That prompted concern that the remaining holdouts in the Bay Area's once-bustling gay sauna and bathhouse world - San Francisco's Eros and Berkeley's Steamworks - might dry up, too. SoMa's Blow Buddies shuttered after 32 years in business, as did San Jose bathhouse Watergarden, which had been operating since 1977.īoth businesses cited the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for their closure.

Last month saw the permanent closure of two landmark Bay Area gay sex clubs.