The Mini Adult Theatre

96 Golden Gate Ave. | map |

Opened: The Mini Adult Theatre burst on the scene in 1970 in the storefront on the northeast corner of Golden Gate Ave. and Jones St. That's the building on the right that would later be home to the theatre. 

On the left we're looking north on Jones St. Down the block to the right is the Golden Gate Theatre. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this c.1953 photo from his collection. He comments:

"This peek at the site was during one of its periods 'at liberty,' as we say in show business. Apparently what was later Oreste's restaurant was known as Bruno's at this time. It was a popular upscale dining and drinking establishment favored by the people who worked Film Row, which was what Golden Gate Ave. was all about in those days.

"The cable car was the Jones St. shuttle, which only ran five blocks, from O'Farrell to Market, in order to provide passengers from the Jones St. line (which turned East on O'Farrell to Grant Ave.) access to the 7th & Market area, and no doubt to the Paramount and United Artists Theatres, as well as the Embassy and Strand which were less than a block away. Once Muni took over the former California Street Railroad Line in 1952, cable car service on the Jones St. shuttle was abandoned in February 1954, and on O'Farrell Street in April 1954. Yes, I made a point of riding this car to the Round-Up Theatre in 1946-1947."

 

Earlier the corner storefront had been occupied by Hollywood Tailors. The awning has their name on it in a 1949 photo looking north on Jones that's on the Open SF History Project website. Thanks to Peter Field for spotting it.  

 

 

An August 13, 1970 Chronicle ad advertising the theatre's opening attraction, "Gone with the Wind." But the Hollywood film policy soon changed. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the ad. He comments:

"To the people of the mainstream movie theatre community, it was all pretty much of a joke, a bad joke. City fathers and mothers, appalled at the proliferation of X-Rated 'Adult' film venues, became reluctant to grant licenses to about-to-open operations, for fear the situation would only get worse, which, of course it continued to do for the next few years.

"So the entrepreneurs of the virgin Mini Adult, perilously located on the NE corner of Golden Gate and Jones, only a block from the venerable Golden Gate Theatre, and practically across the street from the traditional Catholic long established St. Boniface's Church, convinced City Hall that theirs would be a 'downtown family theatre' offering only the best of carefully selected mainstream entertainment that mom, pop & all the kids could enjoy at their leisure.

"What better proof of the pudding could there be than to choose 'Gone With the Wind' (in 16mm) as their opening attraction for their 'All New Luxurious' venue. So they stuck it out for a month, just to make it look good, but nobody showed up, as you might guess, and by September it was Tudor Taylor's 'One for the Money,' and the die was cast."

In a September 10, 1970 ad the offering was "One For The Money." They also advised "No One Under 18."  Thanks to Jack Tillmany for the ad.

Robert Campbell visited the establishment: 

"Went in there once, when you walked into the auditorium you faced the audience so going in there discreetly was impossible lol."

Peter Field advises that the theatre is listed in city directories from 1971 through 1982 and phone books from 1971 through 1986. Louis Almasi was listed as running the business in the 1976 directory.

The Mini Adult experience was described by SF Weekly writer Jack Boulware on page 110 of 'San Francisco Bizarro,' his 2010 book of collected earlier articles: 

"The Tenderloin scuzz-pit known as the Mini Adult Theater will transport you back in time to a genre in its infancy, and your best porn bargain in the city. Five bucks gets you three 16mm films, playing on a wall in rotation, changing Tuesdays and Saturdays . . . You’ll also get the man in the baseball cap, pacing up and down the aisle, saying, 'Male or female, man, come on!' A stream of people may wander in and out of the restroom, avoiding eye contact. Your experience may include the rattling of bottles, the acrid stench of pot and crack, or a woman behind you yelling, 'Well take it out of your pants, mutha...!'"  

Thanks to Peter for finding the passage. 

Closing: The Mini Adult evidently closed sometime prior to 2001. It was implied that the theatre was gone by then in a March 2008 Central City Extra article that was located by Peter Field.  

Status: The building survives. The corner space was vacant in 2017. It was still vacant in 2022. 

 

Earlier history of the corner: In the 19th century, a three-story frame building sat on the lot, listed as a lodging house in the city directories from 1879 through 1905. The Open SF History Project has an 1890s photo looking up from Market. The corner property was owned by the Lowth estate according to an 1886 Alta real estate item. Thanks to Peter Field for the research. 

 

 

This May 1964 photo from the San Francisco Public Library's Assessor's Office Negative Collection shows the Golden Gate side of the building before the Mini Adult arrived. Thanks to Peter Field for locating the photo. He comments: 

"The photo shows the Oreste restaurant in the corner space with Riley's Health Club upstairs. The Open SF History Project has a 1965 photo looking across the back of the Paramount toward the corner of Golden Gate and Jones. In that photo there's both this Oreste sign on the corner and also an Oreste's vertical sign (formerly saying 'Bruno's') around on the Jones St. restaurant building. The business had obviously expanded into the corner building for a time."

 

"Original Tijuana Stags." It's a 1971 Bill Koska photo from the San Francisco Public Library collection. Thanks to Peter Field for locating it. He calls our attention to the barker in a suit and sunglasses standing in the entrance.

 

An undated photo taken by Tom Gray. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for sharing this from his collection. He notes: "ACTION! Says it all."

Peter Field comments about the building: 

"A September 20, 1977 Examiner expose of conditions in the Tenderloin reported the business owner as one Mark Johnson of Pacifica and the property owner as the Jack Ben Sen Association. In 1986, a controversial homeless shelter operation called the U. S. Mission moved into the space above the theater and almost immediately started taking heat from the Tenderloin Times for its practice of charging homeless people for beds by requiring them to solicit donations door to door in suburban communities which they were bused to and from by the Mission."

A December 1986 photo by Lance Woodruff that appeared in the Tenderloin Times with the caption "Clients of the U.S. Mission board busses for the suburbs where they will solicit door-to-door for funds."

An April 1989 Ron Holladay photo showing the theatre. It appeared in the Tenderloin Times with this headline and copy: 

"Homeless Latinos Allege Police Harassment - San Francisco police officers are accused of isolating homeless Latinos for I.D. checks near the corner of Jones and Golden Gate. Police say they are responding to an increase in crime in the area." 

Thanks to Peter Field for finding the photo. He comments:

"In 2006, I saw the corner storefront space was occupied by a clothing sewing business staffed by Asians. I looked through the closed gate one day and noted 'Joe Piccinini Lounge' in the tile on the floor at the entrance to the corner storefront though I’ve been unable to find it in the city directories. However, Piccinini was listed as the owner of Oreste’s restaurant when it was listed in the building on Jones Street next door to the corner building, from 1957 through 1973."

A 2010 photo taken by Peter Field.

A photo of Mona Caron’s mural on the building "Windows Into the Tenderloin" that appeared in the April 2010 issue of the Central City Extra. Thanks to Peter Field for the photo. He notes that the completion was celebrated on March 5, 2010 and he was one of the speakers, having been one of the historical consultants for the project. The corner storefront was vacant at the time.

On the right looking down Golden Gate Ave. toward the Golden Gate Theatre and Market St. beyond. Photo: Google Maps - 2017

More information:  Thanks to Peter Field for the research on this location. For a fine history of the neighborhood see his 2018 Arcadia Publishing book "The Tenderloin District of San Francisco Through Time." It's available through Amazon.  

Jack Tillmany's Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres of San Francisco" can be previewed on Google Books. It's available from Amazon or your local bookseller.   

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