It’s still up to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control whether Another Planet Entertainment gets the liquor license they want for the Castro Theatre, but the SF Board of Supervisors recommended they do so, and we got a look at their application.
You may have once had yourself a cocktail or five at a movie screening or live event at the Castro Theatre. But the Castro Theatre never had a liquor license, and that cocktail would have been from some pop-up, folding table operation run by a third-party caterer or beverage service, as a one-off operation for that particular event.
But now that Another Planet Entertainment (APE) has taken over operations of the Castro Theatre and closed it temporarily for renovations, they’re getting down to business on acquiring a permanent liquor license for the venue. APE did win zoning approval for a second-floor bar this past October, but their liquor license application is still pending before the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
On Tuesday afternoon, the SF Board of Supervisors approved a recommendation supporting the granting of that liquor license. But they also approved several restrictions on that pending license.
Image: California ABC
Above we see APE’s pending liquor license applications for the Castro, both of which were submitted on March 14, 2024. And it’s actually two liquor license applications; one for a Type 90 general music venue liquor license, the other for a Type 68 Portable Bar license. These would allow the Castro Theatre to serve “beer, wine, and distilled spirits,” though would also allow minors on the premises while alcohol is sold. Also, the Type 68 license would allow them venue to wheel “mobile bars” into the audience seating area.
Image: SFGov
And interestingly, plans submitted with the liquor license legislation indicate APE intends to remove the ground-floor concession stand when the Castro Theatre reopens, moving the concessions upstairs entirely.
But the board did require some conditions on the license. These require that APE and the Castro Theatre “shall actively monitor the area under their control in an effort to prevent the loitering of persons on any property adjacent to the licensed premises,” and they “shall be responsible for maintaining free of litter the area adjacent to the premises over which they have control.”
The board also recommended approval for pending liquor licenses for the Mission District theater nonprofit The Lab, and a beer-and-wine license for the new-ish “grazing board” and charcuterie catering business Domaine SF.
The Castro Theatre is currently slated to reopen in the summer of 2025.
Related: Castro Theatre Now Selling Off the Seats They’re Ripping Out for Another Planet’s Renovation [SFist]
Image: Castro Theatre via Facebook
2024-05-21 23:35:29
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