Truly Transplendent: 5 Facts About AsiaSF

Since Larry Hashbarger and Skip Young opened AsiaSF in 1998, it has been a staple in fun, unique, San Francisco dining and entertainment. The gorgeous and talented performers, called the Ladies of Asia, are strong transgender women who delight and captivate audiences with world class lip-synch/cabaret showstoppers 5 days a week. Whether celebrating a bachelorette party, birthday party, bar mitzvah, divorce party, girls night, or maybe you’re just having a really good hair day and you want to go somewhere fun, AsiaSF is the place for an unforgettable dinner show experience. For a little amuse bouche of the fun to be had, here are 5 Facts About AsiaSF.

1. Let Them Entertain You

The Ladies of AsiaSF perform their jaw dropping lip synch/cabaret style routines 5 nights a week atop the dangerously named red dragon runway. You’ll enjoy everything from old school Motown standards, to the latest and greatest pop diva selections of today. Throw in a broadway number here, a little Madonna there, add in special effects, props, water, fire (yes, fire) and you’re guaranteed to find something that’ll tickle your fancy.

*Insider tip: sit at the bar for a front row view of all the action. Get placed in the “hot seat” and you might just become part of the show!

2. The Real Showgirls of San Francisco

The Ladies of AsiaSF are currently in the middle of filming the second season of their FUSE docu-series “Transcendent.” The show follows performers Bambiana, Bionka, Nya, and Xristina as they navigate through life as a transgender women and performers as well as newcomer LA’s  journey to start her gender transition and become a full fledged “Lady of Asia.” Follow these divas with hearts of gold and buns of steel, as they share their stories of love, loss, experiencing hardships and coming out the other side stronger, smarter, and more fabulous.

3. Let Your Breast Friend Pay

For just the cost of your over the shoulder boulder holder, you and your entire party can receive free shots as well as leave a lasting impression at the downstairs bar of AsiaSF. Ladies (or gentleman, or however you’d like to be identified) who surrender their bras (the one you’re wearing, you can’t cheat and bring an extra) get a free shot of the day as well as the opportunity to have their bra hang above the heads of the hardworking AsiaSF bartenders until the end of time, or until there’s too many bras.

4. Bailando

AsiaSF isn’t just a place where you and your bachelorette party can drink though penis straws while watching incredibly beautiful women in a world class production, it’s also home to one of San Francisco’s most popular Latin clubs. On Sunday nights starting at 7pm, the downstairs bar turns into Club Azul, a place where you can get your salsa, merengue, bachata on until the wee hours of the morning.

5. Fierce Philanthropy

A huge mission of AsiaSF is giving back and supporting the transgender community, and everyone on the LGBTQIA spectrum (hopefully you find yourself on there, they don’t have any room for more letters). Through donations and sponsorships, AsiaSF works with foundations like the SF AIDS/Lifecycle foundation, GLAAD, Project Open Hand, and many more. Veteran AsiaSF performer, and fan favorite, Tita Aida is an award winning activist and advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness in San Francisco. Through her work with the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center and TRANS:THRIVE, she has played a huge role in educating and de-stigmatizing HIV/AIDS in the Bay Area since the 1990s. Plus her Lady of Asia act has fire in it.