Friday, March 7, 2014

The Bars That Time Forgot, an occasional series, vol 1: Doctor Bombay's

(In The Bars That Time Forgot, we will, on occasion, pause to remember a drinking place that has shuffled off this mortal coil.)

Doctor Bombay's was on 16th between Guerrero and Valencia, where Double Dutch is now.

Photo found on MisterSF.com. Thanks!
As you will see, most bars that fold become other bars.  I guess it's because once you have all the bar stuff in a room, it makes sense to keep it as bar.  After Doctor Bombay's closed, around the time of the first dot-com boom (another recurring theme), it became Cama and then Double Dutch?  Or was there something else in the middle?  I can't recall.

Anyway, Doctor Bombay's was a vaguely tropical/desert mishmash inside.  There was bamboo and hieroglyphics on the wall.  Maybe some kind of fake palm trees?  It's hard to remember.  It's hard to remember because the house specialty was something called "Pixie Piss," which had a kind of Sweet N Sour candy taste and, if memory serves, was pink or red? I think?  It had a lot of spirits in it too, so the details are vague.

DB drew an eclectic crowd, typical of the Mission back then.  I do remember they had better-than-average DJs, and an especially good Britpop night.  Remember when having Britpop nights was a thing?  It wasn't a Destination Bar for me, but I was always glad to find myself there.

Doctor Bombay's probably closed around 1999-2000, somewhere in there.  RIP.
at

14 comments:

  1. KBNMarch 7, 2014 at 9:49 AM

    DB fun fact: someone had written on the mens room wall "If Turkey were to invade Iraq from behind they would need Greece". Or maybe that was the 500 Club, whatevs...

    ReplyDelete
  2. StoneyMarch 7, 2014 at 1:04 PM

    This new segment has the Stoney Seal of Approval tm.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TKMarch 7, 2014 at 2:21 PM

    KBN - I could see that being in either place.

    Stoney - I've got a list of like 25, so you're in luck.

    ReplyDelete
  4. TamagosanMarch 7, 2014 at 3:27 PM

    Ooh, this is a fine addition to New Bar Night. At first, when I read "Bars that Time Forgot", I was thinking more like timeless bars in a Terry's Lodge kind of way. But closed bars, yes, there are just a few of those around here...

    Britpop, wow... Speaking of eclectic, I used to go to a drum and bass night (circa 1999-2000) called Eklektik at 78 Minna, which I assume is no longer.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TamagosanMarch 7, 2014 at 3:27 PM

    Ooh, this is a fine addition to New Bar Night. At first, when I read "Bars that Time Forgot", I was thinking more like timeless bars in a Terry's Lodge kind of way. But closed bars, yes, there are just a few of those around here...

    Britpop, wow... Speaking of eclectic, I used to go to a drum and bass night (circa 1999-2000) called Eklektik at 78 Minna, which I assume is no longer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dancin ForeverApril 10, 2014 at 11:24 PM

      dang! I remember that 18 & up crowd - so much nrg! it was like wed night right? we used to wander over from Qool over at 111 before it got all yuppie! those were the days...

      Delete
  6. TKMarch 7, 2014 at 3:42 PM

    Oh Tam, I hate to break this to you, but Terry's Lodge closed too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. mothballsMarch 9, 2014 at 2:14 PM

    Still plenty of Britpop happening. Club Leisure, The Queen is Dead, Cool As Fuck, Love & Poison.

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  8. LauraMarch 10, 2014 at 4:58 PM

    This is great! Can I suggest the 711 club on Market, which is now a 7-11?

    ReplyDelete
  9. RachelMarch 12, 2014 at 7:59 AM

    Aw, I was just thinking about Doctor Bombay's last night as I rode the bus past Double Dutch.
    Like the new series!

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  10. TamagosanMarch 12, 2014 at 9:58 AM

    I refuse to believe this news of Terry's Lodge and will form an exploratory commission soon to investigate this matter thoroughly. I never went to Doctor Bombay's because the ID-checkers at the Albion were much more lax...

    ReplyDelete
  11. oblomov7March 13, 2014 at 10:07 PM

    Doctor Bombay's was one of my favorite bars. It played great music and I spent a fair amount of time there. I almost had a birthday party there, but good thing I checked before sending that e-mail, because oops it closed the week before. Bummer.

    By the way, after much observation while the bartender was making them, I think this is the recipe for Pixie Piss (I believe it was light green):

    1 oz vodka, 1 oz Midori, 1/2 oz triple sec, 2 oz grapefruit juice, splash(?) of Sprite, over ice.

    Excellent post.

    ReplyDelete
  12. TamagosanApril 11, 2014 at 10:20 AM

    Whoa, Qool! I never actually made it there, but used to collect all kinds of flyers and think I had one for there. OH the turn of the century...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nick MavrickMay 11, 2016 at 3:25 PM

    I worked at Dr. Bombay's 2000-2001. Even managed it for awhile. Pixie Piss was green. No triple sec. The rest sounds pretty close.

    ReplyDelete

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