Category Archives: Music History

Best Of Bandcamp Via The Hype Machine

Anthony Volodkin of the Hype Machine is a clever interesting guy who played a big role in music culture in the early 2000s when he revolutionized the promotion of music on the internet after he coded up an aggregator called the Hype Machine in 2005 that found a way to stream tracks form the myriad of internet blogs then posting music to an avid readership numbering in the millions. I can tell ya personally about the popularity of this wild wooly indie scene because I had a music blog at the time drawing thousands, if not tens of thousands of hits a day, much of that traffic derived from Anthony’s Hype Machine website.

Today with Alphabet’s YouTube, Zuckerberg’s social media & ezos’ e-commerce empires hogging most of the web traffic, my website now pulls around a fraction of that, maybe a hundred unique visitors a day, a far cry from when there were fewer internet users but there was more equal footing amongst all the sites on the web. I myself had kind of forgotten about the Hype Machine over the past decade, as the democratization of the web has largely disappeared into corporate content mazes, but was recently amazed to stumble in and see the Hype Machine was still functioning. In fact, it had even been crowdfunded, and now plays a central part in a quasi historical new book by Lina Abascal on the so-called ‘bloghouse’ movement, an account called Never Be Alone Again of which some excerpts from her writing are aggregated ala the ype Machine below.

“Music was beginning to move at the speed of the internet and new songs could be uploaded, reviewed, distributed, redownloaded, DJed out, remixed, (and repeat) faster than ever before.

Abascal BookMusic blogs in the second half of the ’00s were completely autonomous, uploading a constant stream of new tracks for not much more than the love of the game. (And maybe for the glitter of Z-list celebrity status from a regular position on the Hype Machine charts.)

The mode of discovery shifted away from finding your new favorite song on the radio, at the record store, or even hearing it at a club; now you knew everything about an artist before you even got to the party. The party where a promoter had booked an artist based on hype from blogs written by kids in dorm rooms. The bloggers weren’t totally sure if what they were doing was legal, but it never seemed to matter all that much anyway. Publicists representing the artists being blogged about were known to encourage the practice by sending free download links in their press releases to bloggers.

Compared to now, the scope of the internet felt drastically smaller; a loose network of niche communities that had yet to be flattened by corporate interests.

The true democracy of the sound’s wild wild west was Hype Machine. An aggregator with no human face or editorial input, Hype Machine (sometimes known as Hypem) was founded in 2005 by Anthony Volodkin, a Brooklynite by way of Russia.

“It was a chaotic time for music on the internet. I would spend hours listening and finding new blogs to listen from. Then I started thinking of how I could make something so I could listen to this more easily,” explained Volodkin. Marrying curation with convenience, the software engineer began building a tool to aggregate all of the scene’s music blogs’ daily postings to one website. “It felt like a radio station was being assembled in front of me,” he said of the earliest version of the site.

With its green and white layout, Hype Machine simply listed songs in a numerical ranking by online popularity. Other blogs could decide what to post based on what the rest of the blogosphere was posting, and listeners could head there to streamline the process of trolling the blogs themselves. In its prime, Hype Machine remained a fair, non- gameable website where the good stuff rose to the top. There were no paid posts, no partnerships, no commentary. The technology did the work and the culture did the rest.   (read more at Abascal’s new book Never Be Alone Again )

One of the cool things Volodkin’s HypeM team encoded recently was perhaps a penance for their illicit mp3 spreading past, this being the Merch-Table an application that can cross reference song titles from Spotify Playlists and link out to their monetizable counterpart links on Bandcamp where revenues from purchases are far more likely to actually make it to bands and labels that are keeping music alive. Here are some tracks below that I pulled from Spotify playlists I’ve made that can be found on Bandcamp where you can check out the albums and artists’ official sites to support them.

You can read about the rise and eventual decline in popularity of the Hype Machine here at Noisey

Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins

Chuck Prophet Buy on Bandcamp →

 

Cenário

FloFilz Buy on Bandcamp →

Bird of Spring

Metropolitan Jazz Affair Buy on Bandcamp →

Always Back to Lorraine

Chrome Pony Buy on Bandcamp →

Sad and Beautiful World

Jesse Malin Buy on Bandcamp →

Lunar Gardens

Possum Buy on Bandcamp →

Jacker

Heavy Times Buy on Bandcamp →

A Psych Tribute to the Doors featuring Raveonettes

Various Artists Buy on Bandcamp →

World Music

Goat Buy on Bandcamp →

Lets Do It Again

Giuda Buy on Bandcamp →

Brenn Siste Brevet

Erlend Ropstad Buy on Bandcamp →

New Leaf

Bantum Buy on Bandcamp →

Back Together

Jean & Trevor Buy on Bandcamp →

Untitled (Black Is)

SAULT Buy on Bandcamp →

Gold Brick

Jon Langford Buy on Bandcamp →

Racey Roller

Giuda Buy on Bandcamp →

I’m Just Like You: Sly’s Stone Flower 1969-1970

Buy on Bandcamp →

Days To Come

Bonobo Buy on Bandcamp →

The Instrumental Session

Various Artists Buy on Bandcamp →

 

Live From Axis Mundi

Gogol Bordello Buy on Bandcamp →

Carved By Glaciers

Lymbyc Systym Buy on Bandcamp →

The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer

Red Sparowes Buy on Bandcamp →

Tokyo EP

Nyteowl Buy on Bandcamp →

Afrika Bambaataa 1983 Club DJ Set At The Roxy NYC

This is a 6+ hr DJ Afrika Bambaataa set list from tunes he would put down at the Roxy ( a roller disco) in NYC circa summer ’83 where the flyer proclaimed:  No Skating! Just Dance Your pants Off Every Friday Night! – B There! 

NYC 80's Hip-Hop Club Flyer

Hosted by Fab Five Freddy, with live Graf art provided by Futura 2000, while the Double Dutch Girls & Crazy Legs from the Rocksteady Crew would be Breakdancin’ down on the floor Jazzy Jay & Bambaataa would man the wheels of steel and a DJ battle featuring Grand Wizard Theodore vs Grandmaster D.S.T. ( made famous via Herbie Hancock’s Rockit) would soon be scratchin’ up a storm. To get a sense of the vibe, this clip posted below from the 1984 film “Beat Street” has a scene shot there featuring Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force performing their electro funk rap song “Same” with cameos from the Rock Steady Crew.

 

This 6 hr+ mega mix I have made available as a playlist on either Spotify or Amazon Music recreates the crate diggin’ sequences of contemporary music one might experience in a hot early 80’s club that kept beats pumpin’ until the sun came up.  This old school tracklist featuring soul , electro funk, rock, new wave & early Hip-Hop faves of the day was compiled from archival playlist info provided by Bambaataa himself. The original posted mix included 80+ Songs, but rights holders have begun pulling catalog songs from shady silicon sucka streaming platforms, so results may vary on your music apps.

I listed all the O.G. 80’s club mix tracks below, whether currently available, for completists to seek out and so you can find out what you’re missing from artists as varied as Newcleus, Marley Marl, Strafe, Egyptian Lover, Reggie Griffin, Re-Flex, KRS One, The Fantastic Aleems ft Leroy Burgess and even Foreigner whose recordings may no longer can be found on Spotify.

 
2009 pic of the Roxy in the old Meat Packing district on edge of Chelsea before it was demolished to make way for a modern residential highrise
Photo By Aloughman – https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7161708
Bambaataa Playlist on Spotify
 
 
 
 
Tracklist  :
 
Billy Squier – The Big Beat
 
 
 
The Treacherous Three – Yes We Can-Can
 
 
 
Afrika Bambaataa – Jazzy Sensation – 12″ Remix
 
 
 
Shango – Zulu Groove (Edited Version)
 
 
 
Trouble Funk – Trouble Funk Express
 
 
 
Hashim – Al-Naafyish – Radio Edit
 
 
 
Strafe – Set it Off …
 
 
 
Afrika Bambaataa & Family – Bambaataa’s Theme (Assault On Precinct)
 
 
 
Malcolm McLaren – Buffalo Gals
 
 
 
Foghat – Slow Ride
 
 
 
Ram Jam – Black Betty
 
 
 
Queen – We Will Rock You – Remix Ruined By Rick Rubin
 
 
 
Rush – Tom Sawyer – Z-Trip Remix
 
 
 
Gary Numan – Cars – Live
 
 
 
Liquid Liquid – Cavern
 
 
 
Jimmy Spicer – The Bubble Bunch – Original Jellybean 12″ Mix
 
 
 
Cheikh Lô – Shakara/ Lady (Part One)
 
 
 
Love Childs Afro-Cuban Blue Band – Life and Death in G and A
 
 
 
Shirley Ellis – The Clapping Song
 
 
 
Larry Graham – Now Do-U-Wanta Dance
 
 
 
KRS-One – M.a.r.l.e.y. (skit)
 
 
 
Afrika Bambaataa Nation Soul Sonic Force – Zulu Nation Throwdown (Soul Sonic Force)
 
 
 
Malcolm McLaren – Double Dutch
 
 
 
ESG – Moody
 
 
 
The Flying Lizards – Money – Edit
 
 
 
Herman Kelly – Dance to the Drummer’s Beat
 
 
 
Defunkt – Razor’s Edge 12″ Version
 
 
 
The B-52’s – Mesopotamia
 
 
 
Culture Club – Time (Clock Of The Heart) – 2003 Mix
 
 
 
Sequence – Funk You Up – Long Version
 
 
 
Re-Flex – The Politics Of Dancing
 
 
 
Man Parrish – Hip Hop Be Bop (Original Version)
 
 
 
West Street Mob – Break Dance – Electric Boogie
 
 
 
Yazoo – Situation – Us 12″ Mix
 
 
 
The Pointer Sisters – Automatic (Album Version)
 
 
 
Michael Jackson – P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
 
 
 
New Edition – Candy Girl
 
 
 
Kool & The Gang – Jungle Boogie
 
 
 
The O’Jays – For the Love of Money
 
 
 
Prince – Controversy
 
 
 
Rick James – Super Freak
 
 
 
Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime – 2003 Remaster
 
 
 
Run–D.M.C. – It’s Like That
 
 
 
George Clinton – Loopzilla – Broadcast Version; 2000 Digital Remaster
 
 
 
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – Mickey’s Monkey
 
 
 
Afrika Bambaataa – Renegades Of Funk
 
 
 
Blondie – Rapture
 
 
 
Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force – Planet Rock
 
 
 
Afrika Bambaataa – Funk Jam Party
 
 
 
Cameo – Flirt
 
 
 
Lyn Collins – Think (About It)
 
 
 
Grace Jones – My Jamaican Guy
 
 
 
Yellowman – Zungguzungguguzungguzung
 
 
 
Sister Nancy – Bam Bam
 
 
 
Michigan & Smiley – Diseases
 
 
 
Nicodemus – Boneman Connection
 
 
 
The Bus Boys – Did You See Me
 
 
 
The Rolling Stones – Start Me Up – Remastered
 
 
 
Steppenwolf – Magic Carpet Ride
 
 
 
Grand Funk Railroad – Inside Looking Out – Remastered
 
 
 
Billy Squier – Everybody Wants You – Live
 
 
 
Foreigner – Urgent – Radio mix
 
 
 
Madonna – Everybody
 
 
 
James Brown – Papa Don’t Take No Mess
 
 
 
The Fantastic Aleems – Release Yourself
 
 
 
Newcleus – Jam on Revenge (The Wikki-Wikki Song)
 
 
 
Kraftwerk – Numbers – 2009 Remaster
 
 
 
Reggie Griffin – Mirda Rock
 
 
 
Ronnie Hudson – West Coast Poplock
 
 
 
The Egyptian Lover – Egypt, Egypt
 
 
 
Shriekback – My Spine Is The Bassline
 
 
 
Tom Tom Club – Genius Of Love
 
 
 
James Brown – Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved – Pt. 1 & 2 / Mono
 
 
 
Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want to Have Fun
 
 
 
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam – Head to Toe
 
 
 
Daryl Hall & John Oates – I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)
 
 
 
Re-Flex – The Politics Of Dancing – Extended Version
 
 
 
Donna Summer – I Feel Love – Edit
 
 
 
Bobby Byrd – I Know You Got Soul
 
 
 
Freeez – I.O.U. (12″ Version)
 
 
 
The Sequence – Funk You U

Mike’s Mayday Mixcloud 2 HR Tour

My Mayday Mix is ready!

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Lil’ Mike’s MayDay Mix – Raw Rockin’ Random Revelations
by Lil Mike’s Random Revelations & Robust Rants

Time length icon 1h 59m

Plays icon 35
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EPISODE DESCRIPTION

tracklist 1. Tom Petty & Heartbreakers – Anything That’s Rock N’ Roll ( 1976 recording)

2. Iggy Pop – No Fun ( Live Cleveland 1977 with David Bowie)
3. The Riddles – It’s One Thing To Say (1967 Quill 7″)
4. The Perails – Boss Walk (1965 Lynn’s Productions / Folkways )   
5. Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra feat Jamiroquai – ‘I’m In The Mood For Love’ (2000)
6. Toots & The Maytals – ‘Monkey Man’ (1969)
7. Paolo Nutini ’10/10′ (2010)
8. Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra feat Suggs from Madness ‘Oranges & Lemons Again’ (2001)
9. The Specials  ‘Gangsters’ (1979)
10. Marbert Rocel – Goya (2009)
11. Depeche Mode – Everything Counts [ Oliver Huntemann & Stephan Bodzin 2007 Radio Edit]
12. Prince – I Like It There (Chaos & Disorder 1996)
13.  Fugazi – Exit Only (1991 STL)
14 . Happy Go Licky – Twist & Shout (1987)
15.  Fugazi – Styrofoam (Did A Man Fall Off Stage? Italy 1990)
16.  Government Issue – Please Understand (1985)
17.  Ozzie Warlock And The Wizzards – Juke Box Fury
18.  Pentagram – Be Forewarned
  19.  Young Rascals – Can You Feel It?
20. Guess Who – Hand Me down World (1983 Soundcheck)
21. Sondra Lerche – Europa & The Pirate Twins (2007 7″ B-Side)
22. RJD2 – The Freshman Lettered ( The Fun Ones 2020)
23. RJD2 – Priceless ( Things Go Better 2007)
24. Weldon Irvine – Softly Pt 1 ( 1 Hr Halfway Point)
25. Persephone’s Bees – Nice Day (2006) 26. Otis Clay – The Only Way Is Up (1980) 27. Asha Bhosle vs Bollywood Funk  – Pyar Zindaghi Hai (2000)
28 . Pop Will Eat Itself – P.W.E.I. Radio (1989)
29. Honeycut – The Day I Turned To Glass (Lil Mike’s Random Instrumental Edit 2006)
30. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs + Fishbone – What’s New Pussycat (1997)
31. Candido Camero with Al Cohn – Mambo Inn (1956)
32. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Oh Deanna / Oh Happy Day ( 1990 Acoustic Version)
33. Lee Hazlewood – Little War (1968)
34. Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper – Get Out Of My Way (1987)
35. Kristian Hoffman – Any One But You ( feat Stew from Negro Problem 2002)
36. Los Bukis – Casas de Carton (1975)
37. Salum Abdallah Yazidi – Cuban Cha Cha (1965)
38. Sekiri – Chameleon (1991)
39. Kristian Hoffman – Get It Right Carny Reprise (2002)

