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Connecticut Yankee
Odd choice of name, because Fritz, the owner, has a whole shrine inside this neighborhood joint devoted to the Red Sox. Sit up at the old wood bar and you'll know everyone by name before you finish your pint of Full Sail Ale. Live music on weekends, a sunny patio and decent pub grub attracts pleasant, hardworking ex-hippies.
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Curran Theater
The big spectaculars - like the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals - show at the Curran, which opened in 1922 with Broadway-style opulence and crystal chandeliers all around. Avoid the balcony seats if possible, which are cramped with limited legroom.
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Dance Along Nutcracker
The Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band does the Nutcracker Suite, alongside tutu and fairy-wand rentals, a costumed Sousa band and an audience of Sugar Plum wannabes. It's held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on the first weekend in December. Look for the popular 'lipstick thespian' Trauma Flintstone among the cast members.
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Davies Symphony Hall
Anytime there's Beethoven, Berlioz or experimental half-tone music on the bill, this is the only place to be in town. Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas leads the musicians as though his baton is electrically charged, building the drama to the brink of cacophony before its soaring, swirling finish. Get tickets in advance, or chance a matinee anytime September to May.
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Deco Lounge
It's always a party at this indecorous dive bar, where the all-male clientele rocks into the wee hours. Theme nights alternate between disco queen extravaganzas and shirtless bear parades, and cheap drink specials embolden patrons for the naughty contests and amateur strip nights.
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Dna Lounge
Two floors of late-night dance action just seedy enough to be interesting. Hit the better bar upstairs before last call, and resign yourself to hovering over mysteriously seatless toilets. 'Bootie' mash-up nights are one 'oh no they didn't' after another, mixing hip-hop and metal with the requisite amount of cheesy pop to keep it absurdly danceable.
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Doc's Clock
The dazzling sign over the entrance to Doc's Clock is a bona fide attention grabber, even on neon-happy Mission St. This is one of the district's more relaxed dives and is never a bad place to duck into for a few pints and a game of shuffleboard, plus it's quiet enough for conversation. Tuesday nights feature musical performances and around US$1 draft PBR to crowds (still) wearing trucker hats.
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Dogpatch Saloon
Cantankerous Annie used to flip burgers here in the thirties, and her impressive kitchen range hood still presides over the bar. Now, jumpin' jazz on weekend nights and Sunday afternoons lures locals and visiting friends of all ages, enlivening what may otherwise seem a desolate, industrial stretch of warehouses.
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Dolce
This is honey-pie heaven for the successful and slavishly fashionable. It's colorful, modern and expensive-looking, but if the smell of money doesn't excite you, the booty shakin' here ought to do the trick. Guys, unbutton those shirts a bit; girls, be prepared to flash some belly button. Get here early on weekends to avoid waiting in line.
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Eagle Tavern
Even if you identify with leather more as a shoe material than a modus operandi, there's room for you among the leather daddies in the Eagle's back patio. Sunday afternoons it's a tight squeeze, with local politicians making the scene to get in good with the gay/trans community - SF's version of kissing babies. Drink-for-a-cause nights keep you coming back for more.
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Edinburgh Castle
This is the town's finest monument to find a drink, complete with dart boards, pool tables, rock bands, literary readings and locals acting out (as is our habit). Photos of bagpipers, the Trainspotting soundtrack on the jukebox and a service delivering vinegary fish and chips in newspaper are all the Scottish authenticity you could ask for, short of haggis .
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El Rio
World music, punk, electronic grooves and salsa are all on the turntable here, sometimes all on the same night. El Rio likes its music and its patrons eclectic, free-form funky and pansexual whenever possible. The club quite rightly boasts about the back garden, its 'Totally Fabulous Happy Hour' from to Tuesday to Friday, and free oysters on the half shell on Fridays at .
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Elbo Room
Funny name, because there isn't much to speak of in the upstairs stage area on show nights. The club draws a hugely diverse crowd - the New York Times calls it 'a Benetton ad coming to life' - and puts on an equally wide range of acts, including rockabilly, salsa and reggae. The calendar is especially strong on jazz, funk and soul, but come before the show if you want to take advantage of around US$2 pints between and .
