San Francisco - Alison Bing [156]
Cafe Van Kleef Bebop, jazz, R&B, rock, funk – you name it, it plays in this narrow bar full of junky collectibles.
Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse An all-ages, alcohol-free coffeehouse and performance venue for traditional, regional and ethnic music.
Paramount Theatre A gorgeous deco theater featuring everything from the symphony to big-name comedy and rock acts such as Morrissey.
Stork Club Punk, funk, rockabilly and reggae are showcased here.
Uptown You can converse at the 30ft-long mahogany bar, or slip into the adjoining room for the full sound experience of blues, folk or metal.
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SALSA & SWING
Salsa clubs enforce dress codes. Designer jeans are fine, but wear good shoes (never tennies) and a sexy top, or you won’t get in. High heels and skimpy dresses guarantee admission. For swing, also consider Wednesdays at Savanna Jazz.
CAFE COCOMO Map
415-824-6910; www.cafecocomo.com; 650 Indiana St; admission $10-15; 7pm-midnight Mon, 6pm-midnight Thu, 6pm-2am Sat; 22
Hundreds fill the dance floor on Thursday and Saturday nights, when big bands play muy caliente Cocomo, a cavernous space with a mezzanine overlooking the dance-floor action and a big patio garden outside. Mondays are quieter, when there’s no band, but those who come dance hard. Lessons precede parties.
CLUB HAVANA AT JELLY’S Map
415-495-3099; www.jellyscafe.com; 295 Terry Francois St, Pier 50; admission $10; 4-9:30pm Sun; T
Down on the docks, this club is the other Sunday spot for live-band salsa (El Rio, Click here, is our top choice), but be warned: if you can’t salsa, you’ll be snubbed on Jelly’s crowded floor. Console yourself with Cuban barbecue and mojitos on the bay-front patio.
ROCCAPULCO SUPPER CLUB
Map
415-648-6611; www.roccapulco.com; 3140 Mission St; admission $10-15; 8pm-2am; 14, 26; 24th St Mission
Get your salsa and merengue on at this high-ceilinged, stadium-sized Latino fave that books fantastic touring acts like El Grupo Niche. This is a straight bar, full of musk and hormones, and single women may feel overwhelmed: come with a group.
STARLIGHT ROOM
Map
415-395-8595; www.harrydenton.com; 21st fl, 450 Powell St; cover varies, often free; 8:30pm-2am Tue-Sat; & Powell St; Powell-Mason, Powell-Hyde
Views are mesmerizing from the 21st floor of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, where khaki-clad tourists and bimbo blondes let down their hair and dance to live bands on weekends and DJs on weekdays. Safe space for tipsy dorks and conservative parents – except on Sundays, when there’s a kooky drag-show brunch (make reservations).
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LOUNGES
111 MINNA Map
415-974-1719; www.111minnagallery.com; 111 Minna St; admission $5-15, free Tue; hrs vary; 10, 14; & Montgomery St
Window-lined gallery by day, rockin’ lounge space and bar by night, 111 Minna hosts a wild array of events, from monthly free Sketch Tuesdays, when artists make work for sale to the audience, to SF’s best techno-dance party Qoöl, to live acoustic performances and disco-house nights. Best of all, you can look in the windows and see if it’s your scene. Check the calendar.
ANU Map
415-543-3505; www.anu-bar.com; 43 6th St; admission free; 5pm-2am Tue-Fri, 7pm-2am Sat; & Powell St
Funky-cool Anu draws a local crowd of techno-lovers, who crowd the tiny dance floor. But for its DJ music, which drifts into drum-and-bass and occasionally house, it’s just a shotgun bar with a cool crowd. Wednesdays’ party, Satellite, packs the joint when Qoöl lets out.
HARLOT Map
415-777-1077; www.harlotsf.com; 46 Minna St; admission free 5-9pm Wed-Fri, $10-20 otherwise; 5pm-2am Wed-Fri, 9pm-2am Sat; & Montgomery St
Back when SoMa was the stomping ground of sailors, alleys were named for working girls, to whom Harlot pays homage. Velvet curtains glow purple under intense red lighting, rendering the brick-walled space a sort of goth-erotic-chic vampire’s den. Before 9pm it’s a lounge, after