I also want to say that as queer gal, I don't think it's a good idea to rate any ol' gay club highly just because it's "alternative." Even catering to an LGBTQ population, things can still be lame. The 80s night downstairs was fifteen dollars. I feel like I have more fun at the podunk "club" in my central Maine hometown.
The nearly naked dancing gentlemen were cool - the dancing nearly naked chick was kinda busted. We got here early and left, and then came back again later when things were more bumpin.
This WAS the only free place we found to dance, and music was decent, but I wasn't particularly impressed. Runner up of un-awesomeness: a place like this being basically a hotel conference room, complete with sconces, converted into a TINY "club." It doesn't feel like a club, it feels more like someone's prom. Runner up in awesomeness: the requesite adorable gay boys doing the spot-on Single Ladies dance toward the end of the night.Ĭompletely un-awesome: drink prices should not be astronomical at a place like this. I found Prohibition because I was looking for a specifically gay dance club. The most awesome thing about this place was that right after we arrived, a stream of drag queens/impersonators made their way into the club - they were so sweet and also terrifying (a gianormous Dolly Parton is both amazing and terrifying, yes?). Mollet was down, but hardly out, however.Yelp keeps telling me to write a review of Prohibition, so I guess I gotta. In 1961 he bought On The Levee (987 Embarcadero) from jazz trombonist Kid Ory. Ory was a well-known musician who played with Louis Armstrong and had performed at Peggy Tolk-Watkins Tin Angel. Ory bought the Tin Angel from Tolk-Watkins in 1958 and changed the name to On The Levee to reflect his New Orleans jazz heritage. When he took over the club from Ory in 1969 Mollet kept the name, and carried part of it with him to 527 Bryant when he opened Off The Levee (later called the 527 Club and Chez Mollet). Neither On The Levee or Off The Levee every were closed by police. This may have been due to the changing attitudes in San Francisco in the 1960s. It may also have been due to the fact that though Lennie's 36 was a bar, both of the later establishments included restaurants. It's also worth noting that Mollet did not advertise in the gay press till the early 1970s, so he may have been maintaining a lower profile. In January 1962 LCE News noted in its Roving Report that Walter Hart (noted female impersonator of Finocchio's fame) was appearing at On The Levee on weekends.Īnd by November 1966 ARC News (out of Sacramento) noted in an article entitled "Leather Circuit Expands" that for a tour of San Francisco's leather scene, "you might want to start off at the Levee on the Embarcadero for Sunday brunch and cocktails." What is clear is that both clubs catered to LGBT clientele from the start. The Society for Individual Rights magazine Vector was also available at On the Levee.
The bar remained in business until 1973.Īlthough On The Levee was known as a gay bar where both leather and drag were welcome, Lenny's greater contribution to the community would come at Off The Levee (527 Bryant). In November 1971 the Advocate ran a restaurant review that said:įlorida Orange Juice boycott, San Francisco Chronicle, ApHe bought the bar in 1965 and for the six years of its existence there is little written about it. "Primarily straight for lunch, when it's called the 527 Club (as the large sign out front says) in the evening it's all ours and known as Off The Levee.
It is somewhat, although not exclusively, bike oriented."īy 1972 things were in full swing at the club, with a candidate from 527 Club winning the "Miss Cowgirl" contest (as covered in the Bay Area Reporter).