LIlMike.Me’s March Madness Mixcloud

Relish Our Random Retro Rambling Rockin’ Ravin’ Soul Patrol Across The Pond And Beyond…

Experience 2 Hours Of Streaming Music From The Meters To Motörhead

Acts brought to bear on this perfect playlist include Blues Project, The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, Young MC, Pixies, Allen Toussaint, Willy DeVille, Irma Thomas, Buzzcocks, Hector Lavoe, Joan Jett, Siouxsie Sioux

and more, more, more

 

Lil' Mike's March Madness Mix

Tracklist Highlights

1. No Time Like The Right Time by Blues Project

2. Why? by The Byrds

3. Purple Haze Latin Mash by Jimi Hendrix

4. Know How (McSleazy Mash Up) by Young MC

5. Tame by Pixies

6. Zony Mash by The Meters

7. You Got To Fight by Clarence Reid

8. Koto Mata by Tali Bong

9, Family Affair by Veit Marvos Red Point Orchestra

10. Hurricane Suite: Storm Warning by Dr John

11. Natural Soul Brother by Danny White

12. Teasin’ You by Willy DeVille

13. Who’s Gonna Love You by Johnny Adams

14. Breakaway by Irma Thomas

15. Night People by Lee Dorsey

16, Dap Walk by Ernie & The Top Notes

17. You Got Me by Lee Calvin

18. Woncha Gone by Tommy Ridgely

19. Hollow Inside by Buzzcocks

20. On With The Show by The Get Up Kids

21. Love Is Like Oxygen (Demo) by Sweet

22. Back by The Zulus

23. Roll Away The Stone (Live 1990) by Fastbacks

24. You Got Me Floatin’ by Joan Jett

25. Omaha by Golden Palominos

26. Cause I Said So (Live 1989) by The Godfathers

27. Mi Gente [Louie Vega Remix] by Hector LaVoe

28. KISS by Señor Coconut

29. Rehab by Shawn Lee Ping Pong Orchestra

30. The World Is Gone by Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra

31. Sebastiana by Gal Costa

32. Can’t Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head (Live 2002) by Kylie Minogue

33. Ace of Spades (The CCN Remix) by Motörhead

34. Happy House (House Mix) by Siouxsie & the Banshees

35. Freakaholic by Egyptian Lover

 

 
 

Night Train To Nowhere Electoral Dysfunction Mixcloud

The Random Revelations Night Train To Nowhere Is Waiting For You To Hop Aboard!

A Podblast Powered By Curiously Curated Ska, Soul, Reggae, Dub, Punk, Funk, Easy Listening Music & Hard Liquor.

 

Hear my 2 hrs of painstakingly picked records and some rare soundboard concert clips. Most of my shared recordings are ripped right off vinyl rarities for your listening pleasure by artists such as Gregory Isaacs, Darondo, Dead Moon, Sister Double Happiness, Andre Williams, X, Rare Essence, Van Morrison, Larry Graham, Lou Rawls and The True Believers featuring brothers Javier & Alejandro Escovedo.

 

This episode is new for November and is a nuanced nocturnal tour you’ll want to revisit all over again.

Regale In Retro Rock Blasts from The Pretenders, Billy Squier, Dave Clark Five, Chilliwack, A Flock Of Seagulls as well as new music from contemporary #IndieRock artists like Jesse Dayton & Kelley Stoltz.

For the careful listener you’ll also hear a couple previously unreleased live recordings of a couple of my old late 80’s era bands Mom & The Rolling Scabs.

 

Rotober Random Revelations Mixcloud

Gotta lil’ bored and needed to share some quarantunes with my peeps online… If yer around me in the house, you’d know I spend hours everyday regurgitatin’ through thousands of albums . For those that don’t have the pleasure of me drunkenly thumbing through the shelves and pulling out obscurities I created a digital simulation. This is an official 2 Hour Guided Missile Of a Mixtape, literaly pounds upon pounds of platters painstakingly plopped under yr Spin Doctor’s new needle. (NOTE: long before a hippie jam band in NYC used the name Spin Doctors, I was using the Spin Doctor moniker on flyers for my DJ gigs around San Francisco. I eventually gave up because you know, Little Miss Can’t Be Blecch was getting way too much MTV time, and killed my buzz).

We Begin With Members Of The Dils Cowboy Nation Covering Dave Alvin of The Blasters And End With Wanda Jackson Imitating Charlie Rich. In The Middle We Get Tales Of The Big Boys Playing With Trouble Funk & Gwar Being Banned From The Club For Life At Their Very First Show. There’s Cosmic Sounds Of The Zodiac, BT Express, Flo & Eddie, Kendra Smith, Tom T. Hall, Chuck Prophet, Nick Lowe, The Mexican Hat Dance, Stax Soul Icons & Successful Major Label Heavies Revisiting Their Punk Roots. A Rarely Heard Hip-Hop Collab Between Lil’ Jon, Jay Z & Too Short, Indie Rock Rarities From The Incredible Casuals, And Beatnik Beatch, Plus Hawaiian Islander Protest Music From Israel Kamakawiwo’ole & Michael Kahikina. Dusty Springfield vs Tony Joe White, Hank Ballard vs Kris Kristofferson, Roberta Flack vs Les McCann …So, Uh, Yeah It’s A Thing & It’s All Happening Deep Inside The Random Revelations Rotober 2020 Mix.

Anyhow the the turntablist spins sonic stories for the masses in my latest Illegal , Immoral & Fattening mix…






Ruby Ray : Kalifornia Kool at Vesuvios

Ruby Ray discussing her work with friends & admirers at Vesuvio’s
pics from the Ruby Ray exhibit at Vesuvio's
Flipper as photographed by Ruby Ray

Last week I attended an art show by photographer Ruby Ray at Vesuvios in North Beach. Having recently collaborated with a Swedish publishing company to compile a new coffee table tome of her photos , called “Ruby Ray : Kalifornia Kool 1976-1982” I had expected perhaps some copies for sale alongside her works.

Alas, she herself had not lugged heavy boxes imported from Sweden of her visual documentation of sticky floored band sets in dark clubs, brash backstage parties, and the seminal spawning of the “Industrial Culture” movement that happened in San Francisco. Fortunately, a City Lights employee present assured me there was one last copy that was for sale next door, and I bought the last available volume from right behind the cash register, and demanded Ruby re-sign it again for me, even though it was already signed!

If you click the link below, you won’t have to pay Ferlinghetti‘s word temple tax of full retail price, as the imported book is actually much cheaper and easier to obtain through the mail, but then again, maybe you will feel guilty not dragging it off a shelf in a serene shop.

Kalifornia Kool by Ruby Ray
The UK Guardian ran a feature on Ruby’s book when it was released

Ruby Ray currently, as I write, still has a retrospective set of about two dozen prints framed and placed on panels in the already densely packed bar, but the stark striking faces and perfect poses caught in her classic black & white imagery always stands out despite distracting visual clutter & competition all around the room.

Ruby Ray’s punk photos on display at Vesuvio’s

There amongst the other paintings, flyers and tchotchkes that abound in the bar were photos that popped, featuring images from a truncated but 5 year period in SF from roughly 1977-1981. Many were moments preserved from inside or fairly near the Mabuhay Gardens nightclub, that capture in action bands like The Avengers, Crime, Devo, Flipper, Mutants, UXA, X and others that broke free of the bearded denim bro mold of the late 70’s schlock rock to bring to life a vital, energetic and angry new musical art form with its own merits and manifestos, that took music fans far from the middle of the arena rock road.

Hank Rank of Crime etc
Images from “Ruby Ray: Kalifornia Kool 1976-1982”
a review from ArtBook.com

A few years ago, I purchased the now out of print collection “From the Edge of the World” a smaller sized book of Ruby Ray’s photos that also came with a 16-song CD compilation including rare music by bands featured in the pages: These included The Offs, Darby Crash & The Germs,  The DilsThe AvengersCrime, Mutants, FactrixThe SleepersNegative Trend, The Screamers, Chrome, The Bags,  Noh MercyPink Section, The Zeros and percussionist Z’EV.  If you can find a copy, it is well worth a deep dive or at least perusal.

From the Edge of the World: California Punk 1977 1981 Superior Viaduct Book Cover
Out of Print Book/CD “From the Edge of the World: California Punk 1977to 1981” by Ruby Ray edition put out by Superior Viaduct

Back when it mattered, Ruby was right there with a lens, seemingly always pointed in the right direction as the purveyors of the late 70’s scene spouted their first songs/rants, played pranks, or sprawled out in chemically induced hazes. She helped make Vale‘s Search & Destroy publication such a vital document at the time, and her work stands the test of time. The cover showing a passed out Sid Vicious certainly tells a story, as do most of the other images inside her latest book.

Oddly, now 40 years on, Ray’s punk portraits and surreal snapshots of cultural icons like William S Burroughs, Jello Biafra or Exene Cervenka take on a frozen in time historical significance, with an impact that belies their lively off hand and youthful impromptu actuellement.

She’s a feisty and interesting lady and I enjoy her provocative conversation as well as seeing her artistic work, and encourage all with the ability, get out and do the same!

Viva La Ruby Ray!

Ruby’s photos are viewable at Vesuvio’s daily til 2am at 255 Columbus Ave until Feb 28th 2020

San Francisco: Places That Are Gone

The list compiled here below on this page is a random registry of places that I could think of that have left San Francisco since I arrived in the late 1980’s. Some of these were just neighborhood spots and dives, some were well known or iconic semi-legendary locations in biz for decades, some neither…but they all existed at some point before closing within the past three decades of my time spent here in town.

I was partly inspired by the San Francisco Remembered Facebook group which gives people space to share their memories of an ever changing city by the bay, as well as the interest in the SF89 doc

Several entities namedropped on the list were only here briefly, maybe mere months, perhaps being opened in a cash flush whimsy during the early 21st century, others may’ve been here serving a neighborhood for generations before the owners retired or were priced out by a rent gouging landlord. The only common denominator between them all is that they’re all shuttered, moved on and gone from their once visible presence in their original locations on our ever morphing San Francisco city streets.

Having lived, played, wined, dined and wandered the Streets of San Francisco since the late 1980’s, now a period spanning some thirty years, I’ve seen many a local business come and go in three decades, and a fair number of national chains fold as well. These here are pretty much all that I can recall and many I never even frequented but still they have left traces I could glean documented in biz tax registries, old tourist guidebooks or newspapers.

I compiled much of this list initially from memory one day, then curiosity piqued, I began researching the topic more earnestly, and began looking in old photos, advertising circulars, flyers, magazines and other publications. (special thanx to the San Francisco neighborhood newspaper collection at the Internet Archive curated by Found SF / Internet Archive as well as the invaluable SFPL historical online photo collection like the Robert Durden Color Slide Collection at San Francisco Public Library Historical Photograph Collection), the Max Kirkeberg photo collection from SFSU,  current scene blogs like Mission Local and Capp Street Crap , pics from Yelp users, and the wonderful treasure trove of historical San Francisco minutiae available at  OutsideLands.org ) .

Brunos, Hunts Donuts, La Rondalla Mission District Eateries of The 1990s Mission Eateries of The 1990s[/caption]>

While, by no means, is this page a complete record of business entities that are gone from San Francisco since the late eighties, it is a failrly wide swath of prominent and not so prominent SF sites that fled or gone belly up. It has taken me many days and hours to steadily add and randomly build a loose list of local retailers & restaurants, union halls, churches, funeral parlors, buildings, vacant lots and businesses of all sorts that have been replaced since I got here in January 1987…

Most are likely restaurants, as those seemingly come and go at the quickest pace, but there are plenty bars, nightclubs, boutiques and shops, as well as hotels, theaters, services, whole structures, or types of businesses, schools, and non-profits that’ve all disappeared…

Unfortunately for the serious researcher, these entries are not grouped alphabetically, chronologically or logically in any way. They were added as I thought of ’em…There is no systemic database here, nothing sorted by street address, neighborhood or category, they’re just random revelations usually separated by single hyphen dash. If a slash separates a name in an entry, that means I can recall or found evidence of a different tenant or iteration at the same physical street location between 1989 and 2019 as in Chatterbox/Club Chameleon at 853 Valencia (now Amnesia)

… I generally left the current biz operating at the site off these listings, as they are just the extinct business, not the current tenant, except occasionally mentioned in photo captions to familiarize people of the address.

