of rooms, and a kidney-shaped pool—but over the past two decades it’s become much more than that. It’s become the de rigueur crash pad for rock stars and younger movie stars to alight when they’re in San Francisco. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Norah Jones, Debbie Harry, David Bowie, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and countless others have parted the sheets here. The sleek attached bar and restaurant, Chambers, is an homage to vinyl and the hipsters who still collect it.
Directly across the street from the Phoenix, the somewhat drab apartment building at 620 Eddy was the home of author Dashiell Hammett, who lived here with his wife and two daughters from 1921 until 1926. Hammett was largely unknown at the time, but he published many of his Continental Op stories, about an unnamed gumshoe, while living here. (We’ll see Hammett’s next home in just a few blocks.)
Rather than heading any farther up Eddy, turn right on Larkin Street and pass through the portals to Little Saigon, a two-block concentration of Southeast Asian restaurants and shops that, for many, is the Tenderloin’s only allure. 
Saigon Sandwich (you need to backtrack half a block) is highly regarded for its banh mi sandwiches, and people flock to 
Pho 2000 for its namesake dish. That said, plenty of other intriguing holes-in-the-wall serve inexpensive noodles and sandwiches.
Turn left on Ellis Street. If you weren’t in the mood for Vietnamese, you can belly up to a plate of ribs, a beer, and a down-home welcome at 
Rusty’s Southern. In addition to serving award-winning cuisine, Rusty’s is committed to giving back to the neighborhood, collaborating with its neighbor, City Hope, a nonprofit that helps provide housing for those transitioning from jail or recovering from addiction. Turning right on Polk Street, we enter Polk Gulch, world renowned for the gay scene that formed here during the 1970s. (Polk Gulch was the decidedly less-refined flip side of the Castro District.) At Olive Alley, a huge whale mural comes into view. It tattoos the side of the 
Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre, a true neighborhood landmark that opened in 1969. Here, Artie and Jim Mitchell screened the low-budget porn films they made, including such X-rated classics as Behind the Green Door, starring the late Marilyn Chambers. The Mitchell Brothers’ empire grew to include 11 theaters throughout California. In 1991 Jim shot and killed Artie, copped a manslaughter conviction, and served six years in jail. The theater subsequently became a strip club with the slogan “Where the Wild Girls Are.” A couple of doors down, the 
Great American Music Hall is a former bordello that’s surprisingly posh inside. It’s an excellent live-music venue that books touring acts several nights a week.
A dragon marks the entrance to Little Saigon, home to numerous Vietnamese restaurants and shops.
Continue on Polk and turn right at Geary Street. You might be tempted to stop for a pint of Fullers or a dram of Laphroaig at 
Edinburgh Castle, but the huge old pub is worth a visit not just for its selection of spirits but also its cultural contribution to the neighborhood and the city at large. Manager Alan Black, a man with an admirable fondness for working-class literature, has turned the pub’s upstairs room into a theater where plays, live music, and readings are performed; Black and his partners also run a publishing house. Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting, has made several appearances at the pub, where he has read from his work and been guest of honor at a stage adaptation of Trainspotting (the novel was also made into an acclaimed movie in 1996). Welsh took a liking to San Francisco and moved to the city from his native Scotland in 2003 (he now lives in Chicago).
Continue on Geary, noting some of the historic old dives, such as the 
Ha-Ra Club, which opened way back in 1947. The next couple of blocks of Geary are transitional. At Hyde Street, turn left and then pause at the corner of Post. The apartment building at 
891 Post was home to Dashiell Hammett at least from late 1927 through the end of 1928. He may have lived here even longer, as a plaque on the side of the building suggests. It is very likely that Hammett wrote Red Harvest and Dain Curse while living here, and he probably drafted The Maltese Falcon in the apartment as well. Literary sleuths like Don Herron, reading Falcon very closely, have deduced that Sam Spade’s apartment must have been in this building.
At the other end of this block, 
Kayo Books sells old paperback mysteries and pulp fiction from the 1950s and ’60s—it’s a fun little shop and a true homage to the neighborhood’s history and culture. It’s open by appointment only, but if you knock and they’re there, they’ll happily let you in to browse.
Make a right at Leavenworth Street, then turn left on Geary for a look at the fantastic 
Alcazar Theatre. Built for the Shriners in 1917 and designed by T. Patterson Ross (himself a Shriner), the theater is meant to evoke Byzantine grandeur with intricate archways clad in ornate tiles. You’ll notice some familiar motifs: above a second-story window on the far right, look for a Shriner fez.
From here, head on down Geary to Union Square, or return to Leavenworth to make your way back to UN Plaza.
Tenderloin
Points of Interest
826 Valencia Tenderloin Center 180 Golden Gate Ave.; 415-642-5905, 826valencia.org
St. Boniface Catholic Church/The Gubbio Project 133 Golden Gate Ave.; 415-863-7515, stbonifacesf.org, thegubbioproject.org
St. Anthony’s Dining Room 121 Golden Gate Ave.; 415-241-2600, stanthonysf.org
Windows into the Tenderloin Mural Jones St. and Golden Gate Ave.; monacaron.com/murals/windows-tenderloin
Aunt Charlie’s Lounge 133 Turk St.; 415-441-2922, auntcharlieslounge.com
Glide Memorial United Methodist Church 330 Ellis St.; 415-674-6000, glide.org
Cadillac Hotel 380 Eddy St.; 415-673-7223, cadillachotel.org
Tenderloin Museum 398 Eddy St.; 415-351-1912, tenderloinmuseum.org
Tenderloin National Forest Cohen Alley and Ellis St.; 415-255-5971, luggagestoregallery.org/tnf
Onsen Bathhouse and Restaurant 466 Eddy St.; 415-441-4987, onsensf.com
Kahn and Keville 500 Turk St.; 415-673-0200, kk1912.com
Phoenix Hotel/Chambers 601 Eddy St.; 415-776-1380, phoenixsf.com
Saigon Sandwich 560 Larkin St.; 415-474-5698, facebook.com/saigonsandwich
Pho 2000 637 Larkin St.; 415-474-1188, pho2000sf.com
Rusty’s Southern 750 Ellis St.; 415-638-6974, rustyssf.com
Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre 895 O’Farrell St.; 415-441-1930, ofarrell.com
Great American Music Hall 859 O’Farrell St.; 415-885-0750, slimspresents.com
Edinburgh Castle 950 Geary St.; 415-885-4074, tinyurl.com/thecastlesf
Ha-Ra Club 875 Geary St.; 415-673-3148, harasf.com
891 Post 891 Post St.; 415-673-1608, tinyurl.com/891postsf
Kayo Books 814 Post St.; 415-749-0554, kayobooks.com
Alcazar Theatre 650 Geary St.; 415-441-6655, goldstar.com/venues/san-francisco-ca/alcazar-theatre