All Quiet on the Bathroom Front [Photo: Curbed SF]
For better or worse, the city's cancellation of Halloween basically took away the busiest night of the year from the myriad restaurants and bars in the Castro. Last night also put the restaurants and bars in a bit of an awkward position in terms of staying open versus shutting down altogether. So how did the Castro businesses respond to the city mandates? A mixture of early closings, private parties and over-the-top disaster preparation:
1) From the SFist live-blog of the non-party: "Many of the bars and restaurants aren't closed, so much as they are closed to...you. Places like Lime and Twin Peaks are having private parties. Many of the gays, it seems, are simply encased in glass. Protected ... Metro, open. Lucky 13, closed. Newly remodeled Mecca, loud, clangy, and annoying. Pfft." [SFist]
2) The alternative to private parties was early closings: "The Badlands Bar on 18th Street, a regular Castro hangout, was jammed in the early evening, but managers warned customers they'd be shutting down at 10 p.m." [Chron]
3) Some brave bars weathered the storm. Emails a reader, "There were plenty of people out, but it was under control. The Hemlock was crowded though. Took about 10-15 minutes to get in." [Eater Inbox]
4) Others opted for the complete shut-down: "At least 13 bars/clubs, 13 restaurants and five markets and liquor stores were to close by early Wednesday evening." [CBS]
5) Finally, our favorite: those anticipating the second coming of Katrina (complete with plywooded windows): "Moby Dick's boarded-up facade, a relic of anticipation for the rowdiness that never came, made us feel especially dejected." [Curbed SF]
Your Castro Halloween reactions in the comments field or straight to us.
