Signage for Town Bar & Lounge at 2001 Broadway in Oakland has been up for quite some time, and it finally looks like we’ll soon get to check out what’s in store. Owner Joshua Huynh anticipates opening this fall.
Huynh is opening Town Bar & Lounge with the help of his brother-slash-business partner and their dad, who is the chief contractor in this years-long build out process. Ever since taking on this endeavor a couple years ago, the Huynhs have seen setback after setback, but have never given up.
This will be the first time there will be a bar in the historic I. Magnin, a 1930s-era art deco building that has been completely transformed to incorporate this bar and lounge. As the finishing touches are done on the buildout, Huynh is finalizing the cocktail menu and hopes to incorporate food as well.
As a former bartender in San Francisco’s Castro District, this will be Huynh’s first experience as a bar owner. “I realized that the best times in my life were in the Castro, being myself, being gay and free,” he told Oaklandside recently. “I would love to make a quote unquote Castro of Oakland, where people flow from bar to bar all night, a real gay scene right here in Oakland.”
For more information, visit townbarandlounge.com and visit @townbarandlounge on Instagram for updates.
