This bar offers Mezcal in the redwoods in a changing NorCal town – SFGATE

Today, Guerneville is known for hosting Lazy Bear Week and Women’s Weekend Russian River, along with other major events in Northern California’s LGBTQ community. 

But like many vacation destinations in California, rising housing costs are threatening Guernville’s unique way of life. The median home cost in Guerneville is now $654,849, according to Zillow, a 100% increase since 2013. These sky-rocketing housing costs — a result of short-term rentals, a more moneyed class of tourist (including wealthy LGBTQ vacationers) and relocated remote workers — present changes and challenges. 

The desire to embrace these changes — while not losing what makes Guerneville unique — comes to a head at El Barrio, a tequila and mezcal bar serving craft cocktails in the heart of downtown.

“People are worried about losing the LGBT aspect of it. And some people are worried about gentrification, that [Guerneville] is going to become like Healdsburg,” said El Barrio owner Jimmy Kansau, referencing another Sonoma County town that is known for its extremely wealthy tourists.

El Barrio was originally started by celebrity-chef Crista Luedtke, who operates a number of high-end properties in Guerneville. So ubiquitous are Luedtke’s projects in Guerneville that she is often referred to as the town’s unofficial mayor. Kansau bought and took over El Barrio from Luedtke about a year ago — in part to keep it from becoming a sports bar — and has made some changes, while trying to maintain what has made the bar a favorite with out-of-towners and locals alike. 

The cantina offers over a dozen specialty cocktails, mezcal tastings and beer and wine on tap in a small but stunningly decorated bar. Kansau created much of the art that adorns the bar’s walls himself, and the bathroom — which features a hand-painted black-and white toilet — lives up to its must-see reputation.

The bar offers traditional drinks like Moscow Mules and Manhattans, but mixologist Jodi Harwood is working on revamping the cocktail menu. She is particularly proud of a creation called the El Nopal, a spin on a Mezcal margarita with Prickly Pear, Gran Marnier, agave and topped with a habanero black salt rim. The El Patron, a sort of Old Fashioned with mezcal, is another favorite.

El Barrio is preparing to debut a new drink that will feature watermelon and habanero-infused tequila, though Harwood warns that the habanero flavor is not just a flourish. The drink is legitimately spicy, and not for the faint of heart.
 
A menu of Latin-American-influenced bar snacks, including chips and guacamole and tacos, complement the craft cocktails. Everything is tasty, but the cod ceviche makes the trip worthwhile by itself.

A small town in the redwoods, roughly 2,600 miles north of Oaxaca, may not seem like a natural fit for a mezcal bar. But Guerneville’s resort atmosphere plays into the growing popularity of the spirit.

“I think people equate mezcal and tequila and all those drinks to vacation,” said Kansau. This is to the bar’s advantage, because no business in Guerneville could survive without the region’s tourism industry.

But El Barrio staff are making a concerted effort to reach out to locals as well. They’ve started instituting Locals Nights and offering friends-and-family discounts for other service industry professionals. The program is evidently working, with many neighboring restaurants’ waiters and bartenders coming to El Barrio after their shifts. 

In one instance, the manager of another local establishment came to El Barrio after the passing of his mother. Kansau shut down the bar to let the man grieve in peace.

On that note, Harwood, the mixologist, noted that she often feels like a therapist when she’s tending bar at El Barrio. 

“Everybody just loves to unleash when they come to the bar and have a drink, and then they have another drink, and then they’re really letting you know what’s going on in their life,” Harwood said. 

The camaraderie between establishments was echoed at nearby Rainbow Cattle Company. 

“Oh, we love them! What a beautiful space,” said Rainbow Cattle Company regular Tom (he didn’t want to include his last name), when asked about El Barrio. Rainbow Cattle Company, which sits just three doors down, is an historic gay dive bar that was established in 1979. While there were once 15 gay bars in the Guerneville area, the Rainbow, as it is known, is one of just three left. 

Despite being thrilled with El Barrio, Tom did mention how housing has become an issue, and some point to the types of tourists that El Barrio caters to as a reason for sky-rocketing housing costs. 

“We actually need low-income housing or we can’t have workers. But we don’t need un-homed people,” Tom said. Like the Bay Area, the soaring costs of housing, coupled with the opioid crisis, has increased the unhoused population in Guerneville.

The rise in short-term rental properties affects people who are fortunate enough to own a house as well. 

“I hear from people that, on the weekends, they want to decompress, but they’ve got an Airbnb frat house on both sides,” said Lee Liverock, a Rainbow regular who has lived in Guerneville since 1986. “That’s no way to live.” 

El Barrio and Rainbow Cattle Company sit on the north side of Guerneville’s main street, River Road, and if you don’t think the side of the street matters, you haven’t spent much time in Guerneville. McT’s Bullpen, a saloon on the south side River Road, serves a noticeably different clientele. 

“There is a big joke in Guerneville if you’re a local. You are currently on the Guern-Tucky side. The other side is Guern-Vegas. Guern-Vegas is everything glittery and gay-tasticle. And then you have this side of town.” said McT patron Jennifer Laducca, who has lived in town since the mid-2000s. 

Not to suggest that the crowd at McT’s has anything against the gay culture on the other side of town: The bar proudly waves a rainbow flag outside its entrance. But there is no denying the palpable difference that crossing River Road makes.

The influx of new money and new people, and the way such folk tend to gravitate to places like El Barrio, did rub some of the locals at McT’s the wrong way. 

Laducca said she had been the general manager and bartender of another restaurant in town, but she was unable to keep up with El Barrio’s offerings. She added that Luedtke’s “unofficial mayor” moniker bothered some locals, because a different person held that title before Luedtke came to town.

Despite these frustrations, every Guerneville resident I spoke agreed that in the face of the recent influx of cash and new people, Guerneville remains an incredibly supportive place that hasn’t lost its small town vibe. 

“People really do still look out for one another as if it were an actual community,” Tom from the Rainbow said, before stopping to reconsider his wording. “And it really is [a community] — it’s not ‘as if.’”

If that support is demonstrated with a mezcal margarita on Locals Night, then all the better for El Barrio.