A boisterous group of boozers and cocktail connoisseurs crowded into the Gold Dust Lounge on Saturday to quaff cheap drinks and rail against the building owners who want to close down the famous drinking establishment in favor of a clothing chain.

While the bar's lease was up Saturday, there was no court order to evict or efforts by the building owners to padlock the doors, according to sources from both sides of the battle.

The "No Last Call" party was a chance for bar patrons to collectively thumb their noses at Jon Handlery, whose hotelier family owns the building kitty-corner to Union Square and several others nearby, including the Handlery Hotel.

Supporters stood shoulder to shoulder inside and then spilled out onto the sidewalk.

In December, the Handlery family exercised a clause in the Gold Dust lease giving the 47-year-old bar three months to clear out, but the octogenarian owners, Jim and Tasios Bovis, are refusing to leave.

"Nobody tells us when to retire," Jim told friends after he got notice of his eviction. It was the start of a movement that supporters have likened to a struggle for the soul of the city.

"This is a fight to keep the spirit of San Francisco alive," declared Jim's son, Nick Bovis, who runs the family's other bar, Lefty O'Doul's, around the corner. "It's like David and Goliath, but if you don't stand up for what you believe in, you might as well lay down and die."

Plight strikes a chord

The plight of the Gold Dust has struck a chord in San Francisco, where old-school bars and grills seem to be closing down on a regular basis so that chains and hipster establishments peddling fruity drinks can move in.

"We don't need another store," said Pat Curren, who had a coveted seat at the bar with her husband, Kevan Curren, Saturday afternoon.

They said they've been coming to the Gold Dust for 18 years.

"We've only lived here for 18 years," Kevan Curren said, his beer glass nearly empty on the bar.

The issue is particularly touchy downtown, where the sultry saloons, strip joints and savory and not so savory amusements that once lined Powell Street have steadily disappeared over the years. True or not, there is a perception in some city circles that corporate stooges are busily wiping out San Francisco's colorful bacchanal traditions and turning everything retail vanilla.

The Handlery plan is to allow Express, a retail apparel chain with 14 outlets in the Bay Area, to move into the 1908 Elkan Gunst Building, an Art Deco edifice that they own. Express insisted on leasing the entire building, so Handlery Hotels Inc. exercised its option to terminate the Gold Dust and Weinstein Gallery leases. The Gold Dust was given 90 days to vacate.

Patrons, politicians and pundits leapt into the fray. Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown lamented in his Chronicle column of the jettisoning of "a piece of San Francisco."

Bar habitues started a Facebook page that now has 4,000 friends. Two websites are rallying the troops, and a "Save the Gold Dust" song has been recorded.

The Bovis family petitioned the city for landmark status, saying cocktails have been served there to many famous people, including former Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, actor Steve McQueen and rock star Janis Joplin. A lawsuit has been filed by the Bovis familyaccusing Handlery of, among other things, breach of contract and elder abuse for allegedly tricking the brothers into signing a lease that gave away their rights.

Historical value questioned

The Handlerys have fought back through spokesman Sam Singer, who defended the lease agreement, scoffed at the bar's landmark claims, questioned its historical record and suggested the joint was little more than a dolled-up dive.

"Just because they claim that Janis Joplin once vomited there doesn't make it historic," cracked Singer, who threatened a lawsuit if the Bovis brothers don't move out. "There is nothing particularly special about this bar other than the fact that a lot of people feel strongly about it."

The dispute has recently gotten rather ugly, with Singer accusing supporters of the lounge of defacing employee bathrooms at the Handlery Hotel with graffiti.

It is undoubtedly a sad state of affairs, especially considering the relationship that once existed between the Bovis and Handlery families.

Jim Bovis, who emigrated from Greece to the United States when he was 19, bought the bar in December 1965, and leased the space in the building from the Handlery family. Jim, now 80, said he dealt almost exclusively with the family patriarch, Paul Handlery, an honorable man for whom a handshake was as good as a contract.

