Historic Polk Street Gay Bar The Cinch Gets New Owner Who Vows Not to Change Much

The article was originally published on https://sfist.com/2025/06/04/historic-polk-street-gay-bar-the-cinch-gets-new-owner-who-vows-not-to-change-much/The second-oldest continually operating queer bar in San Francisco, Polk Street's The Cinch Saloon, is getting a new lease on life following the death of one of its longtime owners two years ago. The Cinch Saloon, with its vaguely Western aesthetic — which, in recent years in the rear half anyway was given over to a Star Wars Cantina-inspired vibe — dates back to 1974, and holds the distinction of being the city's second-oldest continually operating gay bar after Twin Peaks in the Castro. (The Stud is technically older, having been established in 1965, but it's moved twice since then and took four years off before reopening last year at 1123