Petrelis Files

Castro's New Gay/Straight Bar
Churchill Opens Tonight

My recent post about all the shuttered or ailing gay(-ish) businesses in the Castro mentioned the recent closure of a gay bar at a busy intersection on the outer rim of the neighborhood. That location I learned today, thanks to a tip from Eve Batey who edits the SF Appeal, is getting a new lease on life.

Eve told me about a write-up on the Haighteration site on the new watering hole, which includes pix of the fabulously redecorated interior of what is now the Churchill bar. If I were a drinking man, I'd stop in and check out Churchill's, while watching the world go by through their expanded window spaces.

Here's wishing the new bar good luck and large crowds at their opening tonight, and in the future. From the Haighteration story:

When The Bar on Church abruptly shuttered in January, we instantly began to wonder (slash dread) what might take its place at the corner of Church and 14th Streets.

Would it become yet another effectively-windowless gay bar slinging toxic drinks and blasting bad pop music to an empty, albeit sticky, dance floor, we feared?

Well, we now have an answer. And thankfully, that answer is no.

Meet Churchill, a gorgeous, 1940s-inspired throwback cocktail bar opening [Wednesday] night at 198 Church Street.

Churchill isn’t a “gay bar” or a “straight bar,” mind you, but aims to be a comfortable and welcoming space for folks of all stripes, says one of the bar’s owners, Anthony Healy-London. ...

(Photo credit: Andrew Dudley, Haighteration.)