Red’s Place, Billed as Chinatown’s Oldest Bar, Is Closing Over $500K in Required Upgrades

Red’s Place, the small bar at Jackson Street and Grant Avenue that bills itself as “the oldest bar in Chinatown,” is closing, owner Jerry Chan says.

Chan first planned to shut the doors at the end of October. He later told SFGATE he hopes to push the closing into December so his staff can keep working. He said he will post the official closing date on Red’s social media pages.

Why it’s closing

Chan told NBC Bay Area that his commercial insurer sent a letter in early October requiring mandatory upgrades, from plumbing to structural fixes. “It costs a lot, and it’s beyond our means,” he said.

Chan doesn’t own the building. He told SFGATE the property owner had also told him the bar needs to meet ADA rules. That would mean a wider entrance and an accessible bathroom, which he said would take up half the room. With basement work added, he put the total cost at about $500,000.

Decades on Jackson Street

The bar’s own history dates its opening to around the early 1960s, but it may be older. SFGATE found a 1938 ad in the San Francisco Call Bulletin for Red’s Place promising “We Serve Your Favorite Cocktail,” along with Chinese barbecue pork and spare ribs.

Chan’s parents, Herman and Lisa Chan, bought the bar in 1990. Chan took over in 2010, when his mother was ill. Red’s is best known as the place to be for the Lunar New Year firecracker celebrations on the street outside.

District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter told SFGATE he was “gutted” by the news. He said he had offered to help, but Chan said the cost of the work was “just not doable.” Chan told NBC Bay Area he plans to keep the bar’s furniture and signs.