Kozy Kar Owner Opens Kung Fu-Inspired Bar in Old Gangway Space

It’s almost showtime at Young’s Kung Fu Action Theatre & Laundry, a new bar from Sam Young, owner of Boogie Nights-inspired Polk Street dive bar Kozy Kar. No, it’s not actually a laundromat: Just a bar with kitschy decor, including a working dry cleaning rack behind the bar, over which they’ll project kung fu classics. Starting tomorrow, October 11, Young’s Kung Fu Action Theatre & Laundry is open 6 p.m. to 2 a..m, from Thursday through Sunday, with more hours to come.

The location is 841 Larkin Street, the former home of the Gangway, a salty gay dive bar that was the city’s oldest LGBT establishment before it closed in January. Young will leave the rainbow flag out front to signal that all are welcome, and preservationists have salvaged much of the Gangway decor and memorabilia.

Sam Young

“It’s all tongue-in-cheek,” Young says of his bar’s perhaps problematic theme and name, “it’s meant to be misleading.” Compared with Kozy Kar, which is “its own world of bizarreness,” Young suggests that his new bar is tame: At Kozy Kar, which has a second location in Santa Rosa, customers can drink in an empty jacuzzi or on a water bed.

One similarity at Young’s Kung Fu Action Theatre: A motorized spinning “bed” (or seating platform) in the back room, which is decorated with green lights and infinity mirrors that Young calls Tron-inspired

As a business owner, Young appears to revel in line-toeing and controversy: Kozy Kar gloatingly advertises its negative press on Yelp, posting quotes like “this place is gross and weird” and “I would give it 0 stars if I could.” What kind of reviews Young’s Kung Fu Action Theatre & Laundry are likely to generate remains to be seen, but it’s more than possible that any customer complaints will be played for laughs.

Beyond drinks — the bar sports a full liquor license, and Young says to expect standard spirits and cocktails — customers can eventually purchase snow cones (they’ve got a machine) and help themselves to popcorn. Add that to the old movie theater seating and red Chinese lanterns — then throw a lot of strong cocktails on top of that — and it’s basically Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

Sam Young

Sam Young