Slide Press Coverage

“A blast from the past — More like posh, old-style bars than dance venues, the city's newest nightclubs are packing them in. Speakeasy-themed Slide was San Francisco's first retro-ultralounge, with no cover charge but a dress-to-impress policy and a bit more room to dance than the other spots.”

“San Francisco — Despite ominous sounds emanating recently from Wall Street, the mood in the Bay Area is exuberant – almost as if the dot-com crash were but a distant bad dream. Venture capital is once again flowing as freely as top-shelf vodka at a Web 2.0 launch party. Where to See and Be Seen: Slide, an unmarked club near the Clift Hotel, is partially owned by Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams.”

“Slide is built on the site of a Prohibition-era speakeasy, whose only entrance was an actual slide that led customers below street level. The slide still stands (cowards can use the stairs), but it now leads to a swank retro lounge. One of the most intriguing aspects of San Francisco's recent resurgence has been the appearance of several speakeasies – bars modeled on the Prohibition-era establishments famous for their bootleg liquor and enticing illegality. Newly opened Slide is perhaps the most popular and swankiest of these. Built on the site of an actual speakeasy, Slide reflects its owner's desire to bring the history of San Francisco into a nightclub atmosphere.”

“Subterranean Glam — Slide – The name is not figurative; You're invited to whoosh down an actual slide to make your grand entrance into this elegant speakeasy. That term isn't figurative, either – the space was an actual purveyor of spirits during the Prohibition era, Art deco design eiements throughout pay homage to the space's history, with lots of mahogany, period-style light fixtures, and a backlit honey-onyx bar that creates a luminescent work of art next to the dance floor.”

“Raising the Bar — A new crop of designer nightspots shakes up SF — A few blocks away, in the basement of a historic 1895 building next door to sister club Ruby Skye, is the newer of the next-generation speakeasies, Slide, which opened in September. Installed in a space that first housed a theater and then, briefly, a real speakeasy, the lounge pays homage to the clandestine dubs of SF'S past, with one conspicuous twist: a serpentine slide of mabogany and metal that allows barefoot denizens to make a slick entrance into the subterranean bar, located 15 feet below street level. Slide whispers of bygone elegance. Past the foyer, where a massive Art Nouveau-style mirror hangs above a gilded settee, a raised lounge with high-backed sofas and mahogany tables feels like an updated gentlemen's club, complete with a Wurlitzer baby grand piano.”

“The speakeasy theme has started to take on a new life. With the opening of Slide, secret passwords, doors and guest lists will once again become vogue, circa the 1920s. This actual legendary Prohibition-era speakeasy known for many years as Café Dan's, has been transformed to its original hidden sub-culture of nightlife. Off the lobby entrance, a serpentine slide lets you enter the underworld club lounge of Art Deco-designed interiors. An authentic baby grand piano has been stylized into a modern dj system to fit in with the décor. Dig through your grandfather's attic, find his old soft wool Fedora, and start your own generation of "secrets just below the surface."”

“Speakeasies resurface — The new breed of retro-style drinking clubs mix the allure of insider privilege with some seriously good cocktailing. After a $2 million-plus restoration, the old speakeasy next to Ruby Skye – where guests during Prohibition entered via a hidden slide – has been resurrected as a lounge called, you guessed it, Slide.”

“Slide — This historic speakeasy turned ritzy lounge, complete with baby grand piano, features a real slide (although there are stairs for the less adventurous) to really get the party started.”