The Cafe is closing this Sunday for a remodel that will last until June, or longer, and the owners may be looking to connect the former Bisou space downstairs back to the bar as it once was.
Hoodline has the scoop today that The Cafe is shuttering, and the bar says in a note to patrons that they want to create a "brand-new, state-of-the-art bar and nightclub," though exact details have not been shared.
There's a rumor that the Bisou space is part of the remodel plan, and as Hoodline notes, that used to be how one entered the bar when it was known as The Cafe San Marcos from 1976 to 1992. New owners renamed it The Cafe after remodeling the second-floor nightclub and separating off the restaurant below, and for the last three decades The Cafe has been a magnet for a mostly younger crowd of LGBT partyers, and their friends.
The closure, though temporary, comes at a moment of change around the Castro neighborhood, as we learned this week that Firewood Cafe is closing on 18th Street, and there are multiple retail vacancies on Market and 18th Streets.
The former Beso restaurant is becoming something possibly called Butcher & Farm from the owner of next-door spot Lark. And down on Church Street, the recently shuttered Chow is slated to become a new neighborhood eatery called Cook Shoppe. Also on 18th Street, the former Indo has reopened under the same owners as the more casual Rooster & Rice.
The Cafe plans to reopen in time for Pride if all goes well, on or around June 17.
But where will the kids watch Drag Race and dance to Ariana remixes in the meantime? Prepare for Beaux and Toad Hall to get a lot more crowded.