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Embarcadero Center Cinema
Blockbusters do nothing for the cinephile crowds at Embarcadero - the lines here are probably for the latest Amoldovar film or critically acclaimed South African documentary. The snack bar caters to discerning tastes with Caffe Trieste coffee, Fair Trade chocolate and popcorn with real butter. Spoiler alert: aficionado audiences discuss reviews before and after films.
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Exit Theater
Broadway is a world away from SF, and at the Exit they like it that way. Experimental theater in this tiny venue offers an essential escape from the musical-and-melodrama treadmill, and the mass exodus from the norm heads here yearly for the annual San Francisco Fringe Festival.
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Ez5
Celebrating? EZ5 is, perpetually, with tinsel and Happy New Year signs dangling from the ceiling well into March, an ever-turning disco ball, and '80s-ish cherry-red plastic seating. The bartenders here are notoriously surly well before the happy hour crowds descend at , and have a bizarre tendency to sneak maraschino cherries into whatever you order. On the upside: They have Ms. Pac Man.
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Farley's
Retro American all the way, down to the whitewashed slat-board walls and soda-shop-style counter. Farley's is the unofficial gathering place on Potrero Hill, with a big community news-board and bookstore-caliber magazine selection. Neighbors while away whole afternoons at the sunny sidewalk tables, and there's even acoustic guitar-harmonica moments. Check out the collection of vintage telephones.
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Fillmore Auditorium
There's no way to say, 'Yeah, I saw that at the Fillmore' without sounding like you're bragging. The Fillmore shows big acts in a relatively small 1250-seat setting, where you can squeeze in next to the stage if you're polite about it. The eclectic calendar runs the gamut from big-name rock concerts to punk shows to wild wrestling matches. Upstairs, see psychedelic rock history unfold in all its Day-Glo glory in the Fillmore's poster art gallery.
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Fireside
On cold and misty Inner Sunset nights, the Fireside is often so warm its divided saloon doors are thrown wide open. Inside, all chairs gravitate toward the retro red glass-brick fireplace. Loud groups of gay and straight neighborhood friends get comfy over cheap draughts until they're kicked out or want to use the bathroom (best avoided here).
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Fluid Ultra Lounge
If you're curious to know just what is meant by 'ultra lounge,' swing on by. This SoMa club dazzles with a light-up floor and designer chairs and couches that seem to require expensive clothing for anyone thinking of sitting on them. The allure seems to work on 30-something professionals. Gracious service helps slightly overpriced drinks go down easy.
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Four Star Theater
Long before John Woo, Ang Li, and Wong Kar Wai hit multiplex marquees, they brought down the house in the Four Star's postage-stamp-sized screening rooms. This diminutive cinema is still the audience testing ground for emerging Hong Kong and Taiwan cinema, and shows art-house double features to a discerning few at a time.
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Fuse
When you enter this sleek blue room you'll feel like you're in an underwater viewing room at Sea World. On a quiet weeknight, such atmosphere makes this a suitable place in which to get tanked. On weekends, they string velvet ropes onto the sidewalk, and the crowds and attitude can spoil an otherwise cool spot.
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Gestalt Haus
Post breakup with girlfriend-slash-coffee shop partner, Anthony said to hell with the coffee and created a guy's dream bar: bikes, brats and beer. With amazingly cheap but great beers sold by the pint or liter(!), tasty organic sausages, two-tiered bike racks and a dog-friendly rec area, the bike messengers and bulldogs aren't complaining.
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Gold Dust Lounge
Precarious bent brass chandeliers hover over a barful of city visitors and a twangy rockabilly band at this Union Square anachronism, where the gold paint has lost some of its glitter and pints are no longer cheap. However, there's something of a time-machine effect in the swinging doors, coat stands and nude paintings - you almost expect someone to beckon you to a brothel upstairs.
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Harry's Bar
Botox, schmotox: cap off a visit to neighborhood day spas with Harry's raspberry-mango mojitos and frown lines are history. Opera season ticket-holders troll the mahogany bar, flogging their tickets to young men planning benefit soirees while wolfing down burgers and fries.
