Bimbo's 365 Club
| Bimbo's 365 Club | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1931 |
| Street address | 1025 Columbus Avenue |
| City | San Francisco |
| State | California |
| Postal/ZIP code | 94133 |
| Country | United States |
| Seating capacity | 475 (dinner seating) 685 (theater-style seating) |
| Website | www.bimbos365club.com |
Bimbo's 365 Club, also known as Bimbo's 365, is an entertainment club located at 1025 Columbus Avenue in San Francisco. It specializes in live rock and jazz shows. The location is one of San Francisco's oldest nightclub sites, and has operated under two names with a series of owners. The building started as Bal Tabarin in 1931, the same year that the 365 Club started at 365 Market Street. The two locations under separate ownership consolidated in 1951 to one location owned by Agostino "Bimbo" Giuntoli.
Giuntoli was born and raised in Tuscany, Italy; and, in 1922 at the age of 19, he began to work his way to San Francisco. He labored as a janitor at the Palace Hotel and then as a cook nearby, where Monk Young, the young cook's boss, was unable to pronounce his name. Young called him bimbo instead, Italian for "boy", and the nickname stuck.
The 365 Club began in 1931 as a speakeasy and after-hours gambling club, located at 365 Market Street in San Francisco, owned by Young and managed by Giuntoli. It soon became the most popular illicit drinking establishment in town. Musical artists and dancers showcased their work, including a young Rita Hayworth dancing in the chorus line. An optical illusion achieved by mirrors made the large fish tank above the bar appear to have a nude woman swimming in it. Bar patrons marveled at Dolfina, "the Girl in the Fishbowl".
In 1950, "Bimbo" Giuntoli, by that time sole owner of the 365 Club, arranged to purchase 1025 Columbus Avenue and transfer his operation there.
The Columbus Avenue site was originally known as the Bal Tabarin, a nightclub that featured big band music and a multi-act floor show including a line of dancing showgirls. Restaurateur and businessman Bob Grison partnered with popular bandleader Tom Gerun (born Gerunovitch) and Frank Martinelli, manager of a nightclub called the Roof Garden, to establish a nightclub in 1930. In 1931, in anticipation of the repeal of Prohibition in the United States, architect Timothy L. Pflueger was contracted to create for the nightclub a stage for live music and dance shows, and a comfortable and sophisticated cocktail bar atmosphere—unusual for the day, as most bars were not decorated to appeal to women. The bar itself was implemented in the Moderne style later called Art Deco. The stage design used Pflueger's patented indirect lighting hidden behind curved strips of decorative metal. The color coming from behind the façade could be changed smoothly from one hue to another. Two years later, with alcohol bans officially lifted nationwide, the Bal Tabarin was issued California's first new liquor license, and in 1934 Pflueger gave the nightclub a quick renovation. The popularity of the club netted for Pflueger a series of contracts to design cocktail lounges for prominent hotels in San Francisco.
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