Black Cat Bar - Beats and Bohemians

Beats and Bohemians

With the repeal of Prohibition, the Black Cat re-opened in 1933 at 710 Montgomery Street, again under Ridley's proprietorship. Sol Stoumen bought the bar in the 1940s. In the early years of Stoumen's ownership, the Black Cat was a center for the bohemian and Beat crowd. William Saroyan and John Steinbeck were known to frequent the establishment, and part of Jack Kerouac's seminal Beat novel On the Road is set in the bar.