A classic neighborhood bar, The Gangway was a tiny yet cozy tavern noted for its exterior décor of a boat's bowsprit. Inside, colorful locals drank from the early hours, occasionally served by the Bay Area Reporter's gossip columnist Sweet Lips, aka Richard Walters.
As shown in the January 6, 2005 feature by the late Mike Sher and Mark Des Jardins, The Gangway welcomed an eclectic array of 'Polkstrasse' patrons. Owner Suki Lee's "motherly" style included occasionally making pots of Korean noodles for patrons.
This is just one of hundreds of articles in the B.A.R.'s five decades of coverage about bar and nightlife openings and closings.
Join in for a trip down memory lane with many other gay bars of yore on December 9, when BARchive columnist Michael Flanagan and myself welcome author and former bartender Mark Abramson, plus special guests, for an online chat about the historic connection between the Bay Area Reporter and its 50 years of writing about, and being distributed to, the many long-gone and still-thriving Bay Area LGBT bars.
Watch "B.A.R. Talks 8: The B.A.R. in the bars,'
Thursday, December 9, 6pm on
www.youtube.com/c/bayareareportersf and
www.facebook.com/BayAreaReporter
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