Entertainment in San Francisco
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Chaps II
Chaps II promises what its eponymous 1970s predecessor delivered: leather, kink, gear and cruising. Black walls, vintage-’70s leather-porn posters and red lighting provide sexy visuals, but the place rarely fills. SF needs a hard-cruise bar in these days of online hook-ups, but will men really leave their keyboards? We remain hopeful. Best between 9pm and midnight, Thursday to Saturday, after which everyone goes to Powerhouse.
reviewed
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B
Café du Nord/Swedish American Hall
You never know what's doing at Café du Nord, a former basement speakeasy, with bar and showroom. Rockers, chanteuses, comedians, raconteurs and burlesque acts perform nightly, and the joint still looks like it must've in the '30s. The hall upstairs, with balcony seating and Scandinavian woodwork, hosts miscellaneous events. Check the online calendar.
reviewed
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Bar 821
Bar 821 has a noteworthy selection of Belgian beers, but seems to want everyone to know that it doesn't want to be discovered by anyone. There's no sign out front (look for a bit of decorative neon around the door), and the highly visible house rules instruct patrons not to tell anyone about the place. (This review violates Rule No 5.) Another odd twist: the doors close nightly at 23:00 for an 'after-party' that ends at midnight.
reviewed
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D
Bridge Theater
One of SF's last single-screen theaters, the Bridge screens international independent films from yakuza gangster thrillers to film-festival sensations.
reviewed
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Vessel
The crowd dresses sharp at Vessel, a midsized subterranean club-lounge with kick-ass sound and mesmerizing lighting, which sometimes books big-name DJs (think Louie Vega). We prefer the more-local Wednesday to Thursday scene over the sometimes-suburban weekend crowd, which takes longer to get its drink on and dance. Get on the list.
reviewed
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F
Red Poppy Art House
Like walking into an underground house party where the guests have wildly varied skill sets: Ethiopian jazz vocals, performance poetry set to digital photographs, South Indian classical saxophone, wall-drawing with a conductor's baton. Check the event and workshop lineup on the website; admission is usually by sliding scale donation (typically $5 to $15). Otherwise, this corner storefront is open to passersby on Saturday afternoons and whenever someone's working on a project.
reviewed
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Orbit Room
A fashionable mixed crowd is attracted to the Orbit Room, a postindustrial art-deco bar. It stays open late and boasts a good jukebox and panoramic windows, and its sidewalk tables make it well suited to lingering over coffee or draught beer. Tuesday nights feature bartender Alberta Straub, who's either a total genius or the meanest cuss on the planet, depending how serious you are about your cocktails.
reviewed
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Tunnel Top
You can't tell who's local and who's not in this happening, chilled two-story bar, with exposed beams, beer-bottle chandelier and little mezzanine where you can spy on the crowd below. The owners are French, and their Gallic friends throng the place, tapping their toes to conscious hip-hop (think Common, not Little Wayne) and boom-boom house music, the SF soundtrack. Cash only.
reviewed
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Paradise Lounge
The stalwart Paradise is good on Fridays and Saturdays when you’re wandering around 11th St undecided about where to go, but a recent remodel rendered it like a soap-opera set-designer’s vision of what a club should be – by the time you arrive, we hope it’s beat up. Sound is good on both dance floors, and the upstairs-downstairs layout is fun for running around. Verify Sunday opening times online.
reviewed
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Hotel Utah Saloon
The ground-floor bar of this Victorian hotel became ground zero of the underground scene in the '70s, when upstarts Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams took the stage – now it's a sure bet for Monday Night Open Mics, indie-label debuts and local favorites like Riot Earp, Saucy Monkey and the Dazzling Strangers. Back in the '50s the bartender graciously served Beats, grifters and Marilyn Monroe, but snipped the ties of businessmen when they leaned across the bar; now you can wear whatever, as long as you're buying, but there's a $20 credit card minimum.
reviewed
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K
Caffe Trieste
Poetry on bathroom walls, opera on the jukebox, live Italian and gypsy folk music weekly, and regular sightings of Beat poet laureate Lawrence Ferlinghetti: this is North Beach at its best, as it's been since the 1950s. Linger over a legendary espresso, join aging anarchists debating how best to bring down the government, or scribble your screenplay under the Sicilian mural just as young Francis Ford Coppola did. Perhaps you've heard of the movie: it was called The Godfather.
