SoMa’s Kinky Cafe Wicked Grounds Announces Closure | Eater SF

"At 289 8th Street in SoMa, I saw that Wicked Grounds, a combination café, fetish boutique, and kink community hub, has closed. The cozy space was known for good coffee and quirky touches like food optionally served in a dog bowl for you or your sub, and it served as a welcoming daytime hangout that hosted pre-play munches, teaching events, and Q&A sessions where new initiates could ask about everything from knots to clamps; non-kinky customers could enjoy a vanilla latte and a voyeuristic thrill. Their website announced the last full café day was January 6, with scheduled events continuing and a going-out-of-business sale (with “bargain dungeon” prices on merchandise and toys) running through the following Tuesday evening, January 9, with very limited food and drink. The team thanked Patreon subscribers, VIPs, street teams, and munch leaders for helping make a soft landing, said they would hold a play party at SF Citadel and a celebration event on January 13, and indicated the group formerly known as Wicked Grounds will continue offering KINK 101 classes, events and podcasts via the Kinky Queer Revolution Facebook page. Wicked Grounds first opened in 2009, briefly shuttered in 2011 despite a $50,000 fundraising effort, and came back in 2012; some patrons have already expressed interest in attempting to resurrect it." - Caleb Pershan