Enjoy scrolling the names and see if they wake up any of your 80’s, 90’s or early 2000’s memories of faded or forgotten San Francisco Remembered
Please leave your favorite San Francisco spots that you recall that I maybe forgot about in the comments!
Paradise Lounge / Transmission Theater / Studio Z – Big Heart City – Zim’s – Naked Eye Video – Place Pigalle – The Lexington – Viva – Chapalita – Behind The Post Office – Recycled Records – Covered Wagon Saloon / Cherry Bar / Annie’s Social Club / Pine Tar Bar and Grill – Rainbow Records – The Wherehouse Records – City Nights – Sound Of Music – Other Cafe – Club Nine – Video Only – The Palladium – A Clean Well Lighted Place For Books – Video Cafe – Copy Central –  Full Moon Saloon – Country Station Sushi – The Elbo Room – Hukilau – Twenty Tank Brewery – Used Rubber – Discount Depot – Clare’s Deli on 17th – Old Europe – Stars – Lipp’s Underground – SF Music Works – Ameba Clothing – Klub Komotion – The Vis / Kennel Club / Crash Palace / Justice League – Baghdad By The Bay Cafe – Tower Records – Just Desserts – Cala Foods – The Compound / 16th Note / Firehouse 7 – New College Of California – Workingman’s Headquarters Hardware on Mission- Amira Cafe / Cafe Istanbul – Thrift Town – Club 181/ Polly Esther’s – Big Nate’s Bar Bq –  Val 21/ Herbivore / Motze – Club DV8 / Caribbean Zone – King Foot Subs –  No Nothing Cinema – Nap’s Peacock Alley / Hush Hush – I-Beam / The Quake – Cafe Chaplin – South Beach Billiards – Bombay Bazaar – The Crystal Pistol / Timo’s Tapas  – Tip Top – Z Gallerie – No Money No Honey – Hunt’s Donuts / Commonwealth – 18 Sycamore – Graffiti / Chatterbox / Chameleon – United Savings Bank – Finocchio’s – Lord Jim’s – Washington Sq Bar & Grill / Moose’s – Asqew Grill – Pluto’s –  Brother In Law’s Bar BQ – Zinzino – Zao Noodle Bar – P.J’s Oyster Bed – Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic – Roommate Referral – Survival Research Labs – Slow Club – The CoffeeNet® Cafe – Lafayette Coffee Shop –  21 Club – Regal Cinema / LA Gals – Market St Cinema – Chez Paree – Campus Theater on Jones – Artemis Cafe / Radio Valencia / Last Supperclub – Theater Rhinoceros – Kimo’s – Old Wives Tales Bookstore – A Different Light Books – Clarion Coffee House – Cafe Nidal – Common Grounds – Asimakopoulos Cafe – Albona Ristorante Istriano – Apparel Cleaners – The Owl and Monkey Cafe – CoCo Club – Cafe Commons – Billboard Cafe – Bocce Cafe – Small Press Traffic – Snapper Ticker – Old Vogue Vintage – Rough Trade Records – Luisa’s Italian – The Line Up / Rawhide II – Left At Albuquerque – Lucca Ravioli – Mezzanine – Capp’s Corner – Blowfish Sushi – Elite Cafe – Cafe Neon Green Chile Kitchen – United Commercial Bank – Pizzeria Uno – The Old Spaghetti Factory / Bogie’s – Michi’s Club / Sadie’s Flying Elephant – The Albion – People’s Cafe – The Werepad – Casting Couch Micro Cinema – Park Bowl – Japantown Bowl – 711 Club – Bob Mandell’s Costume Shop – Aquarius Records – Creativity Explored – Artrock Gallery – New Dawn Cafe – Cafe Soma – Climate Theater – The Bridge Theater – Harvey’s Place – Mother’s Place – Armpit Gallery on Haight – Rock’ N Bowl – Pat O’Shea’s Mad Hatter / Buckshot Bar & Gameroom – Divas – Aardvark Books – Balazo Gallery – The Blue Lamp – Club Townsend – Concourse Exhibition Center – Curve Bar – Eagles II – Epicenter Zone – Moishes’s Pippic – Wet Paint Studios – Studio 4 – Casa Sanchez – Carousel/ Doghead Diner – Ember’s Bar – Grady’s – Club Charleston / Arrow Bar – Nap’s II – Doctor Bombay’s – Nestor’s Universe – The Jitney Bus – Mervyn’s – The Good Guys – Whole Earth Access Store – Goodman’s Lumber – Petrini’s Market – Jos. Schmidt Chocolate Confections Inc – Leticia’s – Nightbreak – Speedway Records – Sailing Ship Dolph Rempp Restaurant at Pier 42 – Mariachi’s Taco Bar – 509 Cultural Center – Holy City Zoo – Jardinière – The Giraffe/Hemlock Tavern – Jazz at Pearl’s – The Pound SF – The Stone – 21 Bernice – Cyclone Warehouse 3rd & Marin / Hanno’s In The Alley / The Tempest – Ocho Loco – Space Gallery on Polk – Vortex Room – Jack’s / Jeanty At Jack’s – Square One – Vivande Porta Via – Pork Store Cafe – Cafe Reggio – Vicolo Pizza – Hamburger Mary’s – The I-Beam – Liverpool Lil’s – 10,000 Buddahs – The Dish – Church St Station /  JohnFrank / Home – Sparky’s Diner – Jeffrey’s Toys – The Rawhide – A Taste Of Leather – Weird Fish / Urban Fish – The Plush Room – Roland’s – El Oso – Rassela’s – Channel’s Dance Club – Wolfgang’s – Royal Academy of Belly Dancing – Alexandria Theater – St. Francis Theater – Embassy Theater – Market St Cinema – Lusty Lady – Electric – Gelateria Vivoli – Kimball’s – Baybrick Inn / The Southside – Caribbean Rose – Bajone’s- Brick House / Odeon – Holos Hologram Gallery 1792 Haight – Rockin’ Robins / Boomerang – Music Hall Theater – Emporium Capwell – Last Day Saloon / Rockit Room – Rasputin Music – La Boulange – Pasqua – High Bridge Arms – Flax – Valhalla Books – Kaplan’s Sporting Goods & Surplus – Lombardi’s Sports – Loehmann’s – Body – La Rosa Vintage – Clothes Contact -Taqueria Alteña- Giant Value – New Mission Theatre – Streetlight Records – Discolandia – Global Exchange – Das Klub – Show Biz / Ruby Dolls / Francesco Rocks / Dip – El Matador – Northpoint Cinema – Cesar’s Latin Palace – Amelia’s / Elbo Rm – Basta Pasta – Quantity Postcards – Edward II Hotel & Pub – Milestones – The Blue Muse / Breezy’s – Templebar – Lascaux – Gift Center Pavilion – Bouncer’s Bar – LuLu – Athens by Night – Garibaldi’s – Bahia Tropical – Peg’s Place / Rocky Sullivan’s Bar & Grill – Cafe Babar – Morty’s / Cocodrie – Foxy Lady Boutique – Cable Car Theater – Phoenix Theater – Blow Buddies – Tosca – Jay Bee Club – The Gangway – The White Swallow – Pauline’s Pizza – Assab – farmerbrown – Backseat Betty – The Magic Flute – The Geneva Drive In – Fun Center/ Amusement Center – Haight Ashbury Music – Comedy Traffic School – The Helmand Palace – The Fisherman’s Cottage – The Shadows Restaurant – Eddie Rickenbacker’s – Soups – Turk Larkin Deli – Georgiou Natural Fashions – Esprit Outlet – Byer California Outlet – Sumiko’s Lounge – Postrio – Show Biz – Spaghetti Western – Movida – Kennedy’s Pub & Curry House – Virgin Megastore – 26 Mix – Backflip – China Moon – Pink Tarantuala Salon – Pizza Orgasmica – Empress of China – Villa Romana – The Gold Spike – Tommy Toy’s – Café Cocomo – Up & Down Club – Brave New World / Storyville / 1751 Social Club/ Poleng Lounge – Dylan’s Pub – Sacrifice – Julie’s Supper Club – Eros /Mecca – Voodoo Lounge/Savanna Jazz Club – Sound Factory – Bubble Lounge – Cafe Proust – Pasta Pomodoro – Razor’s Edge Studio – Poolside Studio – Rocker Rehearsal – Turko Persian Rug Factory – Mission Bay Golf Center – FAO Schwartz – Sharper Image – Pacific Stock Exchange – Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor – Gunne Sax Jessica McClintock Outlet – Coronet Theatre – Howard’s Cafe on 9th Ave –  Gump’s – Nob Hill Theater – AMC Theater 1000 Van Ness – Canto do Brasil ; – Ellis Brooks Chevrolet – Roger Boas Honda – S & C Ford – S & M Motors – SF Furniture Mart – Charles Howard Buick / San Francisco Ford Lincoln Mercury on Van Ness – Sabella’s on The Wharf – Woolworth’s – Circuit City – Comp USA – Merrill’s Drug Store – All american Boy – Headlines – Clown Alley – I. Magnin – Attitudes Bar – Falcon Studios – 2202 Oxygen Bar / Oxygen Bar-Sushi And Sake Lounge – Esta Noche – Fay’s Club / Liquid – The Detour – Headquarters / Night Shift / Fuzio Universal Pasta – Eureka Theater – Kokpit – The Watering Hole – Jaguar Adult Bookstore/ Chaps on Castro – Maelstrom Books – Liberty Baths – Elephant Walk – Valencia Rose – Josie’s Cabaret; Juice Joint – Giladon Sushi Club / MopTops – Casket Outlet – Baha’i Faith – Frjtz – Charpe’s Grill – Margaritaville – Cip Ayalin Photography Studio at 1155 Geneva – Touchstone – Cafe Kati – Tampopo – Dandelion – Schooner’s Tavern – Weston Wear – Ti Couz – Danridge Hardware Store – Abandoned Planet Books- Film Arts Foundation – Casa Loma – JJ’s Piano Bar – Dick’s / Jack Hammer / Daimaru Sushi – The Transfer – Eagle Creek -Heartland Cafe / Carta / Octavia Lounge / Rebel – Achille’s Heel Victorian Pub – Border Cafe Cantina – Maud’s Study – Cork n Bottle – The Negatorium – Francine’s – Chabela’s – The Galleon – 49ers 4 Mile House – The Great Entertainer / Cybelle’s – Carlene’s of Maui – Amazing Grace Vegetarian Restaurant – The Men’s Room – Cafe San Marcos – Petpourri – Body Manipulations – The African Outlet – Reggae Runnins – Prince Neville’s – Golden China Cafe – Cendrillon – Le Piano Zinc – Southwest Tradewinds – Armadillo’s – S.Y Rosewood Furniture & Arts Inc. – The Pendulum – Aunt Mary’s – Eureka Restaurant & Lounge – Sincere Cafe – Mary’s Fillmore Store – Little Russia – Kenpo Karate School – Hot n’ Hunky – Kam’s – Ivy’s – Castro Cheesery – Without Reservation – Umberto Ristorante – Cafe Majestic – Johnny Wok – Kit Shickers – The Marble Works – Appam Cuisine of old India – Romantasy – American Rag – Pioneer Army & Navy – American Indian Hall / Valencia Hall – Busvan for Bargains – Aqui – Apostleship of the Sea – Chat House – China Court (Restaurant) – Cinch Saloon – Frisco Saloon/ Chel’s Rendezvous / Club 6 – Daddy’s – McDonald’s Bookshop – Marcello’s Pizza – Osento – Deco Lounge / Jezebel’s Joint on Larkin – Cafe Cozzolino – Diamond and Jewelry Mart – Spanish Cultural Center- Country Cheese Co. Trinity Place -Bakery La Mejor / Cafe Venice – Every 6 Weeks (Salon) – Eye Gallery – Femina Potens – Gay Rescue Mission – Liquor Express Friendly Spirits – Ginger’s Too – Flying Pan Bistro – Galia / 12 Galaxies – The Record Rack – Welcome Home Restaurant on Castro – Le Domino / Eichelberger’s / Moxie – Pommon’s Tower Market – Tower Lounge on Portola – Icon Byte Bar & Grill – Internet Alfredo – The Corral – Partyland / Fina Estampa – Cyberworld – Darlene’s Fabrics – Tiki Hut Bar – Brain Wash – Ground Zero Cafe – Image Leather – Mock And GU’s Irving Club – Walt Whitman bookstore – On The Q.T bar – Haig’s Delicacies – Record Finder – House Of Stools & Bars – Olive Oil’s / Jelly’s – Le Petit Trianon – SF Mystery Books – Arriba Arriba Taqueria – The Alhambra Theater – Gensler-Lee Diamonds – The Diamond Center – Ginger’s Trois – Panelli Brothers Deli – Hibernia Bank – Sears Roebuck – Florence Ravioli & Delicatessen – Il Fornaio – New Pisa Restaurant – the Compass Rose – British American Import Grocery – Wicked Grounds – Franklin’s / Poquito – Turbo Liquors – A OH West African Cuisine – Rayko Photo Center – Lise’ of Copenhagen – House of Cashmere – The Fillmore Grill/Mehfil Indian restaurant/the Long Bar & Bistro – Pulcinella – Villa Italia Gourmet / I Dream Of Cake – Thai Inspiration – Black Spade Record Store – Lasquax – Paul Frank – The Paper Source – Baby’s Palabok – Swatdee Thai – Sushi Rock – Mangosteen – Dusit Thai – Aunt Hermione’s Kitchen- Rin’s Thai – Orpheus Leather – Mike’s Barber Shop – Always and Forever – Simon’s Spanish Shop – Meat Market Coffeehouse- Rover’s Inn – The Dubliner – Herb’s Fine Foods – Real Food Company – Downtown Rehearsal – Spinelli Coffee / Tully’s Coffee – Holey Bagels – Savor Cafe – Alcatraces – All That Jazz Shear Delight – Fusai Sushi Ponne’s Matsuya Restaurant / Tamasei – Glen Park Books.- Tien Fu Restaurant – Carrolls Books – Noe’s Bar & Grill – Charanga – Korean Cabin / Southpaw BBQ – Eliza’s – Thanya and Salee’s Thai – Hans Speckmann’s German Cuisine & Bierstube – Gastronom Russian Deli on Geary – Kaleo Cafe – The Canvas Cafe – Berezka Deli – Hungry Joe’s – Omega TV Repair – Radio Shack – Rossi Supermarket – Citizen – Tommy’s Plants – Castro Wine Company – Cafe Gaetano / Steps Of Rome – Chef JIA – Mikey Tom Market – Z Connection Shoe Store – Drewes Meat Market – Valentine’s Cafe – Tuggey’s Hardware – Little Bean Sprouts – Small Frys – Sushi Groove – Cher’s Grillhouse / Split Pea Seduction – Chilango Taqueria – Ritz Deli – Golden City Restaurant – La Casona Taqueria – Cover To Cover Booksellers – L & C Laundry – Snowbright Laundrette – Rikker’s Liquors – The Rest Stop / El Quake-O/Burgermeister – Cyber Bazaar – Diamond Super Market – Cafe Sanchez – Noe Valley Community Store – Fujisan Sushi- A Cut Above the Rest Barber Shop – San Francisco Barber Shop College – Marinello’s School Of Beauty – Rami’s Caffe – Rich’s One Hour Photo – Travel Time – What’s for Dessert ? – The Hugo Hotel – Watercress / Sugoi Sushi – Le Bistrot – Time And Space Rehearsal – The Golden Turtle Restaurant – White Caps Cafe – El Dolfin – Palermo Delicatessen – Sam Jordan’s – Wilburs Cafe – Wild Awakenings / Celtic Coffee – Woodwards Garden – Beijing On Irving Restaurant – Cannabis Buyer’s Club on Church St – The MicrosoftSF Store – The Hello Gorgeous Museum – El Raigon Argentine Asado – Earthtones – Looper’s Sizzler – Goldilocks Bakeshop And Filipino Restaurant – Hunan Garden – Haight Ashbury Switchboard – Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market – King’s Super Market – Club Sirroco – Twist Mural at 1035 Howard St. – The R. Matteucci Jewelers Clock – Lombard French Cleaners – 6th Street Books – Temple Hotel – The Schlage Lock and Key Company – The Best Foods Mayonnaise Plant / Protozoa Animation Studios – Hostess Cake / Wonder Bread Factory – Valley Super Market – Sherry Salon – Jivano’s Cutlery Service  – Smitty’s Market – Armando’s Show Repair – China Basin