From the outside, you would never know it’s a restaurant. A neon yellow sign against a matte black facade reads “Money Loaned.” The M and L flicker, trying to stay lit. Vintage objects, from miniature cable cars to sun-faded DVDs to a rotary phone, are on display in the windows. Inside, shelves are crowded. It looks like a pawn shop — and it was one for about 50 years. But after you pawn something to get inside, one of the most unique dinner experiences in San Francisco awaits, with an extra, NC-17-rated cabaret performance for those looking to stay past dinner.
“We want to keep San Francisco weird,” co-owner Michael Anthony Levitt told SFGATE in a phone interview. “So much of that was lost, especially after the pandemic. But at our little corner of Sixth and Mission, we try to bring it back.”
Located at 993 Mission St. in SF’s SoMa, the 7-year-old speakeasy the Pawn Shop is a restaurant that likes to party. Each time new guests arrive, everyone already eating dinner cheers them on and waiters spray bubbles from a bubble machine. On any given night, you might experience a conga line of 20 or more people dancing through the dining room. It’s the kind of place where spirited conversation and meeting your table neighbors is encouraged. Yes, there are Spanish tapas and craft cocktails amid an art deco-meets-Havana decor. But it’s the eccentricity of the atmosphere, one that hearkens back to the “anything goes vibe of old San Francisco,” as Levitt put it, that makes the Pawn Shop a night to remember.
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The exterior of the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The interior of the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Co-owner Michael Anthony Levitt lets customers know to cheer new customers arriving at the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The Pawn Shop is most fun when you go along with the schtick. Upon entering, you’ll be greeted by the “pawn master.” They know the secret code to get you past the hidden door to your dinner table. To get in, I pawned a small cookbook, titled “Feed the Resistance: Recipes + Ideas for Getting Involved,” by Julia Turshen. I had two copies, after all.
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“Oh, your favorite book! What a lovely gift,” said the pawn master, who went by the name Riona. “In return, I shall gift you my favorite book.”
Riona reached onto a bookshelf and pulled out “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham. I think it was meant to be a joke, but given that I was about to make a big life change and leave my job, it seems prophetic looking back on it, rather than random.
A small boy sitting below the glass-cased counter, who turned out to be the son of co-owner Damien Chabaud-Arnault, said he wanted me to have his favorite wand and handed me a piece of wire that was shaped into a flower at the end. Two for the price of one? I was feeling pretty good about this whole pawning situation.
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Next, it was Riona’s time to shine.
A couple on a prom date are cheered when they enter the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The Ensalada de Bruselas, with brussel sprouts, page mandarin, pistachios and pear dressing at the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
“Just bear with me, the code is a little complicated but I should be able to turn this wall into a door,” she said.
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She honked a plastic chicken, struck some chords on a mini harp and tapped some buttons on an old keyboard. Then she kicked open a wall that was lined with tchotchkes to reveal the dining room. “Welcome to the Pawn Shop,” she said.
Pork rillettes and false walls
Levitt and Chabaud-Arnault opened the Pawn Shop in 2019. The two industry veterans are part of the Monarch Management Group, which also operates the Great Northern and Monarch nightclubs. The original idea was to have everything at the pawn shop be for sale. They would then donate the money earned to charity every month, Levitt explained. However, that never caught on. The bartering method of today did work, which helped them keep the idea of leaving the front of the space looking like a pawn shop.
“I mean, since we opened Monarch around 15 years ago, we’ve always had our eye on that space,” Levitt said. “We kept asking ourselves, ‘When is their lease gonna be up?’ We always had that concept in mind to be something really fun.”
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To this day, people walk by and try to pawn stuff, thinking it’s still a working shop, Levitt added. It should be noted that for a restaurant where small bites range from $8 to $17 and larger plates run between $17 and $33, the Pawn Shop is in an area rife with economic hardship. In 2019, SFWeekly called it “economic-desperation cosplay.”
For Levitt and Chabaud-Arnault, they feel they are bringing new life to the area that they have been building up for the past seven years.
“What we’ve been doing throughout that corner is basically taking, you know, existing businesses that were there and revitalizing them, like in a homage to the neighborhood,” Levitt said. “You know, like, ‘Hey, we’re still keeping some of the energy of that.’”
New customers are greeted with cheers and bubbles at the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The Tortilla Espanola, a Spanish omelet, with creme fraiche, smoked trout roe, potato chip dust and chive at the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The menu was always going to be built around tapas, as Chabaud-Arnault grew up in Southern France near the Spanish border and also owned another Spanish restaurant called Beso, which closed in early 2019. On offer were a classic Spanish tortilla topped with creme fraiche and trout roe, and gambas al ajillo in a red oil that was spiked with sherry vinegar. Then there was the tremendous rillettes of shredded pork shaped into a rectangle with honey mustard, rhubarb relish and caramelized apples, for which the sugar heated over the apple slices created a crunch akin to crème brulée.
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Besides the food, Levitt and Chabaud-Arnault knew they had to make the place stand out. There was no better way to do that than to create a secret passage that led to their nightclub Monarch, right next door, but also to 200 Channels, the cabaret theater “where exotic creatures come to life and fantasy dances with reality.”
As my group and I finished up several other standout dishes, like the tender pulpo powdered in Aleppo chile with earthy asparagus and fava beans, Levitt led us to a false wall and walked us toward 200 Channels.
But first, we were greeted by a cheetah.
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“Are you ready for an experience unlike any other?” she said. We rubbed our fingers on a velvet door and roared along with her. “Welcome to Exotica.”
A customer is visible in the two-way mirror at the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The interior dining space at the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
A Venus flytrap that sings
Exotica is an interactive cabaret show where the dancers perform in different animal costumes throughout the night and encourage audience participation. Built inside a former adult bookstore called Liberty Books, it takes place in a gigantic space decorated with fake vines and trees to create a jungle-like atmosphere.
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The creative director of 200 Channels, Madam Vee, grabbed the microphone and started the show dressed in a custom leopard print costume with 10 layers of different color tulle fabric.
“In here, we are untamed and ready to put on a spectacle unlike any other,” the creative director said. “Now please put away your cellphones, my lovelies. Let’s get dirty.”
Throughout the nearly two-hour show, incredible performance art was on full display. Pink jaguars did a choreographed dance around the tables. A Venus flytrap sang “Glory Box” by British trip-hop group Portishead. An inflatable hippo stripped and danced erotically on a throne. Plus, there was an audience participation portion we weren’t allowed to take pictures of or talk about. But trust me when I say that alone is worth the price of admission, especially if your friend joins the act.
A performer from the Exotica cabaret show at 200 Channels makes their way through the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Performers take part in the Exotica cabaret show at 200 Channels, which is right next door to the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Performers take part in the Exotica cabaret show at 200 Channels, which is right next door to the Pawn Shop, a hidden speakeasy restaurant at Sixth and Mission, San Francisco, on April 24, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
“We want the experience to be shrouded in mystery before you walk in, but when you go home, it’s like you have to tell all of your friends what you just witnessed,” Levitt said of the show.
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As we left, I did feel like I had to tell all of my friends about my one-of-a-kind night. I had never been to a restaurant in San Francisco built on the foundation of having fun above all. And I couldn’t help but fixate on the powerful words that Levitt shared with the crowd at Exotica, which he also echoed in our interview.
“Please, people. Let’s keep San Francisco weird,” he said, to thunderous applause.
The Pawn Shop, 993 Mission St., San Francisco. Open Tuesday through Thursday, 5-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 5-10 p.m.
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