Once upon a time, there were unwritten rules. Bars did not check ID. Kids drank in bars. Kids went to nightclubs. At 2 AM, they closed the door and turned off the lights in front - and people drank past 2 AM. The cops never bothered the place of business, if there was no trouble. And anyone drinking underage or drinking past 2, kept their cool. Especially if you were a kid, drinking underage, past 2 AM. We knew better than to start a fight in a bar. We knew the owner who let us hang out there. If anything happened, we would lose our hangout.
I remember hanging out at Front Room. Clement St and Geary Boulevard had quite an active night life scene. For awhile, it was the neighborhood to go bar hopping, because you could walk. There was everything from a younger crowd, to a sports bar, to the "old man" bars, to places where you knew you could get coke. Ireland 32, Fizzee's, Churchill's, The Caspian - All the way down to the west end of Geary & Clement Trad'r Sam, Tommy's Mexican Restaurant.
It seems crazy now. Drinking from Arguello, all the way down 20 some odd blocks. Sometimes we walked and stumbled. Sometimes we drove drunk. Sometimes we rode motorcycles drunk. Sometimes we took the bus.
Does anyone remember drinking at 952 Clement?
