Way back in the day, a friend of mine went to San Francisco and took someone’s random advice on a dinner spot to check out AsiaSF. Despite the odd reaction from the cab driver when she and her friends told him where to take them, they went, and were quite surprised to find out that this is no ordinary bar and restaurant: AsiaSF is a drag bar.
After several failed attempts over the past few years, we finally made it to AsiaSF and can say, without a doubt, that this is no ordinary drag bar. This is the pinnacle of drag bars.
First things first, if you’re going to go to AsiaSF, you need to make reservations. We learned this the first time we attempted to go, back when we were Californians. You need to make your reservations early, so my advice is to do it as soon as you know you’ll be in San Francisco, even if that’s a few months in advance.
We arrived for our reservation and were informed that we were getting one of the best seats in the house: at the bar, right across from the stage where the girls would be performing. One of the girls who was waitressing in between her dances came over and introduced herself, and I was like a drag queen fangirl.
AsiaSF does not refer to their girls as drag queens or trannies or any of that. They call them ‘gender illusionists,’ and I have to say that this is the perfect term. If you didn’t go into the evening knowing they were formerly or maybe-still-partially men, you would never be able to tell. The pictures will say it all shortly, trust me!
The girls dance at the top of each hour, and they schedule reservations to ensure you see two shows while you’re there.
Some of the dancers did costume changes and everything! As you might have been able to guess, this girl danced to Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and changed her dress halfway through.
And since it is a bar, I have to mention the drinks. The bartenders were great mixologists, and if you check in on Yelp when you arrive, you get a free ‘specialty’ shot. Michael and I got raspberry Kamikazes, and I followed it up with a perfectly-blended cosmopolitan to go with my dinner.
Interestingly enough, the bartenders were all straight men who seemed to be working partially to have a chance to flirt with all the girls who come to the shows (they do a lot of bachelorette party business).
At one point, the guy sitting next to me at the bar started chatting with me – turns out, he was Orlando limos driver for one of the bachelorette parties that was going on that evening. It was nice to make friends with someone, because he and I had ordered totally different dinners, and we shared a little bit. Only at a drag bar!!
Speaking of the food, I should take a moment to describe how the menu works. You get a set menu based on the size of your party, so if you’re a couple or small group, you get to choose from the ‘ménage a trois’ menu: one first course, one main course, and a dessert.
We got the tamarind chicken satays and the asia-dilla as our first courses. The menu is ‘Asian fusion,’ and while we still aren’t quite sure what that means, we loved it.
This was my main course: the sansho spiced filet mignon. Those little stars are like french fries. Sooooo good! Michael got the orange lamb, which was weird to me (because it’s lamb) but still tasty. Well, he loved it, and I had my typical lamb reaction of, “Oh, that’s really good! Oh, I’m a terrible person for eating it!” You know how it goes.
This girl was our favorite of the night. She danced to “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry, and she just rocked it. All the girls have their own signature drinks on the menu that you can order as well.
And after finishing our gigantic chocolate cake dessert, it was out of the glam and back to the real world. The night wound up being quite a bit more costly than we’d expected (you tip the bartenders and the girls at the end), but it was so worth it. I think we’ll definitely be making a return trip to AsiaSF the next time we’re in San Francisco. Unless, of course, anyone wants to start our own version here in Pittsburgh!! 🙂