![]() Finally, we headed to the suburban Oakland-Berkeley borderlands for a vodka-soda at the White Horse Inn, one of the oldest continually operating gay bars in the country, where regulars shoot pool to the strains of Pet Shop Boys. Then it’s on to the busy downtown scene at Cafe Van Kleef, known for its fresh-squeezed Greyhounds, live jazz and floor-to-ceiling knickknacks. There, 72-year-old doorman Gary examines tattooed youngsters’ IDs with a grandfatherly twinkle, complimenting their latest thrift-store scores. Full of stories and live-and-let-live California charm, Oakland’s bouncers are mini-mayors of their blocks, greeting neighbors and cracking wise with regulars while keeping an eye out for city slickers who’ve had a few too many.įor this installment of PUNCH’s “A Night at the Door,” which explores what these gatekeepers experience nightly in cities across the country, we started in the shadow of the Grand Lake Theater at a relaxed dive called Heart & Dagger Saloon. Many San Franciscans now do the reverse commute, spending their Saturdays at the multicultural and LGBT-friendly watering holes that give Oakland its sparkle. ![]() But as The City’s once-diverse nightlife scene falls into an icy Silicon Valley-induced death spiral of high rents and displaced patrons, the laid-back pleasures of The Town have become essential. Once upon a time, Oaklanders would stream into San Francisco on weekends to drink.
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