reviewed
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Lime
Meet George Jetson, his ex Judy, and his new partner Joe, all getting chummy over the signature citrus cocktails. Perch atop the outer-space fungi that passes for seating, slurp a key lime martini or two, and pretty soon you'll be able to picture a future where earthlings are uniformly rosy, cozy, well-groomed and a tad giggly. At brunch, order the bottomless around mimosa at your own risk.
reviewed
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$3 Bill Cafe
Squishy couches, strong coffee, free wireless and smiley staff invite you to join San Francisco history in progress: sparkle subversively with Radical Faeries; organize Green Party bake sales with moms' groups; and stitch and bitch with SF's sharpest knit wits. Don't be shy about stepping up and out on Queer Open Mike, the second and fourth Fridays of the month - you're among friends here.
reviewed
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Tonga Room
Tonight's San Francisco weather: 100% chance of tropical rainstorms every 20 minutes, but only around the top-40 band playing on the island in the middle of the indoor pool – you're safe in your grass hut. For a more powerful hurricane, order one in a plastic coconut. Come before 8pm to beat the cover charge.
reviewed
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Saloon
A stalwart North Beach dive, the Saloon survived the 1906 fire when its loyal patrons brandished buckets of beer and wine to quench the flames. Today it’s the oldest bar in SF, dating from 1861, and hasn’t had a coat of paint in decades, which is exactly why disheveled old-timers and local hipsters love it. Blues and rock bands perform nightly and from 4pm weekend afternoons.
reviewed
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Rickshaw Stop
Finally a club where 18 to 21-year-olds can (sometimes) get in for the high-school prom they wish they'd attended. DIY–looking, red-velvet curtains line the black-box walls of this former TV studio, which hosts a changing lineup that appeals to alterna-20-somethings who style life on a shoestring. Thursday's Popscene (18 plus) is always happening. Other nights range from Bollywood to lesbian. Check the calendar online.
reviewed
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Magic Theater
The Magic is known for taking risks and staging provocative plays by playwrights such as Bill Pullman, Terrence McNally, Edna O'Brien, David Mamet and longtime playwright-in-residence Sam Shepard. Watch the next generation break through in professionally staged works written by teenagers as part of the Young California Writers Project.
reviewed
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111 Minna
A superhero here to rescue the staid Downtown scene, 111 Minna is a street-wise art gallery by day (open from noon to 5pm Wednesday to Saturday) that transforms into a happening lounge space and club by night (evening hours vary). After-work events are networky but usually interesting – one recent week featured green professional happy hours, Japanime fan clubs and a gay teen support group fundraiser – until 9pm, when '90s and '80s dance parties take the back room by storm. Don't miss monthly free Sketch Tuesdays, when artists make work for sale to the audience.
reviewed
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The Café
The pool tables were just replaced because go-go dancers tore them to shreds - uh-huh, it's that kind of place, has been for decades. The eclectic mix sometimes lapses into interminable house numbers; grab a test-tube shot and pace yourself until the samba whistles kick in. Anyone in hot pants is welcome, though Fridays favor fellas and every third Saturday is an all-lesbian tea dance.
reviewed
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Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society
If you’re here on a weekend, don’t miss the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society and its stellar salon-style jazz, classical and world-music concerts at Douglas Beach House. This is where locals hang. Performances start in the late afternoon. Kids welcome, but if they’re fidgety sit outside. Drinks and finger foods are available, or bring a picnic.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Bruno's
The stage spilleth over at this little joint with a big sound: 20 brass-wielding masters often cram in for Jazz Mafia Tuesdays. Multiple chambers include the narrow, padded-wall Cork Club with a Hammond organ for weekend funk nights, and a swanky piano lounge, where students and well-dressed jazz aficionados arrive early for the Tuesday night around US$8 beer-burger-fries special.
reviewed
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Mix
The last Castro bar to open at 6am, the Mix is a must on a pub crawl. We like the low-ceilinged pool and bar area, but prefer the open-air back smokers patio. Expect gal-next-door lesbians, 20-something gay boys, trannie pals and the odd stumbling drag queen. Great drink specials keep everyone wasted. Mondays there's free pool.
reviewed
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Savanna Jazz
The carpets are sticky, the lights dim, the drinks strong and the music hot at this midsized black-box showroom and bar. It's mostly swing and bebop, and the place jumps Wednesday evenings for ever-popular Lindy-hop parties (lesson kicks off at 6:30pm).
reviewed
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Edinburgh Castle
SF's finest old-school monument to drink comes complete with dart boards, pool tables, rock bands, occasional 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.
reviewed