The place where the Mai Tai was invented is now a vacant lot. The original Trader Vic’s—where the world famous rum cocktail was invented in 1944—once stood at 6500 San Pablo Avenue, on the corner of 65th Street. But Trader Vic’s closed that location in 1972 and moved to Emeryville.
In the first half of the 20th Century, there were “50 bars from the Emeryville line to the Berkeley line” around San Pablo Avenue, according to historian Don Hausler, who compiled a walking tour of bars that have closed in the area since World War II. “Two or three bars on every block, almost.”
Among the other since-closed taverns in the area were:
Adam and Eve Tavern
5515 San Pablo Avenue
-Was operated by a bartender known as “Big Edna”
Silver Slipper Bar
5665 San Pablo Avenue
- An old cocktail lounge with a jukebox is now a lot across the street from the Golden Gate library.
Vagabond Club
5519 San Pablo Avenue
-Known as a black motorcycle club hangout, in now also a church.
Check out our map for more of the abandoned bars of the Golden Gate.
