Popular San Francisco gay bar marks 10-year anniversary with renovations
SAN FRANCISCO — A popular gay bar in San Francisco is celebrating a major milestone.
"Beaux," located on Market Street, just hit its 10-year anniversary mark and renovated its space to celebrate. Owner Joshua Cook said it was vital for the LGBTQ+ community.
"Queer nightlife is everything to us; it is family, it is entertainment, it is fun," said Cook.
Cook believes queer spaces are why he felt pulled to make this city his home.
"I moved to San Francisco over 20 years ago without ever visiting because I just knew that San Francisco was the queerest place on Earth," said Cook.
After moving, he fell in love with SF nightlife and decided to dedicate his life to it by becoming part owner of "Beaux"
"Beaux" managed to withstand the pandemic, so Cook knew he had to continue to make it bigger and better than it was before. The renovation is proof of that.
There is a new bar, bathrooms and an updated menu.
"We wanted to reinvest back into nightlife and be an excellent in queer nightlife," said Cook. "We want to be a place people have to see, not just when they come to The Castro, but when they come to San Francisco in general."
Leaders like State Sen. Scott Weiner and Mayor London Breed stopped by to support the business. Mayor Breed said she knows how important this is to the city.
"Growing up here, nightlife was always everything and the pandemic really devastated it," she said.
Many places were forced to close. It's why she wants to celebrate and support the ones that are still standing.
"They really struggled and now that the city is coming back and we're able to come together in a way that we haven't been for some time it's more meaningful to be able to do this because we appreciate it more because we couldn't do it," said Mayor Breed.
Cook was blown away when he saw the crowd of people in his newly renovated bar.
"I honestly was a little bit surprised and overwhelmed by the support and the feedback and the love that I'm feeling today," said Cook.