Facing pushback from some, Eli’s Mile High Club will reopen on Friday with COVID rules in effect. Bring your card.
"I really didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal," Agan said. "I didn't think people would get that upset."
'Eli's Mile High Club deals with pushback over entry policy — SF GATE 5/20/21
...By Agan's account, the staff is entirely behind the move to ask for vaccine cards and do contact tracing; they are all "community minded," Agan said, and were "hypervigilant" about getting vaccinated as soon as they were eligible.
"The government is not mandating you to go have a beer at Eli's — there's plenty of great, awesome places right around [here] that are not doing what we're doing," Agan said. "I am just personally am freaked out by [COVID-19]. I don't want my staff hurt, I have immune-compromised people on staff, I have a family I've got to worry about. But I've got a business I gotta run; I gotta make money, so I gotta balance these things out. It just seemed like an opportunity to be, like, 'Hey, vaccinated-only for a while' and we'll make everyone kind of feel safe. We're still following every sort of county protocol, as far as safety, inside."
Here’s a little more on this wonderful dive, written during lockdown.
After Five Decades of Shows, Eli’s Mile High Club Keeps the Party Going on Patreon — KQED 2/18/21
...big names like Etta James and James Brown performed there too. And it was the Rolling Stones’ preferred post-concert hangout when they were on tour. Legend has it that the Stones were once turned away at the door. (There weren’t very many white customers at the time, and the bouncer didn’t believe them when they told him who they were.)
Good for them. Can’t wait to have a drink in a Deplorable Vector-free zone!