New Nightclub Called Lion s Den Opens Friday in Chinatown
I bet you didn t think you d be reading this news this week: A new nightclub is having its soft opening (in the midst of the pandemic) on Friday in Chinatown, and it s attempting to harken back to the glitz of 1950s-era nightlife in the neighborhood.
It s called Lion s Den, and one of the co-owners is Steven Lee, a co-owner of the famed Sam Wo Restaurant. The upscale nightclub, with interior design by Anna Lee Jew who designed Mister Jiu s, is making its debut this weekend at 57 Wentworth Place that s an alley between Jackson and Washington Streets, between Grant Avenue and Kearny, around the corner from Z&Y Restaurant.
Chinatown is getting a splashy new nightclub Friday, a throwback to ’50s-era glamour By Janelle Bitker
For the first time in more 40 years, a splashy nightclub is debuting in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Lion’s Den, opening Friday, is an attempt to return to old times in the neighborhood: The goal is to bring back the glitz and glamour of Chinatown nightclubs from the 1950s and ’60s, when venues drew celebrities as famous as Frank Sinatra. There were live bands and showgirls; patrons wore tuxedos and fine jewelry.
This history is on loving display inside the new club, which was co-founded by Steven Lee, an owner of Chinatown’s legendary Sam Wo Restaurant, who also spent years in the music scene. There’s a wall full of photos from that era, and cocktails created by Garrett Marks, bar manager of Michelin-starred neighbor Mister Jiu’s are named after former Chinatown venues, such as Forbidden City and Twin Dragon.
S.F. Chinatown is getting a splashy new nightclub Friday, a throwback to 50s-era glamour
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The entrance to Lion s Den, a new nightclub in San Francisco Chinatown.Janelle Bitker / The Chronicle
For the first time in more 40 years, a splashy nightclub is debuting in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Lion’s Den, opening Friday, is an attempt to return to old times in the neighborhood: The goal is to bring back the glitz and glamour of Chinatown nightclubs from the 1950s and ’60s, when venues drew celebrities as famous as Frank Sinatra. There were live bands and showgirls; patrons wore tuxedos and fine jewelry.
Lion’s Den Will Be Chinatown’s First New Nightclub and Live Music Venue in Decades
The bar aims to bring back the glamour of 1940s San Francisco Chinatown, the heyday of the Chinese-American bar-nightclub
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By the time Steven Lee arrived in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the mid-1970s, he was coming onto a scene that was already dying. It’s not that Chinatown wasn’t still full of bustling shops and vibrant neighborhood restaurants. It was. But in the 1940s and 1950s, Chinatown had also been one of the city’s great nightlife destinations, where Chinese-American nightclubs with names like Forbidden City and Chinese Sky Room would put on floor shows spectacles of song and dance that attracted tourists from around the country, as well as A-list celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Ronald Reagan.