Beloved Mission Bar El Rio turning 40 with a huge party, naturally
In a city that has grown used to reading obituaries for its favorite places to eat and drink — Elbo Room and La Victoria come to mind as recent casualties — it’s not all doom and gloom. Take, for instance, the Mission District institution El Rio, which celebrates its 40th birthday this weekend. El Rio is home to any number of the city’s best queer daytime parties (Mango, Swagger Like Us and Hard French, to name just three), it hosts a weekly karaoke night dedicated to heartbreak (“Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia, anyone?) and its back room has been an important space for musicians and bands of all stripes to take the stage with relatively few hoops to jump through. To celebrate four decades, El Rio’s staff is doing what they do best and throwing a huge party on one of the best patios in town. The celebration runs all day and all night, for a whopping 12 hours, and features DJs from five of their signature parties, a who’s who of drag queens and a live set by the musician San Cha. All of this is free, though El Rio does recommend a $5 donation, which will go directly to two nonprofits, the Harm Reduction Coalition and Somos Familia. As they say on the party invite, “El Rio loves you.”
The El Rio bar in S.F.’s Mission District is known for its huge parties, like the monthly Hard French bash on its back patio. The Hard French DJs will be part of the entertainment for the 40th birthday party.