My Favorite Corner of SF
This article is part of My Favorite Corner of SF, a feature series that pays homage to a special place in the city.
The Red Poppy Art House is, hands down, my favorite place to hear music in this city. Here, I’ve sat inches away from musicians — reminding me of some New Orleans clubs I’ve loved — who play a dazzling array of world tunes, from gypsy jazz and Balkan music to Afro-Cuban, Argentine tango, and Portuguese fado.
Nestled near Folsom and 23rd streets, the Red Poppy Art House was founded in 2003 to provide a place in the Mission to gather the community to celebrate the arts. Imagine a living room where you can sit on a red velvet sofa, armchairs, or perhaps a cozy pillow-plumped window seat amid walls splashed with vivid paintings and unique music you rarely hear in San Francisco, especially at such ridiculously low prices. A small bar is situated by the kitchen (where I sometimes work as a bartender, known for my generous wine pours), and nobody minds if you sip during a concert.
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The Red Poppy actually used to be the living room of painter Todd Brown, who once lived in the building. He and his roommate turned the room into a multidisciplinary art space, paying rent by selling art and giving tango lessons. It later became the Red Poppy House when Brown formed a partnership with Mark Eisner, a visiting scholar in Latin American studies at Stanford University, who had founded an arts nonprofit called the Red Poppy, named after a line by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Eisner had translated Neruda’s poetry, written his biography, and was working on a documentary about him at the time.
When I saw Neruda’s eccentric house, La Chascona, in Santiago, Chile, crammed with collections of seashells and antique maps a few years ago, I was fondly reminded of the Red Poppy.
I’ve been introduced to so many different types of music in this space, from Shanghai jazz to rousing New Orleans brass, from Element Brass Band (if you don’t feel like toe-tapping or swaying to their trumpet and trombone second-line sound, check your pulse: You’re probably dead) to the Redwood Tango Ensemble, a sultry, swirl of sound signature to Argentina.
The intersection of Folsom and 23rd streets is residential, but the Red Poppy is only a block over from some noteworthy businesses. Philz Coffee anchors one corner. Only a few feet away is Ritu, a modern Indian restaurant that serves street snacks like sev puri: crispy fried noodles atop a heap of chopped potato, tomato, and onions with tamarind, chile, and cilantro. Sidewalk Juice is on the other corner, and Adobe Books, a beloved used bookstore (known for its $1 bins) and gallery, is close by.
Also nearby: Taqueria Vallarta, perfect for late-night post-Poppy tacos during my lengthy waits for the infrequent 48 bus home; Wise Sons, the Jewish deli; Haus, a spacious café that serves Ritual Coffee; and Alley Cat Bookstore and Gallery, where I adopted my adorable Fluffy, a poodle-Bichon, right after moving to SF over seven years ago.
The official name for this stretch is Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, considered the heart of the Mission, home to many Latino businesses, and the start of San Francisco’s mural movement. These blocks host Dia de los Muertos, the Cesar Chavez Parade, and Carnevale, where I’ve gladly watched a parade of elaborately clad Latin American dancers representing cultures from Mexico to Nicaragua.
This area of San Francisco is overflowing with culture, and the Red Poppy is a small little room that does its part to contribute.
“The Red Poppy is a funky, intimate venue where people get up and dance by themselves to the music, a rare treasure,” said a friend, a Mission resident for years who was shocked she’d never heard of it before and has never stopped thanking me. Amen.
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