Skip to main content
Arts & Entertainment

Sex Ed and Coffee: San Francisco’s Wicked Grounds Closes Cafe

Written by Astrid KanePublished Jun. 28, 2023 • 12:31pm
SoMa's kink-friendly cafe Wicked Grounds is winding down its physical operations after a decade. | Courtesy Miriam Green

San Francisco’s only cafe and education space serving the kink community has shuttered its brick-and-mortar space to become an online-only, Patreon-supported enterprise.

A well-known LGBTQ-owned business in the city’s historically queer western SoMa neighborhood, Wicked Grounds is inside the footprint of the LEATHER and LGBTQ+ Cultural District and just outside the perimeter of the annual Folsom Street Fair.

Its mission of “Kink Education. Everywhere” has been a linchpin of the local revival of fetish culture, and for more than a decade, Wicked Grounds had been a place for LGBTQ+ to gather, drink lattes, host discussion groups and play board games—like many cafes, only with a slightly greater likelihood that some patrons might be wearing leather puppy masks. 

Over the years, it expanded to include sexual workshops in its upstairs space and online, and its booth was a regular presence at street fairs. The announcement of its closure came quietly last week, just as the city was gearing up to celebrate Pride Weekend. 

“This is not the end. It is just a moment of transition,” a sign posted on the window said. “We will continue to teach locally and on the road, and to bring kink education to local organizations and events.”

Owner Mir Bilodeau told The Standard that Wicked Grounds had nine events scheduled for the coming week alone, and it was simply time to adapt.

“We are transforming so that we can become what we really are,” they said. “There are a lot of places in the world to get coffee, but we are leaders in BDSM education—not just in San Francisco, but worldwide now.” 

Wicked Grounds has long been a regular presence at street fairs, like the Folsom Street Fair. | Courtesy Miriam Green

Still, the loss of a physical space that has hosted memorials and been the site of marriage proposals is significant for SoMa. In spite of its thriving bars, large-scale festivals and historic preservation efforts, the neighborhood has seen a steady loss of LGBTQ-owned businesses. 

Across SoMa, business closures have accelerated recently, from Whole Foods on Market Street to the Mexican-Chinese restaurant HRD, which wound down operations after seven decades on Third Street. 

With more than 900 Patreon sponsors, Bilodeau hopes its network of support may be enough to sustain the business’s next incarnation. Previously, Wicked Grounds had made fundraising appeals to the Bay Area’s LGBTQ+ community, in hopes to keep the cafe open.

This time is different, partly because SoMa has seen less foot traffic and Wicked Grounds’ core supporters are so geographically diffuse.

“Our main job is to be kink concierges,” Bilodeau said. “Selling coffee was a means to that end.”

Astrid Kane can be reached at astrid@sfstandard.com


A white temple made of granite and topped with gold decorations sits in a tropical clearing.

How a Spectacular Hindu Temple in Hawaii Began as a Dream in San Francisco


A composite image of two posters that are featured in the “Art on Market Street” series that include comics of visual artist Ruth Asawa standing behind one of her wires structures, left, and fashion designer Kaisik Wong sitting behind his sewing machine, right.

Comics Highlight Asian American Artists on San Francisco’s Market Street


A costumed man and woman stand in front of a step-and-repeat.

‘Star Wars,’ ‘Lord of the Rings’ Fans Pack San Francisco Sci-Fi Convention: Photos


Couples dance while clad in Victorian era clothing at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair.

Great Dickens Christmas Fair Returns to Cow Palace After Boycott


A man in a tan jacket and brown fedora stands beside a woman with a scarf draped over her shoulders.

San Francisco Jazz Club Owner Leaves Storied Legacy Behind in the Fillmore