Jon Handlery said his father created the bar and brought in the Bovis family because he didn't want to run it.

Drinking spot since 1918

The 1,100-square-foot space has been a drinking establishment since 1918, when it was the Techau Tavern. It was purportedly a gin joint during Prohibition that was raided several times. It remained a saloon under different names and owners during and after World War II and became Bustles & Beaus in 1960, a burlesque spot that the Bovis family said Bing Crosby once had a stake in, a claim that Singer dismissed as false.

When Jim Bovis took over, there was a gold-plated pole for fun-loving ladies and a painting on the ceiling with semi-naked nymphs and cherubs, a feature that exists today. Jim's brother Tasios, who is 82, bought into the bar a few years after his brother opened the doors.

The place is a throwback, with a large mahogany bar, oak and brass doors, brass light fixtures, mirrors, murals and red tufted chairs that give the place a velvety boudoir look. The old-style marquee outside, complete with a ring of lightbulbs, says the place has been there since 1933, a claim that history seems to contradict.

Despite claims to the contrary, however, there isn't much about the bar that could actually be termed historic. It doesn't have the history of old San Francisco establishments like Tadich Grill, John's Grill or the Buena Vista Cafe.

A tourist favorite

And while it has its loyal regulars, it is often crowded mostly with tourists. Still, the Gold Dust, which features live music seven nights a week, has been a hot spot for nearly half a century.

Jim Bovis said he tried to throw out a ragged-looking Joplin when she first came in the 1960s, but the rock star persuaded him to let her stay, playing her own tunes on the jukebox and unfolding a roll of bills. She came in every time she was in San Francisco after that, ordering her signature Southern Comfort on the rocks, once singing with her band at the bar, he said.

Steve McQueen and quarterback Johnny Unitas were customers, and fitness guru Jack LaLanne went on weekend benders at the bar, Bovis said. Mayors from George Christopher to Willie Brown were regulars. Even the king of Sweden came for three nights, Bovis said.

The Gold Dust is a regular stop for baseball umpires before and after Giants games. Herb Caen liked the lounge's double vodkas on the rocks with a twist so much that he declared it the "last of the authentic night capperies."

What makes the place, though, are the regular folk.

"I like the old school style of it," said Michael Lewis, a 31-year-old maintenance technician from Richmond who comes in about twice a month. "You can't go anywhere these days that doesn't have the stamp of 2012. Coming here, it's like you are going back to Prohibition. It's got that speakeasy feel to it. You get that good old feeling of what alcohol-drinking people are all about."

The unquestioned popularity of the place is one of the reasons the eviction notice from Jon Handlery was so shocking. The Bovis family insists Jon's father, Paul, never would have done such a thing, but in his old age, they say, he has turned the business over to corporate lawyers and bean counters.

Singer argued that the Bovis brothers were told about plans for the building years ago and should have been prepared.

"The Bovis signed a lease that had an early termination clause several times in the past seven years," Singer said. "Never once in the last seven years did they come to the Handlery family asking for additional space or another space in a Handlery building. The Bovis family never even looked to move, and now they are mounting a factually challenged campaign to keep the Gold Dust Lounge."

Lawyers negotiating

Lawyers for the two sides are negotiating, but there appears to be little progress. San Francisco supervisors, meanwhile, are looking into legislation to save the beloved drinkery.

The issue, said Supervisor Christina Olague, is not whether this single bar is worth saving, but whether the historic integrity and culture of the downtown area should be preserved.

"The Gold Dust is a place where people can go and enjoy live entertainment, have a drink, relax and enjoy a piece of old San Francisco," Olague said. "This is part of the character and personality of San Francisco - the heart and soul of the city. There isn't a lot of the historic fabric left in that area, and we shouldn't just let it dwindle away."

Chronicle staff writer Jill Tucker contributed to this report. Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer, pfimrite@sfchronicle.com