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Theater Artaud
Trooping across this stage are local, national and international theater, music and dance troupes. Acts have ranged from a world premiere noir thriller to a multimedia celebration of Iranian literary arts. Behind the scenes, the Artaud is a live-work space that started up in 1972, way before the concept became common. Although a highly successful operation, it's one of the city's most adventurous houses. (They really like gettin' naked here.)
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Theatre Rhinoceros
By turns edgy, bawdy, serious and experimental, plays at the Rhino put out impressive sets and acting. Despite being a small, no-frills studio, it's the nation's longest-running GLBT theater company. During intermission, wander out to your right and check out the colorful labor union murals.
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Tonga Room
Tonight's San Francisco weather: foggy, about 50°F, with a 100% chance of tropical rainstorms every 20 minutes on the lower level of the Fairmont Hotel. Don't worry, it only falls around the band playing on the island in the middle of the indoor pool, so you're safe in your grass hut. If you want a more powerful hurricane, get one in a plastic coconut from the bar.
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Tony Nik's
By the time the barkeep graces you with his deadpan humor, you'll be buddies with everyone at this small, genuinely swanky lounge, its Rat Pack interior mostly intact. It's a mature, neighborly place where manhattans and gibsons are mixed with authority - trendier requests are met with a grimace. Get sucked into the banter and the big city starts seeming more like a small town.
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Top of the Mark
If you can couples dance, or even fake it, try dancing in the clouds on the city's highest dance floor. Local piano virtuoso Ricardo Scales tickles the ivories early most nights, as well-dressed staff deliver champagne and around US$16 cocktails to patrons drinking in sunset views. Stick around: swing bands like Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers will get the crowd kicking up their heels yet.
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Toronado
Glory hallelujah, beer-lovers: your prayers have been heard. Be humbled before the chalkboard altar listing 46 beers on tap and hundreds more bottled, including spectacular seasonal microbrews. Bring cash, come early and stay late, with a sausage from Rosamunde next door to accompany ale made by Trappist monks.
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Tosca Cafe
If Francis Ford Coppola had taken the liberty of setting The Godfather in San Francisco, he would have surely set an operatic bloodbath or a quiet strangling in Tosca. Coppola, Sean Penn, Robert DeNiro or Bono might be lurking in the famous VIP room, but the place to be is in a round booth with friends and an Irish coffee or retro-classic cocktail in hand.
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Trad'r Sam's
'Bali-Hai, your special island... ': it's not just another cheesy lyric from South Pacific, but your very own rattan island-themed booth at this tiki gem. Classic kitsch lovers order the Hurricane, which comes with two straws to share for a reason: drink it by yourself and it'll blow you away.
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Tunnel Top Bar
Like stowing away in the hold of a ship, only with a better stash. The exposed beams and rickety balcony always seem about ready to give, so patrons batting eyes at one another across this crowded room get the added thrill of flirting with disaster. If this place does cave in, you might find yourself in a compromising position atop customers at the notorious massage parlor downstairs.
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Twin Peaks Tavern
Somewhere over the rainbow flag, there's a prime spot on the couch to watch crowds pass by the Castro's landmark venue. The first gay bar in the city is still the best place to be among friends of all ages, with no judgment and plenty of sass, and a jukebox that inspires singalongs after a single high-octane cocktail.
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Underground Sf
Underground SF is made for being yourself (be it hippie-dyke, trannie, pretty boy or college kid) and letting said self go. Highly danceable sounds range from new wave to dark electro to drum 'n bass. The small dance floor can get overpacked, but no one'll push you out, and you can always escape to the smoking patio. In darker corners of the club things can get even steamier. Saturdays, the hottest boys in town head to its infamously messy dance party, Drunk & Horny.
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Voda
Blue lights are always cool, and vodka is a drink from cooler climes: that's pretty much what Voda's about. This place boasts several dozen vodka imports on its impressive-looking shelves, and the coolest after-work crowd shows up to, well, cool off and look cool. Drink prices are surprisingly reasonable. DJs spin jazz, French-touch electro and hip-hop starting in the early evening.
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Warfield
Famous names with an international following play at this small old vaudeville theater, where the crowds are always enthused and insistent on encores. Owner Bill Graham Presents books accomplished artists looking for a medium-sized venue - the shows are intended for all ages, and range from balcony-shaking acts like the Beastie Boys and G Love & Special Sauce to rolling-in-aisle comedy action with Eddie Izzard and hometown favorite Margaret Cho.
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Wild Side West
Cowgirls who dig cowgirls make out in the conveniently overgrown garden, while friends of every persuasion saddle up at the noisy saloon bar. Sure, the paint's peeling off the walls and doors, but to paint it back would be a crime. It's still a dive. Peruse the wall art - mostly women in various states of undress - and flirt away at the sewing-machine table by the fireplace.
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Yerba Buena Center For The Arts
Rock stars regularly get their thunder stolen by YBCA openings, which draw bigger, hipper crowds willing to brave lines and coat-check their skateboards for contemporary art by filmmaker Isaac Julien, cartoonist R Crumb, satirist William Pope and more. Performances are white-hot here, featuring hip-hop greats as well as interpretive dances of schizophrenia and the Cultural Revolution.
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Yield
It's easy being green at Yield, where all the wines on the rotating list are not only delicious, but made in earth-friendly, sustainable ways. So, with a true SF sigh of relief, indulge away with a bottle (or two) on a rough-hewn wood table or a neutral-toned ottoman, and share light nibbles with an eclectic, well-dressed crowd.
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Yoshi's
Unquestionably the best jazz club in the Bay Area if not the West Coast, Yoshi's has talent from around the world passing through on a near-nightly basis. Often, touring artists will stop in for a stand of two or three nights. Having the best bar food (sushi, grilled Japanese snacks) around only sweetens the deal.
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Zeitgeist
Social headquarters for the city's motley crowd of bikers both motorized and not, the Zeitgeist is always a happening scene. You've got two seconds flat to order from tough-gal barkeeps, used to putting macho bikers in their place. When it's warm, regulars (and smokers) head straight to the bar's graveled 'beer garden,' which is practically under a freeway ramp.
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