Ah, yes. The legendary Handlery Bovis feud. That also took down Lefty’s, another Bovis-owned bar. I was all Team Bovis when news broke that a clothing store was going to use the Gold Dust space as an escalator to the second floor. Then news broke that there were no heroes in the stories. We got a lot of good years out of that bar though.
The new location had a good similar look, but it went from cozy, small bar to cold, cavernous bar. The commingling of tourists and locals because you were sitting on top of one another is part of what made it special. You were regularly stepping over luggage to get to your seat with your friends. And locals don’t really go to the Wharf, so that hurt too. I guess Bovis was hoping the name was popular enough to draw as many tourists as Buena Vista. His rent was crazy high and the tourists never really came. I was surprised when he decided to move Lefty’s up there too considering how slow things were for Gold Dust.
Bovis was a shyster that played the PR game, ripped off the ppl he did business with, and went to prison. Its a pity he screwed up two classic SF spots, but its not on Handlery.
I mean Express was there for 10 years, which is a pretty damn good run; as far as I'm aware there's still stuff in the rest of the building? I mean they're probably vacant since most small office is, but.
Well, the guy who owned it was bribing the city so he was going to go to jail eventually anyway. Who knows if the thing would have made it while he was in jail.
It became too expensive and too dangerous to come to San Francisco from Fremont/Dublin/San Jose/Sacramento/etc to get what you could essentially get over there: dedicated shopping and dining in a confined area.
The Gold Dust and Lefty's didn't close because of a lack of customers, they closed because greedy landlord Jon Handlery thought he could make more money with retail.
Jon Handlery is a stupid person who failed to understand that the places he closed were a big part of the reason people went to the area in the first place, and his hotel commercials are cringe as well.
Met my wife there!!!
Owner went to prison.
I was a waitress at two of his establishments and this is great to hear
Spill!!
I was hired there, worked one night and quit. I never even tried to collect my paycheck.
I loved that place and the people there. Very sad. What a waste.
Happy Hour memories!
San Francisco, where a laundromat is a protected historic landmark but a institution with real legitimate history can be converted into a shitty clothing store no problem.
It’s good to be a Handlery.
I was on flight to Vancouver - Myself a regular at the Gold Dust - I sat next to a couple the whole flight - Towards landing found out that I was sitting next to owner and his wife (she's the one in the painting dressed in red) Great trip to Vancouver unfortunately that was the last time I saw my dad. Just like Herb Caen always said - "night cap at the dust" Good times
Jake the best, rudest, foul-mouthed, bartender ever. Haven’t seen that guy in a while! Last I heard he was still at Ace’s.
i'm still in shock that the Hemlock is gone. like completely gone.
Do any of you have any idea how astronomically expensive it is to operate a venue in SF? The city has made it practically impossible.
The old Gold Dust: It still annoys me to no end when I walk past this empty space. A true SF icon was kicked out its 54 year old location to make way for just another forgettable clothing store that vanished and nobody cared.
Now the entire building is vacant and the Gold Dust didn’t survive the relocation to the waterfront. Every day it’s easy to find people looking up and down Powell and around Union Square asking, “What Happened?”