Harvey's will always hold a special place in my heart.
In December 1999, when I made my first trip to San Francisco with two friends, I had only been out for a few months and had never in my life been to a gay bar before. So, on my second night in San Francisco, the three of us hit the Castro. The first bar we stopped in (of many that night) was Harvey's, a nice looking bar with large windows situated on the corner of Castro and another street. For the next two or three hours, we drank, snacked on curly fries, and participated in the bar's trivia game (our team, the "Houston Hustlers", barely missed coming in third and winning a prize). It was great fun, and, since then, every trip I make to San Francisco, I make a point of visiting Harvey's for a couple of drinks and to reminisce about my first trip there.
Harvey's is a quaint little neighborhood place. It doesn't draw the huge crowds, but provides a nice, welcoming atmosphere for a mostly gay male clientele to chat with friends or a date over drinks. There is a decent selection of beers and a menu of specialty drinks. Harvey's also serves a limited menu of burgers, sandwiches, and other pub food, which is nothing special but generally good. Music and videos are shown most of the time, but there are special events, such as trivia, on various nights of the week. Most customers in the bar on my four visits there have been with a date or friends, but there are usually a few single guys hanging out at the bar. The large picture windows on both sides of the bar, along with its strategic corner location, make for great people watching; the tables by the windows along Castro St. offer great glimpses into the thriving gay and lesbian community here. Overall, this little bar in "The Heart of the Castro" (as Harvey's proclaims on its menus) is a fun place and worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood.
- Harvey's is named after Harvey Milk, the first openly gay city supervisor in San Francisco. Milk owned a photography shop nearby on Castro Street and, along with Mayor George Muscone, was assassinated inside City Hall by City Supervisor Dan White in 1978. The case is famous for the outrageous nature of the crime - White's acquittal, based on the infamous "twinkie defense," and the city's gay community protesting the unjust verdict.
Muni Public Transportation Routes:
- Bus: nos. 24, 33, 35, 37
- Muni Metro: F Market/Wharves (historic streetcars at street level on Market); K Ingleside, L Taraval, M Oceanview (light rail in the tunnel below Market Street; exit at the Castro Station).
- For schedules and routes, see the Muni website.