Thursdays through Sundays are best at Powerhouse, a sweaty SoMa bar for leathermen, shirtless gym queens and the occasional porn star. Draft beer is cheap, specials keep the crowd loose and dance erupts around the pool table at weekends. Smokers grope on the smoky back patio, while oddballs lurk in corners. Powerhouse is a gay men's scene – no gawkers.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa attractions

1. Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District

0.21 MILES

San Francisco's Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District became official in June of 2018. District boundaries include Howard St (northwest), 7th St (northeast)…

2. SOMArts

0.36 MILES

All roads in San Francisco's art underground lead to this nonprofit creative community hub under a highway overpass. Shows have featured eviction letters…

3. Twitter Headquarters

0.36 MILES

Market St's traffic-stopping 1937 Mayan deco landmark was built to accommodate 300 wholesale furniture-design showrooms – but, a decade ago, fewer than 30…

4. Root Division

0.37 MILES

Get back to your creative roots at this arts nonprofit, which hosts curated shows on themes ranging from garden art to calligraphy made with human-hair…

5. Federal Building

0.44 MILES

The groundbreaking green design of this government-office building by 2005 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Thom Mayne means major savings in energy –…

6. San Francisco Main Library

0.48 MILES

A grand light well illuminates SF's favorite subjects: poetry in the Robert Frost Collection, civil rights in the Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SF music zines in…

7. United Nations Plaza

0.48 MILES

This brick-paved triangle with an often-dry fountain awkwardly commemorates the signing of the UN charter in San Francisco. Most days, UN Plaza offers…

8. Asian Art Museum

0.52 MILES

Imaginations race from subtle Chinese ink paintings to seductive Hindu temple carvings and from elegant Islamic calligraphy to cutting-edge Japanese…