Travel – The Bookcenter – Fillamento – Teokali Mexican – Jonell’s – Cinnabar – Captain Jack’s – Superthrift – Gazebo Chinese Cuisine – Mistral Rotisserie Provencale – Roe Restaurant – Spuntino – Firecracker – Yokoso Nippon – Three Dollar Bill Cafe – Eos – Pueblo To People – Nyala Ethiopian – Lemon Twist / Reliquary – Vanessi’s /The Old Place – The Californian/ Sparrow/ Watergate / Gramercy Grill – Susie Kate’s – Vic’s Ng Cafe – Chun Kang Vegetarian Restaurant – Phnom Penh – Elaine’s Barbecue at 208 Eddy – Carlos Goldstein’s Tijuana Taqueria – Pho 54 – Kopens Ice Cream – Union Music Company – Jack Creighton Pharmacy – Musicians Hall on Jones Street – Cacao Anasa – Tcho Chocolate Factory – Pasta Bene Restaurant – Pumpkin / Honeys & Heroes – Saigon Saigon – Samila Thai / TeaOne – Spitfire Rose Bar – Ernie’s TV Repair Service – Paisano’s Cafe – Eppler’s Bakery – Saji Japanese Restaurant – Young’s Barbecue – Riverside BBQ – Tannour Fine Mediterranean – Long Island Restaurant – Millennium Restaurant – Minerva Restaurant – Indian Aroma Restaurant – Haight St. Shoe Repair – L’Olivier – Big O Tires at 6th and Mission – Buck Tavern – Home Cash Market – Verducci Hall – Letterman Naval Hospital – MacArthur Park Restaurant – L.L. Greenblat Sheet Metal Mfg Co. – Wooden Horse – Human Rights Campaign Action Store – Picolo Pete’s Deli – Lee Chang International – Worn Out West – Yong Long Herb & Ginsing Company – Tong Palace – Duc Ky Restaurant – Red Sea Grocery – Ooma – Caffe Malvina / Cafe Divine – Bank Of Canton – La Riga Leather – Cafe Delle Stelle – Marlena’s – Columbus Savings Bank – Pizza Pop – 16th and Mission Cafeteria – Botanica Yoruba – Latin Freeze – Gabardine’s – El Balazo – Bean Bag – Coffee Zone – Yone – Cool Beans – El Mansour – The Red Crane – Kyoung Bok Palace – Bricks – Bob’s Take Out – Polo’s Stadium Club – Usulutan Restaurant – Chili Lemon Garlic Cafe – Bernal Books/Red Hill Books/ Badger Books – Show Dogs – Bob’s Broiler – Ponzu – Samovar Tea Lounge -Sports Authority – Portico – CompUSA – Raffles – New Langton Arts – Del Taco – Adidas Store – Puma Store – Bill Graham Presents / Braunstein/Quay Gallery – Mordam Records – AIDS activist tent encampment at United Nations Plaza – Blondie’s Pizza – Hollywood Billiards Hall – Castro Village Pharmacy / Magnet – The Blue Fig – Mi Lindo Yucatan -AQ Restaurant & Bar – Lotus Garden – Miss Pearl’s Jam House / Backflip – Luna Lounge – Little Henry’s Italian Food – Geneva Towers – Jim’s Tailor / Emma Beauty Salon – Chez Mollet – The Love That Dares – Maggie’s Samoan Grocery – Pizza Pit – Red Rose Gallerie – Seven Seas Club – The Mandarin – Swallowtail Antiques – Bar Johnny / Bullitt – Lockerroom Sports – Anh Hong Phu Nhuan Restaurant – Angkor Borei Restaurant – Leland Hotel – Reflection – Golden China Cafe – Mario Andretti Speed Mart – The Gulch on Market – Joe Boxer – Don’s Different Ducks – Monaco Film Labs and Video Services – Wild Brain Studios – Colossal Pictures –  Albatross Books – Vientiane Restaurant – Polk Gulch Saloon – Isla Vida – The Perrennial – Stacey’s Bookstore – Talbot’s- Citizen Cake – Sony Playstation Store – Where The Wild Things Are at Metreon – Airtight Garage & Hyper Bowl at Sony Metreon –  Oddysea Surf Shop – PlayStation store – Discovery Store – Rizzoli Books/ Mango – Brookstone – Casual Corner – Villains – Dal Jeets – Planet Weavers – All You Knead – Freed, Teller and Freed – Mick’s Lounge / Tongue n Groove – The Gauntlet – Zoa – Fruitful Grounds – Canyon Beachwear – Robert’s At The Beach Motel – Joe’s Of Westlake – Pierce Street Annex/The Matrix – Sta Travel – Council Travel – Chestnut St Bar & Grill – Go Bananas – Larsen Park Military Jet – Quincy’s – Martinelli’s / Rose Pistola – La Nebbia – Andiamo’s Deli – Midori Mushi – RxGallery – Cozmo’s – World Sausage Grill – Yeo’s Hair Salon – Tango 20! –  Tita’s Hale ‘Aina – JT’s Island Cafe – Minerva Cafe / Tortilla Heights – D Den Thai / Abigail’s Bakery and Cafe – Chi Chi Club / Dolce Lounge  – Seffie’s / Maya Taqueria / Andalu/ Chino / Bar San Pancho – Frisco Fish and Chips – Johnny Love’s / Pasha – Coco500 – Orson – Circolo / Gordon’s House of Fine Eats – Naia – Luna Park – Incanto – Overland Pharmacy – MarketPlace Café / Baker’s Square / Hime – Baku De Thai – Piccadilly Fish & Chips – Anna’s Danish Cookies on 18th –  Farina – Geranium – Lark Creek Steak – Fish Story –  Strait’s Cafe – Pappadora’s Pizza – Luella – Pesce / 2223 Market – Yabbie’s Coastal Kitchen – Ziryab – Amina’s Pizzeria – Globe – Fu War Restaurant – Zuppa – Butterfly / Levende Lounge – Prana – KiKi’s / Tutto Bene / Rocco’s Seafood Grill/ F.I.G.S. aka France, Italy, Greece, Spain / Habana/ La Joya / Hue L’amour / Heights Ultra Lounge/ Tajine / Rendezvous Tapas Lounge/ House Of Crawfish / Hex Bar & Kitchen / – Cease & Desist – Andrew Rothstein Fine Foods – Tenny Place – Sloan Alley – Victorian Interiors Antique Shop – City Discount – The Jug Shop – Lumiere Theater – Tappe’s Bar and Grill – O’Carolan’s Pub – La Rondalla – Curiosity Shoppe – Monument Vintage Furniture – Venue 9 – CELLspace 2050 Bryant – Soho Gallery 1218 Valencia St – San Francisco Comic Book Co. – Whisper / Charles Chocolate – Early Years Academy – Amaru Gallery – Da Luisa Italian – Sari-Sari Food Store – Shirel’s Soul Food – Sin Fung Video / Dragon City Aquarium – Cliff’s Bar BQ – Two Jack’s Seafood Loactions – La Loma Produce – Hong Yun Restaurant – Yet Suen Foods – DeMasi’s Barber Shop – Thriftway Market – 3220 Gallery – Lavande – Bombay Masala – Face Place – Captain Submarine – Leon’s Bar-B-Que – Flying Salmon / Jewelerism – Tangerine Fashions – Carbon Alternative – Rory’s Twisted Scoop / Tango Gelato – Brown Bag Stationary & Gifts / Paolo – Sai’s Vietnamese Market – Argyle Video Rental – Mercado Valle Verde – Psychedelic Shop – Big Apple Discount Center – Soko Hardware – Pagolac / Pak Nam Thai – Jade Bar – The Red Room Cocktail Lounge – Herrera Buick – Majestic Ice Cream – Steve & Itchy’s Liquors – The Fifth Floor – Carl Street Guest House – Green Tortoise Hostel on Broadway- La Boulange stores – Em’s Cafe / Elmira – Cuddles Cockails in old TransBay Terminal – Happy Donuts – Pacific Heights Market & Deli – Fillmore Wash Palace / Elizabeth Charles – Iroha / La Fiametta / Meeting House / Quince / Baker and Baker/ – May Sun Restaurant – Pacific Green Seafood – Mi Burrito – Trio Cafe – The Half Shell – Viareggio – Happy Valley Seafood – Duxiana Bedding / Pizzeria Inferno – California Federal Bank – Kharsa Brothers Falafil Burger King – New Asian Style – Pacific Heights Travel Service – Brooks Brothers Black Fleece – Purple Heart Thrift Store on Mission St- Xanadu Gallery – Russian Hill Bookstore – The Coliseum Theater on Clement – Home Drug Co. – Fillmore Hardware – Pic Nic Nac / Thomas Reynolds Gallery – Metro 200 – DePaula’s – Mekong Restaurant / Joe Joe’s BBQ Cafe – Kim Cuong Jewelry – Sunhee Moon – Little Otsu – Dema – Kim Chuy Chinese Restaurant – 440 DeHaro 30+ Club – Chan’s Chinese Kitchen / Fook Restaurant – Lost Weekend Video – The Purple Onion – Bar Crudo – Masa’s – Sally’s Upstairs Deli – American Chow – Sunbird Gallery – Hamburger Nancy’s / Garden of Tranquility – A1 Hub Caps – Athchison’s Pharmacy – Original Jones Methodist Memorial Church on Post – Potrero Garden Center – The Jack Daw – Austen Books – Don’s Of Sixth Street – McB’s Shoes – NaNa – Morphos – Peter Pan – Club 65 – Coral Sea – Double K – Metro Theater – Bernal Dwellings – Palindrome Coffee Bar – Bucks Men’s Clothing – Heartfelt Stationary – Kent Gift House – Quan Yin Healing Arts Acupuncture – Delanghe Bakery – Grand Central Market / Viglizzio Deli – Cottrell’s – Black Market Music – Mission Villa – El Trebol – Now and Zen – Real Good Karma – Kublai Khan’s – The Lucky Penny – Horse Shoe Cafe – The Motherlode – Housewares – Anubis Warpis – Comic Relief – 1808 Club – Mazotti’s Wine Warehouse and Deli – LunaSea – Dak Win Restaurant – Binalot Filipino Restaurant – Encantada Gallery of the Arts – The White Horse – Chocolatier Blue – Abbot’s Cellar / Brasserie Saint James on Valencia – Art Zone 461 Gallery – Pagani Motors – Valencia Muscle & Fitness – Mark’s Market on Mission – Sumitomo Bank – Continental Savings & Loan – Nomadic Outfitters – Mar-Craw Business Machines / Letronix Repair & Cellular on Larkin – Royal Hong Kong / Indulgence Healthful Cuisine – The Garden Juice Bar – Bon Ami Cafe – 441 Cocktails / Mister Lew’s Win-Win Bar – MagPie Pizza – Medjool – Nomad / Tiny Needles / Om Sweet Om – The Brown Jug Saloon – Klein’s Deli – San Francisco Auto Repair Center – Hung Ky – Ngọc Mai – Mickey’s Monkey – Nikko Fish / Japan Fish Company – The Daily Scoop – Evan’s House Of Music – The Welcome Mat – Ganim’s Mexican & American – Mission Pie – Bahia Restaurant – Arby’s – Under One Roof – Rollins Beauty Supply – Happy Hour Video – Tel Aviv Kosher Meats – City Discs -Legends -Top’s Auto Gift Shop – Max’s 540 Club – Sunset Restaurant, 1243 Noriega St – Nguyet Sanh -Kids & Mama Emporium on Mission at 22nd – La Feria Del Hogar – City Girls – Hecho – Pescheria – Yianni’s / Joey & Eddie’s – Lefty O’Doul’s – Fascination on Market – Fournou’s Ovens – Blue Monkey – Hu Tieu Nam Vang – Nikko Sukiyaki – Candlestick Park – Red Dora’s Bearded Lady Dyke Cafe – El Tico Nica Cocktails – Sage Chinese Cuisine – Red Desert – Currivan’s Chapel of the Sunset – Mission Emporium – The Top  – Surf Pharmacy – Carriage Market – Airporter Bus Terminal at Ellis & Taylor – Pho Xe Lua –  Bodega Bistro – Valente, Marini, Perata and Co on Market – Vietnam II Restaurant – The Fulcrum – R & M Pro Audio – Soundworks Record Store – Open Mind Music – Piece Of Mind Records – Offices Of Melvin Belli / mc2  – Coast Recorders – My Place Saloon / Cip / Kok – Names Project Quilt HQ – Family Inn – Cam Hung Restaurant – KUSF Studios – Whitehall Apartments – Trinity Plaza – Caffe Trinity – Moonstar Restaurant – Super K Market – Jeanne Claire’s Cafe – Lupann’s Restaurant – Tea Room Theater – Andy Boy’s Drunk Tank on Market at Laguna – The Art Store – SF Libertarian Bookstore – Denny’s Japantown – Howard Quinn Printing Company – Siegel’s Zoot Suits – Hamburger Eyes on Lilac Alley – Harcourts Gallery – Beale St Bar & Grill – Towne House Shop For Men – Hi-Ball Lounge – Kok Bow on 7th – Stoyanof’s Restaurant -Trees Kaliflower Free Food Conspiracy 23rd & Shotwell – Marian’s Clothing on Mission – Original Loris Diner – Original Gold Dust Lounge – Andronico’s Park & Shop – Arkadyan Books & Prints – The Bookstall at 708 Sutter – Everest Aspiration Bookstore/The Little Bargain Corner on Taraval – Folk Wisdom Auto Repair – Forever After Books on Haight – Limelight Film & Theatre Books – Yu’s Chinese Herbs – Wing On Trading Co. – Florabunda Florist – Round World Music – The Wishing Well Bar – Dick Leonard’s Player Pianos – Music Hall Theater on Larkin – Groger’s Western Wear – Waterfront Theater – Teddy Bear’s Bar on Gough – Sunset Stationers – Australia Fair products from Down Under – Hall Of Records – Hellenic American Imports on Mission – Alice’s Chinese Restaurant / Taste Of Shandong on Judah – Sundance Coffee – Stanyan Printing / Cole Valley Antiques / Past Perfect – CA Golden Chicken – Angkor Chum – Bongo’s – El Picante on Ellis – Mission Discount Center / Andrea’s TheZapato.com – Bayview Federal Savings Bank – GreenSurge – IXIA – Pottery Barn in Castro – Mission Jewelry and Loan – Gene’s Guitar Shop on Judah – Advance Pleating & Button Company – Trader Sam’s Coins & Stamps – Davis Skaggs Research – Star Bakery – Western Restaurant & Donut Shop – George’s BBQ on 24th – El Tropical – Radish – Grub – Minako Organic Japanese Restaurant – The Levi’s Sewing Factory & Museum – First Southern Baptist Church – Kink.com Armory – Ken Ken – Rudy’s Book Nook & Video Rental – Kuleto’s – The Sushi Boat – The Russian Consulate – Jake’s On Market – Istanbul Rugs of San Francisco – Captain Kona – Casa Bonampak – Capricorn Coffee Roasters – Eyes on Twenty Fourth Optometry – Modern Times Bookstore – El Tin Tan – Chinatown Holiday Inn – Queen’s Nails / Queen’s Nails Annex – Betsey Johnson Store – Julius Castle – Lacrouts-Lyonnaise French Laundry – Cathedral Hill Hotel – Salmagundi – Rand McNally – Wolf Camera – B. Dalton Books – Thomas Bros Map Store – Doubleday Books – Podesta Baldochii Flowers – Tillman Place Bookstore / Zaza Cafe & Restaurant – Ritz Camera shops – Adolph Gasser Inc. – Man’s Ruin – Church of St. John Coltrane on Divisidero – The Brick Yard – The Book Place / San Francisco Kitchens Appliance Source – Sushi Boom / Midori Sushi – Photo Day – One Stop Video on Geary – Period George Antiques – Lighthouse Tattoo – J & R Cafe – Earwurm Studios – Chez Poulet Gallery – Brilliant Studios – Olde West – Chow – Lo-Cost Meat Market on Mission – Pirate Cat Radio Cafe – AK Press Warehouse on Shotwell St – Blue Dolphin Studios on Napoleon – Beppino’s on Market St – Church Produce – Palomino on Embracadero – Caffe Bianco – Mr. Smith’s – Miller’s East Coast Deli – Plouf – Pete’s Tavern – Pedro’s Cantina – Chez Marius – Bissap Baobab – Osaka Grill / Juni / Sudachi /Rusted Mule at 1217 Sutter – Finn Town Tavern – Southpaw BBQ – The Improv comedy cellar/Biscuits and Blues – Sauce – Izakaya Sushi Ran – Ali Baba’s Cave – Naked Lunch – Dago Mary’s – Chenery Park Restaurant – 3300 Club – Postermat – Max’s On The Square –  Iron Wok / The