Legendary San Francisco LGBTQ bar the Stud is making a comeback years after closing during the pandemic. Mayor London Breed joined members of Stud Collective, the group behind the bar, Tuesday to announce it will be opening again at a new location in the SoMa neighborhood.
The bar's next iteration will be located on Folsom Street, just blocks away from the bar's former home on 19th and Harrison streets.
"It's twice as big as our old space," said Rachel Ryan, the president of the collective and general manager. "It has twice as many bathrooms.
When The Stud closed in May 2020, the city mourned the loss of what Mayor London Breed called "a San Francisco institution."
"One of the first Leather District bars," Breed said. "One of the first places people talked about, where they came to see amazing drag shows and DJs."
Until its closure during the pandemic, The Stud was the city's oldest, continuously-operated queer bar. It opened its doors in 1966.
During the announcement Tuesday, State Senator Scott Weiner talked fondly about finding the bar after moving to San Francisco in the 1990s.
"I think, within a month or two, I was at the Stud and I spent a lot of time there," Weiner said.
The club will be owned and run by the Stud Collective. Getting to this point involved a lot of help from local leaders, including Weiner, Breed, and several of the city's supervisors.
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The bar will also benefit from San Francisco's First Year Free program, which waives all city fees for permitting and licensing during the first year of a small business's operation.
"We have to do everything we can to get out of the way of small businesses. Especially nightlife, which is an important part of not just our economic recovery, but our ability to have fun in San Francisco," Breed said.
Still, the bar has some hurdles to overcome. High up on that list is the cost of renovating the new Folsom Street space.
"We are going to need everyone to contribute raising the funds," said Honey Mahogany, a member of the Stud Collective.
The Stud is turning to the public for help, aiming to raise half a million dollars through crowdfunding.
"To get the licensing, permitting up to date," said Mahogany. "To rebuild this bar, to turn it into a queer nightlife venue where we can dance all night, where we have drag shows every day of the week, where we celebrate our queerness and are unapologetic about it."
The Stud plans to open by the end of winter, according to its website.
