The Tonga Room, Updated

There’s nothing better to focus your direction than sitting in traffic on that boring stretch of northbound 101 near Olompali State Park well after dark being interviewed by your Grandmother. From our conversation, it seems that she has been under the impression I spend most of my days (and most nights) walking up and down Market Street with a sign, but in explaining the details of the things I’ve been finding around my beat, I actually worked out exactly what I was aiming for.

A huge issue in the Russian Hill neighborhood is housing. Given that most homes are already paid for and there are relatively few vacancies, the city’s planning department has begun motions to put in a few mid-rise housing units. I dug around some and found an environmental impact report for this which included more detailed information on locations for these new buildings, one of which is slated to go up in place of the Fairmont Hotel’s auxiliary buildings which house a number of rooms, parking, and most notably The Tonga Room, a tiki bar that holds its own within San Francisco’s history.

Naturally, I had to check this place out. It’s true; their Mai Tais will knock you flat.

So after poking around, I discovered groups to save the Tonga Room, as well as the actual historical significance report commissioned by the city. With all the documented information I need, I started to poke around more—especially to better hammer out the ‘character’ of the place. I talked to a lot of people when I visited the Tonga Room, but I’ve discovered that alcohol can make journalism very difficult—from both perspectives.

There’s that lady that always grabs your arm when she talks to you, which seems common lately. She was a great conversation because she slurred out a bunch of stories about the Gold Rush era in San Francisco (she’s an historian and museum docent in the city), which were fascinating despite the fact that it really wasn’t getting at exactly what I was trying to.

I’ve found that these conversations that happen without notebooks or recorders are really useful, though. The information about how the neighborhood came into its own during the latter 19th century was not only interesting but it shed some light onto the character of the neighborhood, which otherwise comes off as “oooh la-la”.

“Opulent” I guess would be the word.

The goal now is to talk to more substantive sources such as real estate agents, more Tonga Room bartenders and patrons (maybe the doorman; the concierges haven't been terribly helpful), and tourists. As much as the San Francisco native historian can gush about a place because it’s their own, I love talking to people who come from many thousands, or even hundreds, of miles away because that perspective is always unique.

The Tonga Room holds their happy hour nightly from 5-7 p.m. with a menu that is surprisingly affordable given how exclusive the hotel is, it's well worth the hike to Nob Hill's summit.

In the past, there have been sit-in protests during this time to save the Tonga Room, and petitions have easily amassed the proper number of signatures. The only thing left now for supporters is to convince the city.

I, of course love the place too, and therein lies the ethical issue because I could very easily become involved with this story. I just like their Mai-Tais too much.