Malted at Alta/ Kaya – Lyon’s – Bull’s Texas Café at 25 Van Ness – The Bazaar Cafe – Thidwick Books – Frankenart Mart – Purple Skunk Skateboard Shop – Mescolanza – De Place – Q Restaurant – Kumquat – Be My Guest Thai Bistro – Murasaki – Namu Gaji – Blockbuster Video – DeLano’s Market – Alhambra Meat Market – Loret’s Linen Outlet – Katia’s Russian Tea Room – Maharaja Indian on Valencia – Heartbaker Restaurant – Idol Vintage –  Thom’s Fresh Organics Market – Amber Dhara – Carlos Club – The Dark Room Theater –  Cafe Allegro – Flipper’s Gourmet Burgers – Powell’s Place Soul Food – Maggie Mudd Ice Cream – Babylon Falling Bookstore – Palace Family Steak House – Mission Beach Cafe – RJ’s Sports Bar – El Rincon – Clement Street Bar & Grill – Satin Moon Fabrics – Menha Restaurant / Jook Time – Caffeinated Comics/The Way Out! Café – Local: Mission Eatery – Weston Wear – Bonanza Restaurant on Toland – Victoria Pizza – April Calf – Nib’s Bakery – Minx Bar – Local’s Corner – The Attic – Sunflower – Rhea’s Cafe -The Fizzary -K Design Print Shop – Melisa’s Chinese Cuisine – Hot Pot Grill – Sushi Minami – Felix E Schoenstein & Sons Pipe Organs – Louis Roesch Printers And Lithography – Maxferd’s – Shimo Sushi – Fecal Face Dot Gallery – Receiver Gallery – Mayflower Seafood Restaurant – The Shooting Gallery on Geary – The Belljar – Grand Cafe on Mission – The Rat and Raven – Hawthorne Lane Restaurant / Two – KFOG Studios – Ito Cariani Sausage Company on Oakdale – The Flytrap Restaurant – Chinatown Holiday Inn – The New Lab Photo Processing – Club La Dor on Howard – House Of Chen on Noe – Stones Throw – Ann Taylor Loft – Stuart Weitzman – Linens And Things – New Starlight Furniture Co – Ying Restaurant Supply – TAP Plastics – Lady Luck Candle Shop – El Tamarindo Restaurante Salvadoreno – Merry The Dog Studios – Andres Repair on Irving -Maltese Grill – Paragon / Gravity – Zeke’s Sports Bar – Infusion Lounge on 2nd – Jazz Bistro At Les Joulins at 44 Elis – Bacar – First Chop on Irving – Ritmo Latino Music – RetroFit Vintage – Modern Times / Fine Arts Optical – Home Remedies – Jungmann’s Appliance – Wang Fat Fish Market / Fabuloid – Mission Creek Cafe – Range – Gingko Home Furnishings – Multikulti – Valencia & Kebab – La Urbana – Viracocha – Fly Bar Restaurant on Divisadero – Cafe Abir / Corkage – Bangkok Bistro – Urchin Bistrot – Synergy Organic Clothing – Cypress Club – St. Charles Borromeo School – Giordano Bros – Gathering Cafe / La Bodega/ Mojito’s – Ruby Skye – Heald Business College – Bardelli’s Restaurant – J.S Guerin Building Supply – Meetinghouse – the Cypress Club – Brasserie Savoy – Flying Saucer – Dine – The Black Cat on Broadway – TechShop – Canadian Consulate at 50 Fremont Center – St. Rose Academy – Star Of The Sea School Grammer School – Geneva Towers Public Housing – Morning Star Elementary – Northern California Ambulatory Hansen’s Disease Clinic – Sacred Heart Church & Prepatory School – St. Mary’s School in Chinatown – Tad’s Steakhouse on Powell – Belon – Grand Café at Hotel Monaco – Marla Bakery – Julia on Sutter St – Le Charm – 330 Ritch – Boondock Bay – Frinagle – St. John Ursuline High School – The Speedo Store / Viva Zapatos! – J. Peterman Co. – Ciao Bella Gelato – John Swett Elementary School – Fleur de Lys Restaurant – Ana Mandara – the Apostleship of the Sea – Crowley Maritime Tugboats Pier 54 – Betelnut – Retrospect Custom Furniture – Set Your Table – San Francisco Federal Savings and Loan First Nationwide – In-jean-ious on Castro – San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners – Limn Furnishing Co on Townsend – Zebra Lounge – sublounge – Spanganga – Hawk’s Tavern – BeBe – Bocadillos – Star Classics Record Store – Bullock & Jones – Chaya Brasserie – Sweet Heat – Food For Less –  Courtou Men’s Wear – Morrow’s Nut House – Vendetta on Tillman Place – The Sak / Viansa Enoteca/ Rouge et Blanc  – Lilli Ann Garment Manufacturing – Elka – Zapata Mexican Grill – Nichi Bei Bussan – Illuminations – Triangle Sandwich Shop – Bootleg Bar & Kitchen – Mirtile – Gillon Lumber Company on Geary – Koret of California Factory – Casual Male – Rochester Big & Tall – Yogen Fruz – Capital Grille – Contempo Casuals – Canned Foods Grocery Outlet – Teatro ZinZanni – Hapa Ramen – Homestead Federal Savings Bank / Washington Mutual Banks – original The Grove on Chestnut  – Art Technology Group – Club Suede – Pho Kien Giang – A.G Ferrari Stores – Bar Tartine – Fiddler’s Green – Emerald Garden / The Front Room on California – Vietnamese Community Center/ State Of Mind – Rudy’s Place on Geary – Will’s House Authentic Vietnamese – Mission Market Fish & Poultry – Samui Thai – Sun Light Produce Market – New Aux Delices – Rex Cafe / Verbena – Caffe D’Melanio – Cortez – Fenway Market – Holsum Market – The Shoe Tree – M & L Market (May’s “Bread First” Sandwiches) – Pete’s Corner Lounge on Army St –  Hastings Clothing flagship store – Mad Will’s Food Company – Lat Naylor / Think Tank – Liberté – Oodles – Live Fire Grill & Smokehouse – Nonna Rose – Red Hill Station – Auntie Pasta  – Thep Phanom ThaiContigo – Pintxos – Rubicon – Oola – Shanghai 1930 – Atrium – La Hacienda Market – Scenic India – Malai Lao Restaurant – Cafe Macondo on 16th St – Carl’s Pastry – Mi Rancho Market on 20th St – Abbot’s Cellar – Mangiafuoco / Fiamma Pizza / Beast and the Hare – The Rooster/Alma – Benny Gold – Rick’s on Taraval – Raw Living Foods on 9th – Aram’s / Rosmarino / St. Frank; – Ruby’s on 3rd – Rumpus – Kingdom of Dumpling – Taqueria Goyaz – Vegi Food / Bok Choy Garden Vegetarian Restaurant on Clement – Koh Samui & The Monkey – El Sombrero / Socca Mediterranean / Aziza  – Paulie’s Pickling – Alfred’s Steakhouse – The Liberty Café – Andale’ – The Limited – Marshal Hale Memorial Hospital – All Hallows Parish Church in Bayview – Inca – Los Chorros – Dynastea/PK Floral Design -Curry Boyzz-  Tallula / Cafe La Taza / Bar Vero / Bite Me Sandwiches –  Cafe La Vie – Momi Toby’s Revolution Cafe & Art Bar in Hayes Valley- Jeanne-Marc – the San Francisco Fashion Center Apparel Mart – Cal-Mart Supermarket – Ginseng Mania – A Piece Of Bavaria – Town’s End Restaurant & Bakery – Bad Man Joses’s – Pozole – Mueller’s Delicatessen – Suzanne’s Muffins – Pacha – Three Twins Ice Cream on Fillmore – Tawla – Buffalo Whole Food & Grain Co – Out Of Hand – Luen Fat Market – Lady Sybil’s Closet – Yu’s Chinese Herbs – The Acorn Restaurant – Planet Hollywood – Emporio Armani – Thrifty Payless Drugs – Fox Parkside Theater – Celia Tejada Designs – Kilpatricks Bread Factory and Bakery Outlet Store – Mirex Slavic Grocery – Whiskey Thieves – Dog Eared Books – Si Tashjian’s Flowers & Gifts On Mission – Scott’s Seafood – the house – Purple Heart Thrift Store – Nova Bar & Restaurant on 2nd – Eagle’s Drift In Noriega – Elroy’s – Spoon – Cava 555 – Des Alpes Basque – Pastis – South Side – I-Hotel Pit – Mariposa Cafeteria – Cafe Phoenix – Crepe Queen – The Bashful Bull & Bashful Bull Too – Bell Markets – Macromedia – Cookin’ – Gartland Hotel Pit – Pall Mall Grill/Martin Mack’s / Joplin’s/HQ – Zare – Cu Co’s Salvadoran Restaurant on Haight – Massawa – Zona Rosa – Old Krakow – Cafe For All Seasons – Sweet Sue’s Bakery on Chenery – Pearl Art and Craft Supplies – Marcus Books – Movie Magic rental stores – Video Zone – 1300 on Fillmore – Yoshi’s/The Addition – Video Droid rental stores – Chez Spencer –  HomeChef Cooking School in Laurel Heights – Casa Aguila – Mae Thip – Ya Ya on 9th Ave – Tamnan Thai – Greyhound Terminal at 7th & Market – Traveler’s Liquor – Sagami Ya – Yamato Sushi – World Wrapps -Yoshida Ya – Yet Wah Restaurants – Zarzuela Tapas – KenKoy’s Diner – Raza’s – The Green Zebra – Zax –  Lehr’s German Specialties –  The Heights Restaurant – Entenmann’s Orowheat Bakery Thrift Shop –  42 Degrees – A&A Market – Boondock’s Restaurant at Pier 30 – The Shop – La Fete Gourmet Deli – El Perol – Peer Inn / Samos / Lapis – Kennedy’s Bar at Church and 25th streets – Standard Fisheries  Co. at The Wharf – 50 Mason Social House – May May Beauty Salon on Leland Ave – Crowley Maritime Corp – Meranda Dry Cleaning on  Church Street – B-Tech Aquarium – Elisabeth Daniel – Pazzia – Jaboh Salon – Noe Valley Bakery and Bread Company – Fish Alley Bar and Grill –  Borruso’s Lighthouse Fish Grotto Restaurant – Cresci Brothers seafood crab stand – Patio Sandwich Shops – Parisian Sourdough Bread Bakery – Bigstep.com – Husbands men’s clothing – Cory Galleries/Bennett Sculpture – Bo’s Bounty Bar & Grill on Pier 96 – Kyo-Ya – Neecha Thai – Lhasa Moon –  Miz Brown’s Feed Bag – Triple A Shipyard – Niman-Schell Meat – M&M Tavern – Jack’s Cannery Bar – Wu Kong – New Chieu Fong Market – Careme Room – Mad Magda’s Russian Tea Room / Two Sisters Bar and Books – Pendragon Bakery –  Laku – Swallowtail- Brown Dirt Cowboy’s – Zonal – Green World Mercantile – Big Dog Sportswear – Rayon Vert – Ruby Artists Cooperative Gallery – Fife – Columbine Design – Ciao Frantoio – Stelline – Lilith – Irrawaddy Burmese – Incontro – Geva’s Caribbean Cuisine – Bistro Clovis – Narghile – Prego – Cocolat – San Francisco Gun Exchange – Liquor Barn – The Castro Village Deli & Cafe – Harbor Village – Ultimo – The Levi’s Store – Crown Books – Wired Magazine HQ – Chuy Campusano Lily Ann Mural – Curios And Candles – San Francisco Fabrics – Medium Rare Records – Living Room Art Gallery – Cafe Noodles – Don’t Panic – Worldware – Ocean Sash & Door Co – Hulu House – La India Bonita Bar – Elysium – Bierhouse on Broadway – Tarr & Feathers – Boathouse Bar on Lake Merced – Insolent on Grant Ave – Ristarose Showroom – M.A.C. Modern Appealing Clothing – Bepples Pies – Pasand Madras – The Hillcrest Bar – Juicy Newstand – Alta Plaza Bar & Restaurant – Radicchio – Bonta – La Posada Restaurant – Cedanna – Mainline – The Straw, The Jar and The Bean – Mainline Gifts – Carol Doda’s Champagne, Lace & Lingerie Boutique – Zinc Details – Cafe Marimba – BellaVoce – Writers Bookstore – Le Club – Wren & Culpeper’s Vintages – Leonard’s 2001 – Naomi’s Antiques To Go – Gira Polli – Julie Ring’s Heart and Soul – Rosalie’s Redux / Coconut Grove on Van Ness – Cellar 360 – Paprikas Fono/Big Sky Ranch Restaurant – Neptune’s Palace on Pier 39 – Caffe Freddy’s – Cafferatta – Buca Giovanni – Osteria Del Forno – La Felce – Prudenete Meat Market & Deli – Danilo Bakery – New Hong Kong Noodle Co on Pacific – California Culinary Academy Dining Room – R. Iacopi Meats on Grant – Ernie’s – The Blue Fox – Krim’s Krams – The Shlock Shop – The Unique Company at 444 Grant – Grifone – Amelio’s – Ti Sun Hardware – Greenpeace Environmental Store – Vidal Sassoon Salon & Academy – Chew Cong Tai & Co – Gin Wall Hardware – Architects & Heroes Salon – Alcatraz Bar & Grill on Pier 39 – Kyriakos of Hydra – The City Of Shaghai – Lun On  – May Wah Trading Company – TenRen’s Teas & Herbs – Tai Nam Yang Furniture – Lehr’s Greenhouse – The Magic Pan – Ralph Lauren Polo Store – Ann Taylor Loft – The Paul Frank Store – Lascaux Rotisserie / Orvis – Ming Kee Game Birds – New Hop Yick Meat Market – Roy’s Barbershop and Mike’s Shoe Repair at TransBay Terminal – Carmel Blue – Caffe Roma – Alfa Laundromat – Jane Weems’ Beatles House in Bernal Heights – Zee Continental Jewelry / Polk A Dot Consignment Shop – The Hobby Co. On Geary – Shabby Chic – Sangha – Tiffany’s Fine Wines & Spirits on Chenery –  JC Super on Cortland – Richelieu – Cose Belle Boutique/Mercato Artisan Foods – Aldo – Chubbies – Cheese Boutique – Mon Kiang Hakka Cuisine – Pacific Rubber Stamps & Signs – Sun Quong Fat Grocery – Cigarettes Cheaper – Swaine Adeney – Chevys Fresh Mex -Monsoon at Opera Plaza – Undici on 11th – La Mammelle – Augusta’s – Club Mirage – San Francisco R/V Park – Buster’s Diner, Newsstand & Wild, Wild, Video – 76 Tower Union Oil Company Bldg on 1st St – Beverly Plaza Hotel on Grant – Bistro Roti – Trains Are Us on Folsom – Jet Age – Beaver Brothers Antiques – Jeremiah Tower’s 690 Van Ness – Squid’s Cafe & Bar – Black Bark BBQ/ Isla Vida –  Just Rite Coffee Shop & Newsstand at TransBay Bus Depot – Eunice’s Cafe on Sacramento – Sai Walks Vietnamese Street Food – Bella Boutique on Union – Candy Jar on Grant Ave – Foley’s Books – Mission One Hour Photo –  House of Mayon/Conard House Vocational Services/SF Sports/Rogue Shop/Fumiki Fine Asian Arts/Sugarfina/Torso Vintages at 272 Sutter – Etrusca – City Block – La Torta Sabrosa on Mission – Four Star Video on Cortand – Nicco’s Cafe – YaYa – Basic Concepts Lighting at 16th & Folsom – Woodwind & Brass Workshop on 10th St –  Sanrio Store / Arthur Beren – Loro Piansa – Auto Motion on Bayshore – Nine West – Eleven – Fume – The Tap Room – Regina’s Chi Chi Beignet – Citizen’s Band / Pinkie’s Bakery – Volta – Cadence – Bon Marche Brasserie – Oro – Pampalasa –  Hi Lo BBQ  – Hog & Rocks – Chamalyn – Ramada Renaissance Hotel – Bally of Switzerland – Sinbad’s – Mission Market Fish & Poultry – Antojitos Salvadorenos Aminta – Zog’s Dogs – Ino Sushi – The Italian French Baking Company – Tra Vigne – Ala Romana – Hotaru Japanese – The Coachman – Nojo – The Cellar- Pasquale Ianneti Gallery –  San Francisco College of Mortuary Science – Great Western Bank – Counter Culture – ABC Cleaners/ Lucky Nails/ Jack’s Shoe Repair / Creative Marketing Concepts – First Interstate Bank – Island Cafe at 16th & Sanchez – Tao Yin Hunan Mandarin – Good Karma Cafe at 18th & Dolores – Cafe Corbas – Cal’s on Union – Cafe Liliane – California Pizza Kitchen locations on Geary & later Van Ness – Tutti Frutti on Irving – Peter Pan bar at 45 Turk / Phon Lan Vietnamese – Cheung Yuen Dim Sum – Gravity Spot / Bistro Annex / Zaytoon on Valencia – The Good Earth / Sundance Kitchen on Post – Massimo’s – O! Deli – Mambo/Fuse on Broadway – Zone 88 – San Francisco Meats & Delicatessen on Ocean Ave – Simply Shortbread Cafe – Tip Toe Inn / Prince Cafe / Clement Noodle Pho – Word of Mouth Patisserie on Fulton – Zva Cafe – Lo Coco’s on Union – Wendy’s – Dogpatch Cafe – Cable Car City Pub – Ma Tante Sumi – The Bagelry – I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt – Napa Ranch Cafe – Vernon’s Deli – Olive’s Gourmet Pizza on Scott – Bah12 Thai BBQ / Hitachino Nest – Ar Roi Thai on Post – Yellow Pa Taut – Poc Chuc – Asia Garden DimSum on Pacific – Isobune – U Lee on Hyde – El Zarape Room on 23rd  St – Chez Papa Resto – Adolph’s / Cinque Terre – Cybelle’s Pizza locations – Lafitte on Pier 5 – Lite House Lighting & Repair – Maiden Lane’s Romper Room – Ziryab/ Tsk/Tsk – John’s Burgers – Fast Stats Type & Graphics on Geary – Ristorante Mereb East African Cuisine / Platanos Cafe y Cocina Rustica  / Craig’s Place / Yuzuki at 598 Guerrero – French Hospital – Bamboo Pizza – VN Smoke Shop – New Sandy’s Cafe & Deli – Sunrise Plumbing & Kitchen Supplies on Irving – Geary Food Mart – Micro Trader on Geary – Souz Video on Clement – Famous Amos Cookies – Chapeau! – San Francisco Computer Center on Geary – Hanabi Japanese Restaurant on Haight St – Sake Lab – Cole Valley Fitness – Center for Sex and Culture on Mission St – Curry Village on 9th – Lexington Bookcases On Divisadero – Ristorante Tiziano /Izakaya Ju-Ku on Clement – Irving Golden Horse – Hua Hua Gourmet Chinese Mandarin / Jimisan / Will’s Sushi / Meshi Sushi – Power Exchange at 960 Harrison St. and Otis Street – Uncle Gaylord’s Ice Cream – The Hypnodrome – Mike’s Union Service 7th Avenue Garage – C.M.A. Outlet Store – Moving Sale on Howard St – Joseph Schmidt Chocolate Shop/ Saratoga Chocolates/ Dessert Stop – Onnie’s Cafe on Third – Jhec of All Trades Variety Store / Silver Shack illicit “Casino” at 4182-B Mission St. – Best-O-Burger – The Flower Girl on Irving – Empire Theater – Gustofino Fine Foods – Chong Imports / China Trade Center – Monte Cristo Café – Khun Phoa Thai / Malacca Crave / Frisee / Bisou Bistronomy – Kelly’s Burgers / Rasha – Le Metro Café – Metro Kathmandu on Divisadero – Lichee Garden on Powell – Palatino / Blue Star Elephant Thai / Tinderbox Restaurant on Cortland – Oritalia – Wrap Works – Little Frankenstein’s Scary Hairy Toy Company on 17th – Uncle Mame – Let It Be Beatles store on Judah – La Conexion Familiar – Industry Standard HQ – Cola Cabana on Mission – Boner Records and Scooby Doo Distribution on Napoleon – Never Ending Quails – Hop Sang Meat Market – Gotham Hotel – Kairos House – The Mascara Club giftshop on Haight St – Lady Luck Candle Shop on Valencia – Tse Cashmere – Tassajara Bakery on Cole – Globetrotter – General Bead – Golden Gate Pen Shop on Post – Lavish Cards & Stationary – Hollow Cow – Hadji Hardware on Sutter – PIP  Postal Instant Printing Shops – Speedway Copy Shops – Action Printing Service on Howard St – Blue Print Services Repro – Black Sheep Press on 6th St – Gilbert Clarke Stationers – Printmasters on Mission at 10th – Dinostore on Haight St – Arch 407 Jackson – Hi Times Discount Office Supplies on Sacramento closed in 2013 – Food Circus Market on Van Ness – Morgan Purcell Products Co on Columbus – Divisadero Lock & Hardware – Faletti’s Plaza Foods – Sir Speedy Printing – The Desk Set – Printing Matt – Alphaprint – David Copperfield’s on West Portal – PDQ Printers on Noriega – Total Life Health Foods on Taraval – Colorcrane Arts on 24th St – Paragon Press on Castro – Manasek of San Francisco on Market – Bell Bazaar on 16th – A. Maciel Printing – Midtown Stationers – La Nacional on Alabama – Mission Plaza Market – HJ Carlo & Sons on 21st St – Printwright on Army St – Top Copy on Market St – Arvey Paper & Office Products – General Office Systems on Indiana – Lumbini on Texas St – Pronto Mr Instant Printing – United Video on Greenwich – Sunset Garden Supply on Alemany – Blutman’s on S. Van Ness – WL Bragg & Sons on Mission – Arion Press Co on Bryant – Dylan on Chestnut – Sweet Dish – Kimmel’s – Pronto Instant Print – Young’s Hallmark Store on Clement – Sunshine Health Foods – The Paper Chase – Creative Paint on Geary – Hostess Market on Gough –  Thriftway Market on Union – Cinecita – George Lithograph on 2nd –  Rogue Brew Pub – All Occasion Party Rentals on Mariposa – Standard Brands – Lick Supermarket on 7th Avenue – Infusion on 2nd St – Cargo Restaurant/ Sno-Drift on 3rd St – Tall Stories Books – Dudley Perkins Harley Davidson on Page Street and Van Ness – C. Bobby’s Owl Tree – The Top on Haight St – Salomon’s Box Company on 3rd – Veteran’s Cab Lot on Harrison – Theater Artaud / Traveling Jewish Theater – New Lun Wah Market on Stockton – King Diner on Mission St – Shew Wo Meat Co on Stockton St – Shaklee Corp HQ on Market – Pier 80 Inn – Pier 1 Restaurant – Peachy Puffs – Record Hardware on Columbus – Harry Denton’s Restaurant on Steuart – Golden West Envelope on 26th St – Grazie / L’ Osteria on Columbus – Yogu Sushi – Sun Sun Trading Company – The Printing Place on Green St – Mama Tina Trattoria – Girapoli / Tuk Tuk Thai – Modernology – Gant Rugger – Giusto’s Automotive & Tire Service of Bernal Heights – Vitamin Express on Irving – Bistro M – Educational Exchange on 35th  – South Pacific Seafood Restaurant/ABC Bakery Tea Kee Cafe on Noriega – Narai Thai Restaurant – Di Giovanni’s Italian – Gift Shop C & Runa – To Hyang – Rohan – Taming Of The Shoe – Hu Tieu Nam Vang – Golden Gate Linoleum Co. – Hunan K Restaurant – Taqueria Menudo – Franklin Savings & Loan at Market & 8th –  Rodriguez Bakery – Speedy’s New Union Grocery – Caffe Delle Stelle – Gazebo Chinese Cuisine – C. M. Amos Printing Co on Mission – L & Y Chinese Restaurant / Tai Chi Chinese / Little Kitchen – La Oficina – The Mandarin – 37 Degree Dessert Cafe – Un Poco Di Tuto Bakery – Gold Corner Cafe – Taqueria Goyaz – Michelle’s Hair Salon on 24th St – Rotee / RickyBobby / The Lodge on Haight – SF Blueprint Enterprises – La Cocina / Barile Pizza /Contrada – Dollar and Cents on Eddy – Crystal Jade – Kitaro Sushi on Geary – City Of Paris Cleaner on Duboce – Eastside West – Bar Jules – Tokyo Go-Go / Crazy Sushi – Schwarz Sausage Engelhart Gourmet Foods – La Barca / Stock In Trade · 4 Item Combo Plate /  – Third Church of Christ, Scientist on Haight Street – Chateau Agape – Secondhand Rosey – The Golden Crust Pie shop at 24th and Capp – Gold Mountain Chinese Restaurant on Broadway – Golden Chopsticks on Balboa – Blueprint Tap Room – Golden Rice Bowl Restaurant – Hideo Wakamatsu USA on Valencia – Annabelle’s Bar & Bistro on 4th – Dharmadhatu on Irving – Ofelia’s / Izalco Restaurant – Socialist Action Bookstore – White House Cleaners on 14th St – Green Garden on Broadway – Buddah on Geary – The Butler & The Chef Bistro – Portico IV on Market – The Money Box – Puquito Cafe & Deli on Geary – Roam Artisan Burgers – New Pacific Court Cafe American Food – Fast Service Auto Repair on Fillmore – Belcampo Meat Co – China Books & Periodicals on 24th St – Sonoma Chicken Coop – Alberto’s Market & Deli on Sutter – See’s Car Care – Divisadero 97 Cent Plus Store / Heart Of Gold – Mike’s Chinese Cuisine – Jessie’s Shoe Repair on 24th St – Genki Ramen on Geary – Burma House on Post – Shenson’s / Men Oh Tokushima – Miyoshi Sushi & Grill / Clement Okazu Ya – Revolver Records on Clement – Las Guitarras – Artesanias Cuzcatlan – I.M.’s Kitty World on 24th St – Sawa / Acme Burgerhaus on Divisadero – 31 Rax – Holiday Inn Fisherman’s Wharf – Maze Cafe & Bar on Geary – MacFrugal’s – Salsa Taqueria on Treat St – Pic ‘N’ Save/MacFrugal’s – Someplace Else – North End Cafe on Grant –  Best Food Co. Market in China Town – bay Lighting & Design Showroom – Red’s Corner / Eed’s Corner Thai – Elephant Bleu – Deer Inn / Truck – New Central on Potrero – Club Elegante – Harold Hoogasian’s Flowers on Post St – La Morena Latino Americana Market on Mission – Elaine’s at 222 Guerrero St –  Picadita 288 – Muskaan Cuisine Of India – The Pantry on 24th St – Simonetta Erring Outlet on 23rd St – Elka – Your Scents on Divisidero – Auberge des Artistes on Fillmore – Mrs. Dewson’s Hats – The Glad Hat Caribbean Restaurant – One World Cafe on McAllister –  Laghi/ Te Fratelli/ Julia/ Restaurant Cassis on Sutter – Bally Total Fitness Noe Valley Pizza RestaurantDressbarn – Fredericks Of Hollywood – Oritala – St. Paulus Lutheran Church at Gough & Eddy / The Free Farm – Lane Bryant Store – Eglantine on Cole – The Grapeleaf on Balboa – Cafe Maisonnette – Coriya Hot Pot City – Biroska/ Israel’s Strictly Kosher Meats – Jazz Quarter Record Shop on 20th Ave – Gladrags Natural Fiber Clothing on 24th – Rabat – Eunice’s on 24th St – Bliss Bar – 1st Ining Lounge – La Roca – House Of Charm on Church – National Video Rental Stores –   Psychic Horizons Church of Natural Grace on Geary – Glen Park Used Books – One More Time – Noebody’s Inn – Gaylord’s Indian restaurant in Ghiradelli Square – The Manor Coffee Shop at West Portal – McAteer High School – Presentation Academy Girls School – St. Brigid’s Catholic Church Parish – Yo Vinnie / Skin Zone/ Given on Castro – Gold’s Gym/ Vibrant Health Center on Market – Mayfair Gift Center – Art’s TV Appliance Authorized Service Center on Taraval – Goss Golden West Heating & Sheet Metal on Arguello – The Frame and Eye on 9th Ave – Security Pacific Bank – Empire of America Federal Savings Bank on Castro – Betty’s Cafeteria on 11th St – Ideal Auto Rebuilders on Larkin – West Winds Automotive Repair on Townsend – SliderBar on Market – Jane on Fillmore – Los Shucos Latin Hot Dogs – Cafe Suzette on Clement -Hills Brothers’ Coffee Roasting Plant/ Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant on Embarcadero – Underneath It All Lingerie – Buffet Flat Bookstore on Cortland – Sliders Diner on Castro – Goeman Restaurant – Nomad Rugs / Lovejoy’s Antiques & Tea Room / Forbeadin’ / Rebecca Prozan Political Campaign HQ / Mabuhay Boutique – Caffe Luna Piena – Bistro Central Parc – Red Hill Station on Cortland – Hanlin Tea Restaurant / Cappuchea – Muay That Boxing at Fairtex Gear warehouse on Clementina – Lightning Tavern/ Hollow Cow Gastropub – InnerFog – Sellers Market – The Music Annex – Electronics Boutique – Gary’s Cleaners on Haight Street – Kuhlman – Sweet Inspiration Bakery – Chez Nous Cafe – Babette/Pixie – Cottrell’s Moving and Storage on Valencia – Paint Magic on Fillmore – Blupointe – Richard Hilkert Bookseller, Ltd – Goldberg Moser O’Neill –  Franklin Hospital – Major Lines  of California Cabinet Showroom – Beth Aharon Day School / Jewish Educational Center – Williams-Sonoma Catalog Call Center – Catholic Church of the Nativity -Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza –  Backstage Restaurant on McAllister St – Frisco Cycle Parts – Ramada Plaza Hotel on Market /Market Street Grill – Royal Theater – TGI Friday’s – The Craftsman’s Guild and California Heritage Gallery – Pani-E-Dolci bakery –  Regency I & II Movie Theater – Black Rocket advertising agencyHeaven’s Dog – Beso Bistronomia on 18th – Regal Showworld – Suk Hee Oriental Massage & Health Spa – Robertson Stephens & Co – Cannabis Buyers’ Club – Trader Vic’s – Hayes Valley North Public Housing Project – KoKo Cocktails –  Golden Dragon Spa –  Bob’s Liquor & Groceries on Harrison – Joanie Char on Sutter – Russian Hill Recorders on Pacific – The Meatball Bar on Hayes – Boxing Room on Grove – No Drop Car Wash on Castro – Aatxe on Market – Wo Hing General Store – Hutong on Union – Hi-Lo BBQ on 19th – KronnerBurger – O3 Bistro on Van Ness – Burritt Room on Stockton – Maverick – Hayes & Kebab – Acrimony Clothing on Hayes – Conduit / Another Monkey / Nostra Spaghetteria – PaulK – Iluna Basque – Café Altano – Baker and Banker on Octavia – Falstaff Brewery Vats – Clothestime – Clothes Go Round – Clement Mini-Market – ABBA Deli – Bargain Bank – Fanny’s Skin Care on Gary – Baghdad Nights – Papi Rico – Bharat Hotel on Valencia – Buca di Beppo – Forbes Island – Blueprint Tap Room – Foto-Grafix Books – Image Leather on Market – RN74 – Mamacita – L’Olivier – Old Bus Tavern – Propeller on Hayes – The Potsticker on Waverly – Chinatown Restaurant – La Nebbia – Bistro Burger – Ninebark – Bon Marché – Oro – Cadence – Il Cane Rosso – Umami – SF Patisserie Cafe / Triptych – Haines Gallery – Shiuaanf Gallery on Folsom – Circle J Cinema on Ellis – Aurobora Press – Boyd Lighting – Cathay House – Emperor Herbal Restaurant on Broadway – The Mayflower on Geary -Firewood Cafe on 18th – Happy Garden on Clement – Joe Sent Me Club on Hayes – Rose And Radish on Gough – The Bear Store on 9th – House of Mann on Mariposa – Auto Erotica Dildo Mines – Mercury Mail Order – Frenchy’s on Geary – PulP: The Stationary & Toy Store on Market – Does Your Father Know? – Port Cafe – Crocker’s Lockers – Sinead’s irish – West Coast Beauty Supply Co. – Kung’s Trading Company on Folsom – Appam – Pizza Love – Leather Etc Factory Outlet – Ideal Deli – The Tuba Garden – Nippon Goldfish on Geary – Cathedral House on Nob Hill
 
