By Theo Miller

History The Golden Gate Theatre opened in 1922. Men had to wear top hats and women had to wear formal gowns. It started out as a vaudevillian venue. It later turned into a major movie theater. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that it became a performing arts venue once again. The venue features a sign that stretches four stories high up into the sky. Location The Golden Gate Theatre is located at 1 Taylor Street in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. The district has been known for high crime rates, but also features some historical monuments. It’s called the Tenderloin because its boundaries form a triangle. It’s also home to the EXIT Theatre and the Fringe Festival. Parking The closest parking can be found at Turk and Taylor. There is another lot at Golden Gate and Jones. Street parking is limited and the meters run till 6pm everyday except for Sunday. Lots are highly recommended in this neighborhood. Dining There are remarkable restaurants in the area. The Cheesecake Factory has very scenic views that look out onto Union Square. Just ride the elevator all the way up to the top of the Macy’s building on Geary. The Lark Creek Steak provides free dessert for patrons of theater. Make sure to present your ticket stub. Prime steaks and fresh vegetable go into all of their food. Asia de Cuba has the same offer. It only applies to one per table though. Asian-Latin cuisine is the style of cuisine. The décor is supposed to be really incredible too. The Colibri offers free dessert to theater patrons also. It’s billed as Mexican cuisine in a cantina setting. The interior of the restaurant is reminiscent of Mexico in the early 1900’s. The Grand Café offers French-California food. A free appetizer comes with the presentation of a ticket stub. Old Europe style is crossed with art deco and art nouveau in this stylish restaurant. Urban Tavern offers complimentary parking when you order from their pre-theater menu. Five hours of parking, wine, and a three course dinner are generously provided when you dine at Urban Tavern before going to see a show. Everything is made with sustainable practices and is 100% organic. It’s like eating pub food, but with really high quality ingredients. First Crush will give you a complimentary dessert with every entrée you order. Show them your ticket stub, before or after the show, to take advantage of this offer. American French cuisine has never tasted so good! They also have four hundred wines to enjoy, while you eat your meal. There’s a set menu that involves three courses. It’s worth checking out. Present your ticket stub at Ponzu to get a free dessert. Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai all find their way into this delectable cuisine. Every table gets a free appetizer when you show Fish & Farm your ticket stub. Their cooking is best described as quintessentially American. Just two block away from the Orpheum, you can present you ticket stub to get a free dessert at Soluna. Along with their amazing bar selections, Soluna has cuisine that represents Northern California well. A ticket stub can get you a free dessert when you order a meal at Zazil. This is a great place for anybody that loves Mexican food. You can find Zazil in the Westfield San Francisco Center. Every table is given a free appetizer when oyu present a tickect stub at Puccini and Pinetti. Whether you want salads, pizza cooked in wood burning ovens, panini sandwiches, high quality meats, fresh seafood, or extravagant desserts P & P has got you covered. Shows Spamalot, Annie, South Pacific, and A Bronx Tale are all productions that have been staged at The Golden Gate Theatre. In 2005, Billy Crystal starred in 700 Sundays. SHN/Broadway The premier theatrical entertainment company in San Francisco is SHN. Their Best of Broadway allows the San Francisco people to attend major Broadway shows they would otherwise never get a chance to see. The Orpheum Theatre, The Curran, and The Golden Gate Theatre are all run by SHN. Shorenstein Hays Nederlander are the “S” the “H” and the “N” that make up SHN. It refers to Shorenstein Hays and James Nederlander. There’s no explanation as to why Nederlander didn’t get a “J” in there. These historic venues provide a connection to all the extravagant spectacle available on Broadway. Concerts, original productions, events, and West Coast premieres are all available through SHN. In an age when entertainment is available through your desktop computer, it’s admirable to think of the level of commitment it must take to be a purveyor of theater. It’s one thing to support theatre, but to make it available to an entire city of people is something else. Technology will never rule the world as long as these people are around.