The Triple Door

a modern version of Bimbo’s in North Beach. I saw the 1927 Murnau film “Sunrise” there with live music by The Album Leaf. It was awesome!

I saw Arisawkadoria here and they were smashing; we had pretty good seats and I can’t say much bad about the Triple Door. Except for one tip: if you show up early-ish to get good seats, stay in your seats and don’t wander down to the Alibi Room if you want to keep those seats.

They were celebrating some kind of anniversary for the restaurant, I can’t remember how many years, and they gave us free champagne and there were people dressed up in carnival gear—like Venician clowns, you know what I’m talking about? And the food is great. I almost always get a special cause the specials are killer.

They put millions into this place, and it shows. The room is big but the capacity relatively small, meaning that most of the audience has abundant room and their own booth in which to enjoy the show. The waitstaff is attendant, carrying high-tech hand-held contraptions which they use to take and deliver orders quickly and correctly. The Triple Door shoots for an upper-middle age and upper-middle class demographic – the dinner show set – so it’s not a venue I visit regularly. Think Jazz, Adult Contemporary, World, and Folk. When the right show comes through, it’s a great venue, but watch out: the hand-held contraptions the waitstaff uses to orchestrate the delivery of such delicious food and drinks are actually highly efficient money extraction machines.

Not only is the Mainstage performance space simply amazing, the menu and wine lists are spectacular. We saw Vienna Teng there in November 2005 and it was the most memorable live music performance I’ve ever witnessed.