![one pair of hands elvis presley karaoke one pair of hands elvis presley karaoke](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9gSBe2rzdL0/maxresdefault.jpg)
![one pair of hands elvis presley karaoke one pair of hands elvis presley karaoke](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91wSVDZu5AL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
It opened its doors in 1960, seven years after President Dwight D. More than that, though, The Caliph, for nearly six decades, bore witness to the evolution of the gay rights movement - its highs and its lows. “It was,” she added, “the safest little haven on Fifth Avenue.” And that was The Caliph - it’s inclusive.” “Bars like The Caliph have been a place where people in the gay community could be themselves - a place where you wouldn’t even be looked at twice. “As a straight woman who’s been able to perform there all these years, it’s always been a special place for me,” said Carey, who has clocked 12 years singing on Friday nights with pianist Kevin McCully. That, entertainer Ria Carey said, has been a big part of The Caliph’s appeal. “It’s the kind of place,” he said, “where people really know your name.” Troy Davis, 57, of El Cajon has been a longtime patron - since the late 1970s. “When I bought the place,” he said, “I always wanted it to be all-inclusive - gay, straight, transgender, young, old, men, women. Owning the bar, Mendoza said, wasn’t always easy, but there was one thing that’s kept him going all these years: the people. Some nights, there are just three of us here, and on other nights, you can barely move around.” ‘Open to everyone’ It’s like a show, and we’re the characters. And you never know what you’re going to get from one night to the next. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)įor Bankers Hill resident and Wednesday regular James Stephens, 60, The Caliph is special - a bar like no other: “It’s like a 1960s bar without the smoke. But the building, which has multiple tenants, sits on a nearly half-acre piece of land that’s being marketed as part of a five-parcel deal - a “rare opportunity to acquire a mixed-use development opportunity … just a short walk from Balboa Park.” Listing agent Daniel Fefferman of the La Jolla-based brokerage firm The Lipschitz Group confirmed that the land, on the market for $9.7 million, is in escrow.īefore leaving, Geoff Buen, left, and Brett Granfield take a photo in front of the Caliph piano bar. But they wanted to wait until the lease ended.”Įfforts to contact the owners or the leasing company - Siner Real Estate - were unsuccessful. “They inherited the properties, and they wanted to sell. “They’ve been very good to me,” he said of the owners, recorded officially as the Lillian A. His 15-year lease isn’t going to be renewed, Mendoza said, and the building’s current owners have decided to sell. Even during the hardest times, when the economy wasn’t doing so well, we remained open and persevered.” “At the same time, I realize that it did have a long run - 58 years. “There’s no doubt that it saddens me,” said Mendoza, who bought the intimate Bankers Hill bar in 2003.