5 Queer-Owned Businesses to Shop (and Support) in the Bay Area
By: Sasha Weilbaker
Tags: Bay Area, San Francisco, Shop Local, Friday Five, LGBTQ

Long known as the “gay capital of the world,” San Francisco — and the greater Bay Area — is home to a nearly countless amount of queer-owned businesses, whether it be the insurance company down the street or your neighborhood gay bar.

With San Francisco now in the state’s “Yellow Tier” of Covid-19 restrictions, denizens of the city are now increasingly comfortable going out and about. And with that newfound confidence (and accessibility) to explore the region’s shoring-up business landscape, there’s also now a growing opportunity to put your dollar where your ethics are.

Shop local. Shop queer. Shop sustainable.

Here’s a list of five queer-owned businesses in the Bay Area to give your hard-earned cash to in exchange for goods or services — because, fiscally speaking, the Bay Area’s small business, especially its queer ones, are far from out of the woods, yet.

Lion Dance Cafe

Photo: by Christy Wang for Lion Dance Cafe, via Instagram

I first encountered Lion Dance Cafe after meeting a friend by Lake Merritt in Oakland on a Saturday evening, after pre-ordering our meals online earlier in the week. The food photography and reviews were promising, but I still wasn’t sure what to expect. Needless to say, Lion Dance Cafe surpassed all expectations of what a classic evening of “takeout-by-the-lake” could be.

Owned by breakout culinary star C.Y. Marie Chia — whose cafe not only was voted as TBI’s best new eatery in the East Bay for 2020 but who, herself, was also deemed the breakout local chef by our readers last year—Lion Dance Cafe is a plant-based Singaporean restaurant in Downtown Oakland that opened in 2020. Previously, C.Y. Marie Chia and her partner, Shane Stanbridge founded S + M Vegan, a pop-up in Oakland.

Since its opening, Lion Dance Cafe has cultivated rave reviews from locals that keep coming back for more.

Located at 380 17th Street in Oakland, Lion Dance Cafe is open for walkup orders on Wednesday from 5–8 P.M. and preorder only on Fridays and Saturdays from 5–8 P.M., more details.

Castro Tattoo

Photo: Castro Tattoos via Instagram

Nestled in San Francisco’s The Castro District, Castro Tattoo is a lesbian-owned tattoo shop that prides itself on being “tourist, LGBTQ, and POC friendly.” The shop is owned by long-time tattoo artist, Haley Adams, and employs five other artists, each with their own unique style.

Unlike other tattoo shops, which take between forty and fifty percent of the artists’ earnings, Castro Tattoo is one of only two San Francisco tattoo shops that charge a monthly rental booth fee (which is a preferable business model for artists).

Located at 3991 17th Street in San Francisco, the tattoo shop is open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week; walkup and appointments are both taken. More info.

Bolerium Books

A San Francisco institution, Bolerium Books was founded in 1981 by John Durham and has been carrying the most radical of titles since; Bolerium describes itself as “purveyors of rare and out-of-print books, posters, and ephemera on social movements.”

The store, too, is known to sell a carefully curated selection of both new and used books for those looking to expand their knowledge of Gay and Lesbian Studies, Asian-American activism, American and International social movements, and much more, all in a variety of languages.

Located at 2141 Mission Sreet #300 in San Francisco, Bolerium Books is open on a rotation schedule out of abundant caution during the pandemic — so check their Facebook page for the most up-to-date hours. More info.

Brown Sugar Botanicals

Photo: Brown Sugar Botanicals via Instagram

Chris Wakefield and KaliMa Amilak started Brown Sugar Botanicals (BSB)— a company that sells a variety of hemp-based products — as a way to “blend traditional herbal applications with high-quality hemp” while creating a business that values supply chain inclusivity over all else. (The Oakland-based online-only company currently sells tinctures, salves, and pre-rolled CBD and Lavender products, with full transparency as to the ingredients used in each product and where each ingredient comes from.)

Brown Sugar Botanicals describes itself as a “social enterprise first,” meaning that it will not sacrifice ethics for profit and aims to support the community of Oakland as best as possible.

BSB, which currently exists as an e-commerce business, offers deliveries every Friday and Saturday to the San Francisco Bay Area; should you be outside the Bay Area, check the company’s Order FAQs to see if you’re within their range of shipping. More info.

Feelmore Adult

Photo: Feelmore Adult via Instagram

When they started selling sex toys out of their car in 2009, Feelmore founder Nenna Joiner wasn’t necessarily thinking that a brick-and-mortar store was in the business’ future. However, since 2011, Feelmore has been located next to the Fox Theatre in downtown Oakland; in January 2020, a second location was opened on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley.

Although small, Feelmore is well known for its variety of sexual wellness products, unique store presence, and a level of customer service that cannot be matched (you can even find Feelmore on *cough cough* Postmates).

When toured the space once, I had asked Joiner about the company’s interest in the community and education aspect of the sexual wellness space. They replied that they are “very interested [in the space], as we’re in business to show a healthy reflection of what being in the [sexual wellness] industry could look like.”

I can get behind that, for sure — and perhaps you can, too.

Located at 1703 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, as well as 2270 Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, Feelmore’s two shops are open most days from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; more info.