 

interior of SF History room at SF Public Library pre-1996
interior of SF History room at SF Public Library pre-1996 from SFPL collection

Sinbad’s had a 50 yr run at Pier 2 before being forced out by the Port Of San Francisco and demolished
Boondock's Restaurant on Pier 30 in SF CA - pic by Mitchell Funk
Boondock’s Restaurant on Pier 30 – pic by Mitchell Funk
Even Aloe Vera products could be found at black owned record store Evan’s House Of Music in Visitacion Valley where gospel, soul, old radio shows, and early 80’s and 90’s hip-hop releases. It was a neighborhood independent spot where upcoming artists like Prince and Rose Royce used to stop to sign autographs to promote their early releases.
Dan Friedlander ‘s LIMN Furniture Trucks emblazoned with faces of Le Corbusier and Philippe Starck behind their old HQ loft & showroom on Townsend

178 Townsend was built in 1888 as the world’s first single station electricity generating & transmitting facility for The California Electric Light Company. By the late 1960’s it was West Winds Automotive up until 1995 when it became a parking garage. Now the brick building that survived two major Earthquakes in 1906 & 1989 is a hollowed out shell as a facade for the 21st century slap dash glass box architecture of the Arc Light Co condo development.
Joseph Schmidt profiled in a candy industry magazine in 1998
By the mid 1990’s Joseph Schmidt Confections had moved from it’s small 1980’s storefront on 16th St at Sanchez down the block to a 30,000+ sq foot production facility to make its award winning chocolates in the old Kilpatricks Bread Factory bakery at 16th and Folsom.
Powell's Soul Food Place on Hayes Street
Emmit Powell  served gospel brunch from his Soul Food spot Powell’s Place on Hayes Street (pic from Hank Donat’s MisterSF.com )
The interior of Sno-Drift designed by Charles Doell & Craige Walters that in the late 90’s was still The Cargo Restaurant
Sno-Drift
Sno-Drift was a ski lodge themed nightclub that was demolished a few years after opening to make way for the UCSF / Mission Bay development
St. Paulus Lutheran was a beautiful old gothic German church that stood for 100 years at the corner of Gough & Eddy until a suspicious fire destroyed the wooden structure in 1995, displacing a Woman’s Place Shelter and many social programs.
Noe Valley Community Store was the oldest descendant of the communal food movement of the 1970’s, also known as the “Bay Area’s Peoples Food System” , that saw San Franciscans interested in buying bulk would cooperatively pool their resources, operate collectives and put any profits from their operations back into causes they deemed worthy all in the name of “Food For People, Not For Profit”. Stores in the “People’s Food System” generally refused to carry meat and avoided products from multinational corporations, especially if they did business in apartheid South Africa or other countries with poor human rights records. In 1986, Geoph Kozeny of San Francisco’s Collective Networker Newsletter kept track of some 166 collectively run businesses in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, but by 1995, the participants in the “food conspiracy” in San Francisco had dwindled down to Rainbow Grocery, and a few others while the recessionary economic wheels ground on and bureaucratic operating expenses, taxes and rents soared. Despite doing a million dollars business in 1994, The Inner Sunset Community Store folded in 1995, and soon after The Noe Valley Community store , was evicted after bouncing rent checks to an absentee landlord that lived overseas, ending over 20 years of neighborhood service.
Gump’s department store was originally on Post St before its first flirtation with bankruptcy in 1993 ( Photo: Peter Breinig / SF Chronicle )
Adolph Gasser Inc Photography
Adolph Gasser Camera & Photo Equipment Store on 2nd
New Langton Arts
South of Market arts organization New Langton Arts
Once known as Chickens That Sing Music in the mid 1970’s, it became Haight Ashbury Music Store in 1980, serving members of the Grateful Dead and local hippie street musicians and crust core punks alike until after nearly 40 years, owner Massoud Badakhshan closed it in 2019 after online sales and lack of new neighborhood resident participation in live music creation doomed the location and its high rent. (pic from QT Luong at TerraGalleria.com )
Gladrags was a natural fiber clothing store on 24th St in Noe Valley
Rabat was also a women’s clothing shop in the Noe Valley
Vanessi’s sat atop Broadway and Kearny, and this location later served as the Green Tortoise hostel and cafe in North Beach
There were many neighborhood video rental stores in 1990's era San Francisco
Before Netflix & streaming were commonplace San Francisco had dozens of locally owned and operated video rental stores.
Bashful Bull greasy spoon on Noriega
Bashful Bull on Noriega with Eagles Drift Inn next door
Joe's Cable Car Burgers - Joe Grinds His Own Fresh Chuck Daily
now closed Villa Romana Ristorante
Villa Roman on Irving St
Baby’s Palabok

Tully’s Coffee was forced out of its spot on the corner of Fillmore & Jackson after decades when a new landlord took over and immediately raised rent 74% which the business could not pay. Video by Erika Kocourkova
The Albion Bar
The Albion bar booked live music and poets in its back room in the late 80’s, the operator sold his stake, and moved to Reno, a new ownership that ran multiple bars called Top Hat LLC ran it for awhile in the the late 90’s until transferring it when it became the Delirium.
The defunct Sushi Boat at Union Sq
The now defunct Sushi Boat at Union Sq closed after 3 decades in 2016
Dal Jeet’s was an “alternative” clothing store that carried leather jackets, Doc Marten’s and fetish wear
Felicity's Fetische & Foot Worship
Since this photo was taken, Felicity’s Fetiche & Foot Worship with its accompanying bondage dungeon have had to move from their two story location off Polk St to a smaller shop on Broadway in North Beach
Isobune Sushi Boats were a Japantown fave

Brave New World was a club on Fulton Street later known as Storyville or Poleng Lounge

6th-Street-signs-95.jpgSigns on Sixth Street, 1995.
Photo: Virginia Allyn


Siegel’s Zoot Suit Store closing ale. Dec. 10, 2018. Photo by Julian Mark for Mission Local.

"life Is Good" Sacha Eckes art hanging at Frank's 21 Club circa 2013 in San Francisco

Sacha Eckes artwork inside now shuttered Frank’s 21 Club a Tenderloin dive bar that stood at Turk & Taylor for decades

Hamburger Nancy's

Curios & Candles occult shop on Divisidero

Get thee to the Nunnery

a circa 2011 photo of “Get thee to the Nunnery” clothing shop on Clement

Si Tashjian's Flowers & Gifts

Si Tashjian’s Flower & Gift Shop closed on Mission St in 2003 (photo taken by Ciro Matarazzo was printed in Victor Miller’s North Mission News )

1980's Vivande Porta Via newspaper clipping

Vivande Porta Via restaurant opens with ornate faux entrance way

Corner 22nd Mission Street before the fires

22nd & Mission before two arsons destroyed the building that housed many people in apartments plus over two dozen small businesses, most latino owned, as well as a busy Popeye’s Chicken franchise

2558 Mission St

empty block of destroyed storefronts on Mission near New Mission Theater that now houses modern market rate condos adjacent to Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas

SF Music Works circa 1988

1988 picture of San Francisco Music Works by Max Kirkeberg on block of upper Market near Church that later became known as Lucky 13 and is slated to become housing

Sai’s Vietnamese Market, Red Sea Grocery and Duc Ky Restaurant On 400 Block Of Ellis St

Nikko Sukiyaki Van Ness at Pine circa 1987

Nikko Sukiyaki at Van Ness circa 1987

Miz Brown’s Feed Bag closed in 2004, photo by Mitchell Funk

Ad for Prince Neville's businesses on Divisidero

Pics Of Reggae Runnin's and African Outlet which I hear has relocated to the Bayview District

African Outlet & Prince Neville’s Reggae Runnins on Divisadero circa 1993

The owner of Busvan for Bargains was a collector of memorabilia including many artifacts from Playland At The Beach which he sold off when he closed his family furniture store on Clement St in 2002

Jackdaw Bar Ad

Jackdaw location on 17th St and Connecticut is now The Connecticut Yankee, but was originally Salvotti’s, a  lunchroom built by Giuseppe and Hilda Salvotti in 1907 from lumber salvaged in the 1906 earthquake 


UN Plaza AIDS activist encampment 1987


Quantity Postcards shop on Grant Ave in late 80’s


Workingman’s Hardware on Mission


The I-Beam and Double Rainbow Ice Cream Parlor early 1990’s, current Goodwill still under construction after fire at site of old Straight Theater


former Kid & Mama’s Emporium on Mission near 22nd


Olive Oil’s on Pier 50 near current ballpark

slate of Improvcore shows held in fall of 1991 at Olive’s on Pier 50, the venue’s ownership on Port of San Francisco land was transferred and renamed Jelly’s and was eventually shut down by SFPD after fights, gunshots and even a 1997 homicide occurred in the parking lot during some unruly hip-hop dance nights that attracted an unruly crowd.

Zeke's Sports Bar closed in 2015 after 2 decades on Brannan and 2nd St near the ballpark when the landlord refused to renew the lease

Zeke’s Sports Bar on 2nd & Brannan shut down in 2015 due to problems with the landlord.

AMC Theater 1000 Van Ness Grand Opening July 10th 1998 was showing Danny Glover & Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 4  and Small Soldiers directed by Joe Dante featuring a closing credit tribute to the late Phil Hartman

AMC Theater 1000 Van Ness Grand Opening July 10th 1998 was showing Danny Glover & Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 4 and Small Soldiers directed by Joe Dante featuring a closing credit tribute to the late Phil Hartman. After 20 years in business, the multiplex theater that was located in an ornate old car dealership building that once housed a radio station has since shuttered.

Flyer for MDC performing tribute show to the late female impersonator Divine at Kennel Club 1988 inviting club goers to

Mourn Divine Correctly with the Drunk Injuns and drag performer Bambi

Kennel Club
Kennel Club mural circa 1991 , box office windows contain flyers for upcoming gigs by Bomb & The Melvins

Kennel Club photo by Max Kirkeberg Collection at SFSU DIVA

1993 era photo of Kennel Club at 628 Divisidero with marquee featuring Neurosis playing, several iterations later, after stints as The Crash Palace and Justice League, the building, which was called “The Vis” when I moved to town in late 1980’s and at one time was The Half Note is still a live music nightclub venue called The Independent.

Below is a shot of the 500 block of Divisadero when the Golden China Cafe was in biz circa 1991 taken by Robert Durden from the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection


Filipino owned photography studio on Geneva Ave

Here’s a photo of A-1 Hub Caps and Wheel Covers on Divisidero circa 1991 Klein's Deli on Potrero Hill

Klein’s Deli at 501 Connecticut

Photo of Andretti SpeedMart - San Francisco, CA, United States. Go Michael Andretti!
Andretti SpeedMart at 9th and Howard early 2000’s 

Bank Of Canton of California has now been eaten up in a merger and the old Chinatown location became a Cal Fed branch and is an East West Bank as of 2019

Amelia’s and Maud’s were Women’s Bars Of The Late 1980’s. Amelia’s location across from a Pepsi bottling distribution warehouse became The Elbo Room when purchased by Dennis Ring in the eatly 1990’s and is now known as The Valencia Room, the Pepsi plant was demolished and rebuilt to become the Mission Police substation.
Rainbow Records closes in 1992
newspaper story on the closure of Rainbow Records chain in 1992

Mariachi's Taco Bar on Valencia ad in North Mission News

Mariachi’s Taco Bar is a defunct taqueria on Valencia St that opened in the late 1990’s


Original Jones Memorial Methodist Church demolished in 1997 on Post St

The circa 2007 clip shows live music played in the entrance way to Marcus Books, that occupied the bldg on Fillmore St that once housed Jimbo’s Bop City jazz club. The oldest black owned bookstore in the US was evicted after they defaulted on a predatory loan and a new buyer swooped the property up at auction, insisted the bookstore leave, ending a neighborhood institution. The bookstore, which still had a an Oakland location as of press time, tried to move to a less visible location in San Francisco within the African American Arts & Cultural Center at 762 Fulton but was unsuccessful.

Psychedelic Shop in November 1989

The Psychedelic Shop which sold pipes, posters and other ephemera stood at Market Street and Jones for years until the location became a check cashing joint exclusively

indie flick shot at Thrift Town in the 1980’s

Nyala Ethiopian Restaurant on Grove StreetNyala Restaurant was across from the current public library and had an All You Can Eat buffet lunch and an event room in the basement that featured live Ethiopian music and dancing at night

Shot and a Beer $1.50Lloyd’s was a bar at 6th & Mission that offered a shot and tiny beer glass for just $1.50. I used to stop here sometimes in the late 80’s and early 90’s when flyering for South of Market clubs like the CW Saloon down at 5th & Folsom. It was briefly called POW in the later 90’s and eventually has been rebranded as Monarch. 

