Final Name Looms For San Francisco LGBTQ Hangout Grubstake Diner

A planned apartment building above the LGBTQ meeting point Grubtake Diner will be used for an appointment vote due to resistance from neighbors (Google Maps, iStock)

The last call threatens the Grubtake Diner, a long-standing LGBT hangout in San Francisco – at least in its current form.

Owner Jimmy Cosnos plans to tear down the diner on Pine Street, replace it with a replica with original murals and stained glass windows, and build an eight-story apartment building over it, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The city’s board of directors will hear an objection from the neighbors next week against the project, which was approved by the planning committee in July with 4 to 2 votes.

Opponents say the planned building is too tall and would eliminate light and air for residents on the lower floors of the 12-story apartment building next door. One resident, software engineer Theresa Calderon, said she found that the light intensity of some units could decrease by 70 to 99 percent.

“As a first-time home buyer, I didn’t know plans could change,” Calderon told the Chronicle. “When I found out how big it was going to be, it really freaked me out.”

Consos said that Grubtake, a converted railroad car, can only survive with a new build as plumbing and electrical systems need to be replaced and the restaurant violates accessibility laws. Business has slowed dramatically since the pandemic silenced nightlife.

Grubtake, which has been in its current location since 1967, is a gathering place for generations of LGBTQ San Franciscans, including Harvey Milk. It was an unofficial clubhouse for drag queens, transgender people and other night owls until the 1990s.

“I’ve always felt welcome and accepted at Grubtake as an openly gay man, a longtime AIDS survivor, and no matter what I was wearing – or not,” said LGBTQ activist Gary Virginia. “It has been a safe haven for minorities and alternative communities since it opened.”

[SFChronicle] – Victoria Pruitt

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