Jahaziel Garay, the new owner of the shuttered Beauty Bar, said he plans to reopen the dancing and drinking hangout at 19th and Mission streets by the end of the year.
Established in 1998, the nightlife staple closed its doors in April, after its previous owners sold the business.
The closure was abrupt, and caught bar staff off guard: A sign was put up over the weekend in mid-April announcing a “facelift.” Even the bar manager at the time, Anthony Alvarado, heard the news from someone else.
But around May, another sign was put up on the Beauty Bar doors, saying “reports of our demise are greatly exaggerated.”
“When you are 25 years old like we are, one needs an occasional nip & tuck,” the sign read. “A more beautiful Beauty Bar is coming this fall!”
That promise, although not fulfilled on time, might come true soon.
Garay, an immigrant from Mexico who’s currently a bartender at Harper & Rye and Peacekeeper, has worked in the industry for the past 15 years.
“I know what we are missing in the area,” Garay said. “Good neighborhood bars, and also not too expensive.”
A few years ago, he started going to Beauty Bar and had fun; like many others who enjoy the sweaty dance floor, Garay knew “it was a place to go dancing.”
The new owner will keep the dancing on the weekends, but there are things he wants to change. Before the sale, Garay scouted the bar and didn’t feel safe there; that will be his No.1 priority, he said.
Just a week before its closure in April, shots were fired outside Beauty Bar on a Friday night, leaving a fist-size hole in the bar’s window.
When asked about his plan to make the bar safer, Garay admitted it’s a challenge. Having more police presence would be an obvious safety boost, the owner said, but he also said Beauty Bar’s stretch of Mission Street “doesn’t get that much police attention.”
“We don’t have support from the city,” he said.
For his part, Garay said he will hire more security guards and talk to neighbors and local businesses, too, to ask for more support from the city. “We have to be loud, and talk, and get together,” he said.
He will also change up the music. The type of hip-hop music that was played before, he said, “brings one specific crowd.” Garay hasn’t decided what kind of music he will play instead, but the bars he currently works at have examples, he says, of good playlists.
Garay submitted a liquor license transfer application in July, with a positive recommendation from the Planning Department. The new owner expects to hear back from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in another month.
Once that happens, he said will paint the place, change things like the DJ booth, and “make it cute” — and, last but not least, clean the bathroom, he added.
The goal? “Make it more like a neighborhood bar, more approachable for everybody,” Garay said. “And make it safe.”
Having worked in the industry for a long time, opening a bar of his own is Garay’s passion. And, no matter the safety issues, for some, Beauty Bar is still a neighborhood institution.
“I want to take the challenge,” Garay said. If the effort eventually fails, he said, he wants to know that at least he tried.
Last time I was at Beauty Bar a woman got knocked out by a man after she confronted him for groping her. Never going back
Wow! Jazzy is a great bartender! I’m sure he will turn it around. This will be a hot spot again soon.