The Brown Jug was the oldest still operating bar in The Tenderloin before it was shut down a few years ago by the ABC, this photo was from when their license was suspended for good after a bartender got in trouble for helping with a drug transaction circa 2013

Xanadu Gallery has moved on, but was in the only Frank Lloyd Wright designed building in SF on Maiden Lane, here’s a 3 D tour before it closed.

The Line Up was a Mexican Restaurant next to Rawhide II on 7th Street that drew business from the nearby 850 Bryant Hall of Justice, South of Market.

Luisa’s was a popular Italian restaurant in the Castro

Last day Saloon on Clement Street photo taken by Robert Durden from the San Francisco Public Library Historical Photograph Collection
Last Day Saloon on Clement featured local and touring performers including Ike Turner, Dr. John, The Meters and The Neville Brothers whose names were painted on wooden planks before it changed ownership and the name to the Rockit Room in early 2000’s. Below was the Holy City Zoo comedy club where Robin Williams was occasionally known to drop in.

1990’s Nightclubs with live music in San Francisco included The Boathouse out on Lake Merced rented from the city, plus The Last Day Saloon on Clement and Tarr & Feathers on Union

Downtown Meat Market Menu on Eddy Street Circa 1989

Now gone from its neighborhood, Downtown Meat Market Menu offered deals to its hungry customers on Eddy Street circa the fall of 1989.

Surf Pharmacy on Noriega

Mark’s Market was on Mission St

Noriega Street circa 1993 from Outside Lands

Noriega St circa 1993

1989 Food Not Bombs Benefit at New College Law School

Founded in the early 1970’s New College had its accreditation stripped eventually in 2008, the  but at one time operated two SF campuses, including a law school in an old Pet Hospital at 50 Fell. My band played a Food Not Bombs benefit upstairs in 1989 and this is one of the flyers circulated for the show.


Artists outside Queen’s Nail Annex on Mission St in 2008

Sullivan’s funeral parlor was on upper Market St

These are two defunct SF funeral parl0rs, Sullivan’s on Market St and Currivan of the Sunset that had two locations at one time, this one on Irving.

Casa Sanchez was a family run restaurant on 24th St with a backyard courtyard dining area that featured live music on the weekends had a logo that became a popular tattoo when free burritos for life were promised to the bearers. The family’s delicious salsa and chip manufacturing business continues, but operations moved down the peninsula long before the family restaurant finally closed. 

1987 show at the Mabuhay Gardens featuring Faith No More opening for Sister Double Happiness


Japanese TV preview of now shuttered Tommy Toy’s restaurant

Max's On The Square
Max’s On The Square

Now Shuttered Mariposa Cafeteria

Mariposa Cafeteria

150 people lost jobs when Goodman’s Lumber closed up in 2000 over a brother / sister real estate & biz dispute

SOMA alley photo circa 1998 by Dave Glass

Freed Teller & Freed's was SF's original purveyor of fine roasted coffee beans that used an antique cash register that could not ring up anything over $9.99 a pound

Freed Teller & Freed were San Francisco’s coffee bean purveyor of note on Polk St long before the ascent of Starbucks, Pasqua & Peet’s . 

The above two shots of the Hobby Company store predate the 2019 “seismic retrofit” deadline that the commercial landlord used to remove The Hobby Co. on Geary after 44 years, with the store owner uninvited to move back in after mandatory renovations were finished.

Tai Nam Yang was a fixture on Grant Avenue for decades before shuttering, even getting written up in the New York Times in the late 80’s.

Rachel's Shabby Chic on Fillmore

Rachel Ashwell’s Shabby Chic furniture and housewares started on Sacramento and has now closed on Fillmore

Club Charleston on 6th Street from photo used on Spike's bar crawl published by Manic D Press and reposted at Found SF

Club Charleston on 6th Street was later called Arrow Bar

advertisement for $3.75 lunch special at Chun Kang Vegetarian Restaurant on Geary circa 1991

The Triangle Sandwich Shop closed after the death of its’ owner Andy
(photo by Brant Ward SF Chronicle)

The Coral Sea bar in the Tenderloin was torn down and the spot replaced by a new modern subsidized housing complex operated by the Salvation Army

Sutter's Mill Saloon started in 1965 . The location is now an Asian lunch time restaurant

Sutter’s Mill was a popular gay bar downtown in the heart of the financial district where Supervisor Harry Britt held some of his 1980’s election night campaign parties, it’s now an Asian lunch spot restaurant.

Cuco's Salvadoran food on Haight St

Cuco’s was a beloved Salvadorean Restaurant on Haight St near Fillmore

Buy One Get One for 1 cent sale at Uncle Gaylord's Ice Cream Parlors on Market St and Irving St advertisement circa fall 1987

Uncle Gaylord’s Ice Cream Parlors

U-Lee stood for decades along the Hyde St Cable Car Line

Moving Sale second hand store on Howard St in San Francisco

Moving Sale is a now defunct second hand store on Howard St whose landlord eventually refused to extend their lease causing them to close circa 2018

Cliff’s Bar-B-Q was a popular restaurant in the 1990’s on Bayshore Blvd. whose former location had become a quilting & weaving supply store by 2013.

1992 photo of a Vietnamese Restaurant on 6th Avenue that was known as Guilin Garden and is now called Spices II / Szechuan Trenz

R.Iacopi & Co. was a Meat Market & Italian Deli on Green St in North Beach (pic from Robert Durden slide collection)

In the 90’s Taming Of The Shoe locations offered to add platforms to your sneakers

Out on Third Street the Four Mile house featured Italian dinners and was one of the historic road houses that led people out of San Francisco, a modern apartment building was built on this site in the 1990’s.

Tobacco Company Billboards were hung and displayed all over town before cigarette smoking laws were changed in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s

Secondhand stores were popular, especially throughout the mission district.

The original Henry’s Hunan was in a converted warehouse on Sansome

Noe Valley Pizza Restaurant & Holey Bagel were popular shops on 24th St for decades

In the late 80’s Eunice’s considered itself “The Centre for Caranaval Cuisine”

The Manor Coffeeshop with its classic signage was a basic West Portal diner for 50 years that later flirted with a a French influence for a couple years under new management after the original owners left in 2016 and thas since changed names and become an Asian restaurant


Do it yourself historian Trevor Hailey arrived in San Francisco in 1972 on a U.S. Navy ship and was in no hurry to leave, inspired by Shirley Fong-Torres Chinatown walking tours, by the late 80’s she began conducting personalized walking tours of the Castro. For the better part of 2 decades she shared her knowledge of the largely gay community, and was written up all over the world by travel writers and garnered attention from news outlets including CNN. Unfortunately for future tourists, this local treasure left us in 2007 but her legacy business lives on at https://cruisinthecastro.com

The Mural on the Lilli Ann building by Chuy Campusano, Elias Rocha, Samuel Duentas, Roger Rocha, Carlos Anaya, and members of Signpainters Local 510 begun in 1986 was painted over without warning for no apparent reason one day by the Cort family trust in 1998. According to the federal Visual Arts Rights Act, the owner of a building with artwork must make a concerted effort to contact the artist before changing or destroying the work and no attempt was made before the white washing. These out of town landlords, set off a bitter legal battle and outraged many in the artistic and neighborhood communities, this literal white washing of the neighborhood’s character and artistic spirit was a grim foretelling more than metaphorical sign of careless colorless commercial real estate speculation and caustic capitalist dystopia San Francisco seems to have become in the 21st Century.

Photo of Cement Factory adjacent to Lilli Ann Bldg on 17th at Harrison taken by local historian and author Chris Carlsson of FoundSF

Green Glen Linen Service exemplified the Mission’s industrial heritage abruptly shut down in 1998, it was the City’s last unionized linen service plant, and was turned into high rent live/work lofts. Some of the mostly female Latino workforce workers who were laid off had been at the plant since the 1950’s. Photo courtesy of FoundSf.org / hosted by Internet Archive
Cathedral House
Cathedral House on Nob Hill approved for demolition in 1993 by SF Planning Commission

Geneva Towers San Francisco Public Housing Authority Geneva Towers – 1998 City Demolished 67 Year Old High Rise Public Housing In Visitacion Valley

Yerba Buena West at 150 4th St

Yerba Buena West was a building at 150 Fourth St that housed the Cadillac Bar & Grill, a Chevy’s, and offices that were demolished for the expansion of Moscone Center in 1999

The Rubinoos Buzz Gets Meek With “Honey From The Honeycombs”

Here’s a boppin’ lil’ single from some unlikely suspects who’ve resurfaced onto the rock scene after decades of plugging away, perfecting their pop and dodging the dustbins of history by derailing dormancy. The new Rubinoos release “From Home” just came out on Yep Roc Records, and I shot this video clip in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, literally just blocks away from where this underrated band cut their first single for Beserkley Records in the mid-70s.

Tommy & Jon of The Rubinoos Play Live

Nearly 50 years since forming their first combo, and 42 years since appearing on American Bandstand, the Rubinoos have revitalized their classic pop sound and are making a go of it with their latest effort “From Home” on the Yep Roc label.

Taking their tried and true formula of vocal harmonizing with sweetly layered instrumental accompaniment, they teamed up with some production help at Hyde St Studios with longtime local fan Chuck Prophet and ace engineer Paul Q Kolderie (whose made some great records with everyone from The Go-Go’s and Dinosaur Jr to The Pixies, Radiohead and more). The results are finally garnering them their first serious 21st century press attention since getting embroiled in a lawsuit with Dr Luke and Avril Lavigne over their all too apparent uncredited copycatting of the 70’s era Rubinoos single “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” about a decade ago.

The new song featured here, co-written with Chuck Prophet, pays tribute to the late Honey Lantree, a UK hairdresser who went on to become an iconic female drummer for the Honeycombs, a 60’s pop band produced by eccentric UK production wunderkind Joe Meek.

Despite having begun their career during the Nixon era when bubblegum rock was not yet a retro sound, and prevailing thru a decades long run with all the tawdry travails of show biz, the Rubinoos overall are actually in great shape and spirits, and seem way healthier (and far more talented) than many bands I know half their age.

To familiarize yourself with this amazing band and their past glories, you can visit a playlist on Spotify that will fill in all the blanks

Here’s to the mighty Rubinoos who I hope can provide us much needed inspiration for kids of all ages!

Jonathan Richman recently posted his story of meeting the band in 1974 and how they became the defacto Modern Lovers on the west coast after he moved out here from New England. https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_rubinoos_by_jonathan_richman/

Here’s a link to an INTERVIEW with The Rubinoos and PRODUCER/CO-WRITER CHUCK PROPHET : http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2019/07/the-rubinoos-and-chuck-prophet-the-tvd-interview-premiere-phaedra/

The Rubinoos upcoming shows:

November 1 – The Chapel – San Francisco, CA
November 3 – Harlow’s – Sacramento, CA
November 17 – Bootleg Bar – Los Angeles, CA
December 9 – White Eagle – Portland, OR
December 11 – Sunset Tavern – Seattle, WA

Trigger Warning Content Advisory : Lil’ Mike Tracked Down By “Jams For Man”

So a funny thing happened one evening after work, I get this phone call…it’s a guy from L.A., that I’ve never met…but he wants to ask me some questions…

He says he’s “not a cop”, so I agree to talk… boy, was that his mistake for asking. Apparently, he’s a “podcast host” who delves into suburban garage band lore from Reston VA with his 50 something episode audio archive of interviews called “Jams For Man“.

Next thing you know, I’ve spun off in a tongue waggin’ wagontrain of thought on a 35 year easily derailed hell ride down memory lane…

Much of it concerns a few years I spent living in the beastly banal ‘burbs of the bourgeois beltway outside Washington DC in the mid 1980’s. I was an awkward angry teenage sh/t disturber defiantly runnin’ with an overall pretty polite posse of pubescent punkers, seein’ all the all ages shows I could of seminal early 80’s DC hardcore & out there visiting indie acts of the age like Death Piggy, Eugene Chadbourne, Crippled Pilgrims, 9353, Void, Husker Du, Big Black, Sun City Girls, Trouble Funk, Psychodrama, 45 Grave, Marginal Man, Reagan Youth, Meatmen and even Frankie Valli.

This host feller amazingly does the detective work and even pulls up a few audio clips of some of my loopy long forgotten and banned early NoVA high school bands. If only I had been Dave Grohl, who played the same suburban Battle of the Bands circuit, turns out that these tapes would actually be of historical note or even worth something!

Then at some point, after getting expelled from Fairfax County schools, we take a Greyhound and head over the Rockies to the wily west coast where I recant too many “It All Seems So Silly In The Long Run” stories of California rock n roll abandon. There are possibly true tales from the road and serendipitous sidetracks about setting up oft illegal gigs in the early 90’s for then relatively unknown bands like NOFX, Sublime, Rancid, Green Day, Fred Armisen’s Trenchmouth etc…

Anyhow, I ranted, I raved, I regaled and rambled and never shut up for a full hour, which is far more than I, or anyone I know sober, can even put up with me.

This poor fella, the saintly Andy Keiler, originally from Reston VA, now a musician, school teacher and father in Los Angeles, is a patient soul and held the phone away from his aching ear while I blithely blared. He warily winced, even politely laughed at a couple jokes I thought were way funnier, but he got it all down on what we used to call “tape”. He adroitly edited, spliced, tried to make nice, and compressed and squeezed in snippets of vintage music.

1990 CD/LP/Cassette Compilation benefit for Food Not Bombs that had music by Bedlam Rovers feat Lil’ Mike

Somehow he tracked down a Reagan era cassette recording I had made with my first teen band, the long forgotten Toolin’ For Bovines. He also found an early 4 track demo from the late 80’s from my 100 something gig run with The Bedlam Rovers, an excerpt from a 924 Gilman St recording I played guitar on with pre-tween screamo sensations The Rolling Scabs, a 1994 16 track live recording I helped produce by Sublime at Komotion in SF, as well as just for fun of it, some influential early 80’s jams from a band with Reston roots called the Alter-Natives who were on SST. Andy even threw in some of my more recent playlist faves from El Vez and new material by The Rubinoos, two bands I just happened to be editing videos for the week he called. There are also some rarely, if ever seen too young to shave photos of me from deep in the dregs of the wistful wayback machine…

I know you can find more Jams For Man podcast interviews with people from the Northern Virginia music scene via Podomatic, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, iTunes or perhaps where ever you prefer to do your Podcast listening. Some of the other characters interviewed you can hear in depth conversations with include multi media popsmith Spookey Ruben, Ron Winters of Branch Manager, bassist Jerry Barrett who played in HR from Bad Brains’ solo band amongst many others. There’s recent episode uploads featuring my talented ol’ pal Davis White of groups like Lorelei, and Media Disease, and talks with some of the past members of Avail, as well as prolific NYC based opera & orchestral composer James Barry, and the Zelig like Mike Davis who recorded with plenty of his own bands like The Blood Bats and Foundation and also served as a staff engineer at Don Zientara’s seminal Inner Ear Studios facility. Andy also posts excerpts of music from some of the artists & bands he interviews that participated but aren’t particularly well documented such as Transilience , early Avail etc at a Jams For Man Music Sound Cloud page found here

@LilMikeSF Media Maker Myriorama