New Bar on the Block

Bars come and go in San Francisco these days, but the opening of Jolene’s on Harrison and 16th has been getting a lot of attention. That’s because Jolene’s is a lesbian bar — and the only one in San Francisco. In spite of San Francisco’s reputation as a hub for the gay community, the city has been without a lesbian bar since the Lexington closed in 2015. This story takes us to Jolene’s to check out what people think of the new bar, why it is so important to them, and how much the city’s lesbian-bar-history continues to influence cocktail hour today.