The irony is that it is right next to a family restaurant. The restaurant is surprisingly good for its location and across the street is a popular Cajun restaurant, but the Playhouse is definitely a get-your-butt-kicked kind of bar. It's not on my list of dive bars to ever visit. They used to have competition from La Tormenta for the most dangerous bar on Taft Highway, but the Kern County Sheriff's Department largely destroyed the flourishing prostitution scene a few years ago and the area has been a lot quieter. Sheriff's vehicles are a regular presence. Pumpkin Center popped up as sort of a masterplanned community in the 50s that never took off. A housing tract tried to revitalize it in the 60s, but two streets of houses were built and that was that. Over time the area because low-income white and then became all Spanish speaking. Because Bakersfield is growing rapidly, Pumpkin Center that used to be 10 miles south of Bakersfield is now essentially across the street. I've lived about 2 miles away for 30 years and it's been interesting to see the area go through its evolutions.
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