San Francisco: Ha-Ra Club

Even as San Francisco’s supremely sleazy Tenderloin District undergoes an inevitable gentrification, the Ha-Ra Club holds firm to its fabled status as a singular dive in a city notorious for its disreputable ports of call. The bar’s unique name is an abbreviation of the first names of its original owners: two brothers named Harold and Ralph. Legend has it that, back in the Prohibition Era, the Ha-Ra and its adjacent watering holes were connected by a secret network of tunnels. Good luck finding one now. But show up at the right time, and you can enjoy a time-honored Tenderloin ritual as streetwalkers coming in off their shifts attempt to bribe a free cocktail off of the bartender by flashing their boobs. Carl, the iconic barkeep otherwise known for his irascible nature, can be soft touch for such antics. But if you’re a guy, don’t expect to expose your hairy chest in exchange for a cold one. You will win only the derisive laughter of your beer buddies. But that in itself will make a great story, like the night Johnny Unitas jammed his pool cue into the ceiling. Carl’s got a million of ’em.

Photos: Jen Siska