— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
2013 was an ugly year for the city's leftover crop of crummy bars, with dives like Jack's, Pop's, The Attic, and Nitecap either closing or poised for makeovers. But there are still plenty of solid spots left in the city to score $2 bottles and cheap bags of chips hanging from the wall, and the new video series, Dirty Old Bar, is here to celebrate those working-class stalwarts holding on.
Yesterday they released their morning look at Clooney's, interviewing everyone from the bartender, Isaac Fitzgerald, and even the bar's owner on the family history of the joint (although the owner didn't bring up how the entire bar was once moved across the Mission). Turns out Clooney's is one of the last multi-generational family bars left in the city. Who knew?
(And if you want more from Dirty Old Bar, their trip to The Brown Jug Saloon is worth a watch:)
Comments (15)
Nice new feature. Used to walk passed The Brown Jug every day on my way down the hill to work. Place had good business at 7:30 in the morning - the true mark of a proper dive. Club 93 on 9th should be on the list. Likewise with 21 Club on Turk & Taylor. Aunt Charlie’s is right there too for a double-dip of diveyness. Shame to see so many of these places replaced with silly cocktail concept bars. While those have their place, so do dives.
I don’t know who the fuck Isaac is but the fact that they interviewed him over Debbie is a travesty… (Hutch is cool though!)
That’s more women than I’ve ever seen in Clooney’s.
That was great, thanks.
My fave dive used to be Lloyd’s, at Mission and 7th. It’s long gone, but they had a great sign out front that said “Shot & beer $5 before 10 am.”
Clooney’s aka Heaven’s Waiting Room. I went in there once to watch a sporting event at 6 AM and witnessed a guy consume about six drinks before his shift as a backhoe operator.
I like the idea, but the chicks are a little too cutesy and annoying.
Well they’re chicks :)
Chicks, man.
geez dude, youre a bummer
I wanted to say the same thing. I couldn’t get through it. The girls annoyed the shit out of me.
George, I agree with you. Debbie is the absolute best. She doesn’t work weekday mornings, though.
The time I found myself at Clooney’s one of the ladies at the bar kept flashing.
The Brown Jug is a god damn mess, but in a good way. They say the Velvet Underground played there in the early 60’s. That may be BS from an old weird alcoholic (AKA Bear) so take it with a grain of salt.
Clooney’s (aka Luke’s, aka Stan’s, etc) got ruined back when they ripped the bar apart to extend it to the back wall and put in beer taps. Prior to that the bar was completely circular, there were stools 360-degrees around it, the bartop mirrored the circular lighting fixture in the ceiling. Then they painted over the great 50s flocked ceiling and put some cheap plastic in that circular fixture and they tossed out the 50s formica-top chrome-pedestal base tables and turned the interior into generic strip mall sports bar.
Until that butchering was done Clooney’s (Luke’s, Stan’s) looked like someplace you might find on the outskirts of Vegas in 1959 that the Rat Pack would stop in for a last drink before they drove back to LA.
Some bars are open in night time only but the it is affecting the society and for that the time changed to day. Some dirty bar are there that affecting the social activity and it affects the peoples health very badly. I think this type of services must be stopped. I like to visit bar with friends and sometime in official matter. In all those places the entertainment and the services are very important for the people.