My favorite new S.F. bar is unlike anything else in the city
But the Valkyries-Aces game was a highlight of my July, not necessarily because of the game itself (a nailbiter, we lost 104-102), but because of where I was watching. Rikki's, San Francisco's first bar dedicated to women's sports, opened in June, and it's one of the most special spots in the city.
Rikki's warns on its website that game days can get packed and so, rule follower that I am, my party showed up more than an hour before the 1 p.m. tip off to secure a table. Within 10 minutes, new arrivals were jostling for the last remaining seats.
The crowd was heavily kitted out in purple and black Valkyries swag with a smattering of 'Everyone Watches Women's Sports' T-shirts sprinkled throughout. At one point during the first quarter, I started noticing pops of baby pink punctuating the sea of lavender. An entire queer softball team had arrived, names like 'Morgasm' and 'Masc Dana' emblazoned on the back of their jerseys. 'Hearthrob,' stay away from my friends.
While there were definitely male sports fans in attendance (including a solo patron valiantly trying to watch the Sweden-Germany women's Euro Cup game while the rest of the bar cheered on the Valkyries), the crowd leaned heavily female and, I would wager, heavily LGBTQ. I've patronized my fair share of lesbian bars, but it's rare that I've encountered the type of intergenerational camaraderie on display at Rikki's, a bar that is not explicitly a queer bar. On my visit, a long central table was occupied by a dozen or so gay elders — and not in the sense that I've been called a 'gay elder' by Gen Z coworkers (ouch). There were walkers present.
Several of Rikki's regulars are former employees or patrons of Maud's or Amelia's, the two lesbian bars owned by Rikki Streicher in the Haight-Ashbury and Mission District respectively in the '60s, '70s and '80s. I can imagine that, if you're a gay woman in your 70s, a dimly lit queer bar with loud music and pole dancing nights might not be your first choice for a local hangout. But a bar right on Market Street, easily accessed by public transportation, open during the day with women's sports always on? That's a recipe for a more age diverse community. In the bathroom, a handwritten sign affixed to the toilet read 'Please be gentle, I'm not so young!' Underneath it, someone had graffitied, 'Neither am I — I am 73!'
And the food? …Did I mention how great the camaraderie is? The food is not the reason to come to Rikki's, although I'll say on my visit, the kitchen was absolutely slammed and was probably not turning out its finest work. It's standard bar fare, burgers and hot chicken sandwiches, with some thoughtful vegetarian options mixed in. I'll give them another shot at a calmer time — I will definitely be back.
Rikki's. 2223 Market St., San Francisco. rikkisbarsf.com
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