Let the good times roll. August Hall, the newest concert venue in downtown San Francisco, will swing open its doors in May, with a gaming parlor, a gourmet pizza menu and three bowling lanes below the hall.
Replacing the EDM dance club Ruby Skye, the 1,000-person space inside the Golden West building was bought by two San Francisco natives, Nate Valentine, the restaurateur behind Padrecito and the Tipsy Pig, Justin Roja and Scott Murphy, a music industry veteran and one of the first employees at Eventbrite. They named the space after the building’s architect, August Headman, with the hope of honoring the spot’s historic past while providing modern, high-end hospitality and sound quality. (The building once served as the event space for the Native Sons of the Golden West, a fraternal organization dedicated to preserving California landmarks.) Among the Art Nouveau details the team is working to protect, there are stained-glass tributes to native sons like Jack London, Richard Nixon and former Governor and Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren.
Downstairs, sister establishment Fifth Arrow, located in a former Prohibition-era speakeasy, serves as a recreational reprieve from the live music upstairs. Named after the target point bowlers use, Fifth Arrow has three bowling lanes and a menu that lists pizzas, small bites and shareable dishes.
Promotion company Live Nation Entertainment is in charge of filling the hall with music, and the upcoming calendar already reflects San Francisco’s diverse tastes: Portlandia-famous band Washed Out, local group Giraffage, Yasiin Bey (commonly recognized as Mos Def) and BottleRock headliners Courtney Barnett and Jay Som are on the docket for this spring.