Jolene’s Bar and Restaurant, San Francisco

About Jolene’s Bar and Restaurant

Jolene's is a queer bar in the Mission centering women and trans folks, opened in December 2018 by three queer women — Jolene Linsangan, Shannon Amitin, and Ashleigh Wilson — to give the long-running U-Haul party a permanent home after the city had gone years without a dedicated space for queer women. A pink neon triangle at the door reads "You are safe here," and it sets the tone. There's a pool table up front and a red-lit dance floor in back, and the room shifts from low-key early to packed-and-dancing late. U-Haul still anchors the weekly party calendar, with drag and burlesque brunches and bottomless mimosas on the weekend. It remains one of the few bars in San Francisco built first and foremost for queer women and trans people — reason enough for a traveler to route a night around it.