At the already seedy, boozy, and porn-themed Kozy Kar on Polk Street, where the slippery slope to muddled consent can come any night of the week by way of a few too many Olympias note that the bar was among SFist's 13 Best Bars To Find Someone To Hook Up With/Make Out With a reader points out that a sign on the box wine that's meant to be cheeky and funny is probably in poor taste.
The text of the sign, which is taped to the boxed wine boxes as a sort of advertisement, says:
Bitchin' Box WineIt's wine from a box!
One sip brings back memories of beach parties, Camaros, Eddie Money, feathered hair, and date rape. Oh the memories... It's like high school all over again... but better!
Comes in red or white!
According to the tipster, when asked about the sign, a bartender said he'd never noticed it before, and wouldn't remove it. Via Yelp we see it's been there since at least August but the place has served box wine as part of its 70s/80s, lowbrow branding since it opened in 2009. Update: Owner Sam Young confirms to Eater that the sign has been there for five years.
And yes, given the increasingly loud conversation being had nationwide about how hookup culture, especially at colleges and universities, often leads to sexual assault and "gray rape" New York Magazine has a package this week, in fact, about sex at college and this piece explores this topic maybe it's not the best idea for a hookup bar like Kozy Kar to joke about date rape?
Owner Sam Young has always tried to be pretty tongue-in-cheek and no-bullshit about the vibe of the bar, telling Locale Magazine:
He describes it as a dark, dingy bar and says it’s not nice by any sort of imagination. ... The concept came from Young’s memories as a child driving up to his parents house up north in the 70s and 80s. He and his brother would always look out the window and see “cozy” vans. The bar was inspired by what he and his brother figured would be in the vans... "It's the shittiest of the shit... [But] It’s exactly the type of bar I’d want to go to. There is pinball, punk music and shitty beer."
As such, there are Playboy images embedded in the floor, other porn playing on screens and lying around, and a fairly filthy, carpet-covered waterbed in back (see below) made to look like it's inside a van.
Related: SF's 13 Best Bars To Find Someone To Hook Up With/Make Out With
