San Francisco Guide to Drinking
Name: Matador Bar
Address: 10 6th street

This spring one of San Francisco’s most notorious bars, The Arrow, closed its doors and the end of sketchy hipster partying on 6th & Market streets -- a dilapidated intersection best known for chronic homelessness and drug-dealing -- as we know it came to an end. Or did it? This is the ultimate question surrounding the opening of the new Matador Bar that now inhabits the Arrow's former location at 10 6th street. Will it fulfill the same role as Arrow or will it do something different? Only time will tell.

One look at the Matador and one can easily say that it is cleaner and more open than the Arrow ever was. This, admits one of its owners Evan Burgess also of the popular Mission biker bar Gestalt Haus, is one of the biggest differences between the two bars. The cave which once made Arrow so distinct has been removed, adding room for some high tables and stools. This factor, along with the freshly-painted red walls, vintage paintings and candle-lit atmosphere goes far to make Matador reminiscent of an intimate wine bar. With swing music and jazz playing during Happy Hour you’d be hard pressed to call it a dive bar.

During the weekend, some of the electronic music and scenester crowd associated with the Arrow is still found here, but the atmosphere is nonetheless of a higher caliber -- or at least one that’s not associated with doing drugs in the bathroom. In spite of this Burgess says that he does not aspire to draw any particular crowd. As a San Franciscan native, he and his partner Anthony Lavia, who attribute the bar’s name to their long time affiliation with the Latino roots of the Mission district, want to create a more diverse environment in which “everyone is welcome.” In other words, they are looking to create a more inclusive bar that attracts clubbers and drinkers of all kinds but still maintains the old school spirit of San Francisco.

Like the neighborhood in which it is located, Matador bar, just two months old, is still in a state of evolution. Even the drinks may change as time goes on, but for now their delicious Latin-themed libations -- especially "The Matador" which is flavored with ginger beer rather than ginger ale -- are reason enough to draw a more sophisticated crowd.

In general the drinks, the music, and the patrons that frequent the Matador are yet to be determined. Like the neighborhood and denizens of 6th Street, which are slowly shifting with the recent openings of new, more upscale bars and restaurants, the Matador will keep evolving. But even now it's still a welcome addition to a neighborhood on the upswing, and well worth keeping up on.