For 26 years, SOMA restaurant AsiaSF served up a unique take on “dinner and a show” by offering up Asian cuisine presented by transgender female servers who weren’t just your wait staff, but also your entertainment. Long before drag brunches became such a thing, AsiaSF popularized the concept, only not with drag queens, but actual transgender women.
The long-running institution gave API and POC trans girls employment opportunities that normally would have proved difficult to acquire, especially back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was a concept similar to Lucky Cheng’s in New York City, or any number of places in Bangkok, Thailand. And it was always a fun night out.
Sadly though, when AsiaSF’s owners decided to retire in April, it left its showgirls in a lurch. But now only a couple months later, the ladies are back on stage, rebranding themselves as Dolls SF, and doing a pop-up version in the Marina on Friday and Saturday nights through August 10th.
Considering the core audience for this sort of thing seems to be a mostly non-queer crowd looking to spice things up with something a little “exotic” or different for a night out, moving this dining concept to the most notoriously heterosexual neighborhood in San Francisco perhaps isn’t a bad idea.
That said, it’s still a bit of a culture shock to step into Westwood — a popular country-western bar in the Marina — knowing you’re going to see sequin-clad Asian trans women lip-syncing diva pop songs between serving you food.
It was therefore a relief to discover that Dolls SF actually takes place in a hidden side room annex which, as evidenced by the left-over neon signage at the entrance, is the former home of themed pop-up bars dedicated to Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo. It is its own little world, and one that San Francisco is fortunate to have back.
The ladies of Dolls SF are as charming and friendly as ever, making everyone feel warm and welcome. It’s obvious they’re grateful for the opportunity to perform again and these hard-working showgirls definitely put in their all.
The 3-course dinner is no longer Asian-inspired but has instead been replaced by heartier, Italian-inspired fare. And while I’m no restaurant critic, we had no complaints about our salad or fried pickle starter, nor the seafood linguini main courses. They also have vegetarian options for each course as well.
But let’s face it: Nobody is really here for the food. The dinner has always played second fiddle to the main attraction, which is the show. The women of Dolls SF have got their “va-va-voom” down, complete with sparkly costumes, sexy moves, and an alluring stage presence, performing two sets of numbers throughout the meal.
My only complain is that the show could very much use an emcee, not only to announce the name of each performer, but also to hype up the crowd between acts. The silent pregnant pauses between numbers were a bit awkward, but could easily be fixed by having a hype girl on stage with a microphone. Still, this is a small quibble for a show that was obviously still figuring out how best to adapt to its new location.
Dolls SF is only running for seven more weekends, so unless the show gets extended, so don’t sleep on getting a taste — literally — of this unique piece of queer San Francisco culture that deserves to maintain its legacy.
Dolls SF takes place every Friday and Saturday night at 6 PM and 8 PM at Westwood, 2036 Lombard Street, San Francisco, CA 94123. Tickets start at $29. https://bucketlisters.com/experience/dolls-sf
Adriana Roberts is a DJ and performer with her Bootie Mashup parties, as well as a writer and trans influencer.
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