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Richmond | Bars/Pubs
Sure, it's the site of many high-school prom dates, and you could argue that the food and drinks are overpriced, but this is our pick if you must choose just one oceanfront restaurant/bar—its historical value is undeniable, and the views are terrific. The best window seats are reserved for diners, but there's a small upstairs lounge where you can watch gulls sail high above the vast blue Pacific.
1090 Point Lobos, at Great Hwy., San Francisco, California, 94121, USA
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Castro | Bars/Pubs
Shirts off! If a sweaty muscle sandwich sounds like your idea of a good time, head to Badlands, where serious party boys come to grind to throbbing music on a packed dance floor. The lines can be ridiculous on weekends; those in the know go on Wednesday or Thursday. Tight-teed patrons range from twenties to forties.
4121 18th St., between Castro and Collingwood Sts., San Francisco, California, 94114, USA
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Chinatown | Bars/Pubs
At this quirky, inclusive, divey karaoke bar, you can get your kicks performing in front of a sometimes rowdy but nearly always supportive audience of hip young things and Asian businessmen.
1155 Grant Ave., near Broadway, San Francisco, California, 94133, USA
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Cow Hollow | Bars/Pubs
Popular with frat boys and stockbrokers alike, this Marina/Cow Hollow favorite has 18 screens and two pool tables. If you want to meet the local diehards, this is the place. It's also one of the few spots in this neighborhood where you'll feel comfortable dressed down. Order food from neighboring restaurants; the bar provides menus.
1901 Union St., at Laguna St., San Francisco, California, 94123, USA
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Tenderloin | Bars/Pubs
In the rough-and-tumble Tenderloin, around the corner from the Polk Street bars, transgenders and their admirers come here for the racy entertainment. Naughty Schoolgirls night (Wednesday) is a major fave. This multilevel space has separate areas for stage performances, dancing, and quiet chats. It's not a drag bar, as there is no sense of irony or camp about the place; the girls here are charming, and the fun is in the titillation.
1081 Post St., between Larkin and Polk Sts., San Francisco, California, 94109, USA
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Mission District | Bars/Pubs
This popular two-story space has a little something for everyone. The main bar downstairs is quaint and swanky with tables, booths, and classic arcade games. Hit the upstairs to see up-and-coming artists before they hit the big time. The music includes Afro-Cuban, indie rock, jazz, and more.
647 Valencia St., between 17th St. and 18th St., San Francisco, California, 94110, USA
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Financial District | Bars/Pubs
The epicenter for downtown festivities on St. Patrick's Day, this family-owned Irish saloon (closed Sunday) is an attitude-free place for the well-tailored-suit set to have an after-work drink the rest of the year. The restaurant serves American fare, with the occasional Irish special, and has a good selection of imported beers. Another local favorite, the Royal Exchange, is next door and eerily similar.
245 Front St., near Sacramento St., San Francisco, California, 94111, USA
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Financial District | Bars/Pubs
On a sunny day, is there anything better than sipping wine and eating oysters? Only if it's here, on a waterside patio, with the looming Bay Bridge and the Oakland and Berkeley hills as a backdrop. The oysters are from Marin County, and many of the wines are from Sonoma and Napa.
Ferry Bldg., 1 Embarcadero Plaza, San Francisco, California, 94111, USA
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Mission District | Bars/Pubs
Attached to the Foreign Cinema restaurant, Laszlo is a cavernous, classy space with an open, bi-level design; movies are projected onto the walls. Dim lighting, candles, and an upscale selection of cocktails and single malts make it suitable for romance, but the loud music and cacophonic levels of conversation keep it lively. DJs spin most nights after 9.
2526 Mission St., between 21st and 22nd Sts., San Francisco, California, 94110, USA
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Castro | Bars/Pubs
Greasers, hipsters, Betty Page wannabes, anyone looking for a good beer in the Castro, and assorted other patrons make Lucky 13 a fun place indeed. The drink prices are reasonable, the beer selection is huge, and there's high-end root beer on tap for the designated driver with a discriminating palate. The best seats are upstairs overlooking the crowd.
2140 Market St., at Church St., San Francisco, California, 94114, USA
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Marina | Bars/Pubs
Don a pair of Diesel jeans and a Michael Kors sweater and sip cosmos or cabernet with the Marina's bon vivants. This is the premier spot in the "Triangle" (short for Bermuda Triangle, named for all of the singles who disappear in the bars clustered at Greenwich and Fillmore streets). Although there's a small dance floor where some folks bump and grind to high-energy DJ-spun dance tracks, the majority of the clientele usually vies for the plush seats near the central open fireplace, flirts at the bar, or huddles for romantic tête-à-têtes in the back. The singles scene can be overwhelming on weekends.
3138 Fillmore St., between Greenwich and Filbert Sts., San Francisco, California, 94123, USA
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Union Sq. | Bars/Pubs
PCH for short, this neighborhood hangout with a convivial aura and industrial-chic decor hits all the right notes. Plus the well-chosen and unique ingredients mean there’s a little something for everyone, and the glassware is as dazzling as the elixirs inside. The must-try cocktail is the Oh Snap!, a concoction of gin, sugar snap peas, citrus, and absinthe.
580 Sutter St., at Mason St., San Francisco, California, 94108, USA
Nightlife Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
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Union Sq. | Bars/Pubs
If you weren't of legal drinking age during the '80s, now's your chance to experience the era's ambience. The Romper Room, bubbling over with neon pink and leopard print, is a funky little bar and quasi-dance club located in the city's somewhat cookie-cutter and label-driven Union Square district. The cocktail menu is small and simple, but they guarantee you won't have to wait longer than 90 seconds to get one.
25 Maiden La., at Kearny St., San Francisco, California, 94108, USA
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North Beach | Bars/Pubs
If you've been looking for a bar where you can watch football and get a decent martini, this is it. Not your typical sports pub, this small lounge has as many female patrons as male, and it's not super loud and raucous. Due to its size, the Boardroom has only four plasma-screen TVs, which are just as likely to be broadcasting snowboarding as the usual baseball-football-basketball trifecta. The food is better than your average pub grub.
1609 Powell St., San Francisco, California, 94133, USA
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Mission District | Bars/Pubs
In a grungy but hip section of the Mission, the king of dive bars (with requisite cheap bottled beer and photo booth) is popular with the discerning hipsters who dare to venture south of César Chavez Street. There's usually a cover for bands or DJs on weekends, but it's never more than $10. Bingo on Thursday keeps it real. An added bonus for trekking out to the southern edge of the Mission: some of the city's best taquerías are nearby.
3223 Mission St., at Valencia, San Francisco, California, 94110, USA
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SoMa | Bars/Pubs
Glam trans women, gay bears, tight-teed pretty boys, ladies and their ladies, and a handful of straight onlookers congregate here to dance to live DJ sounds and watch world-class drag performers on the small stage. The entertainment is often campy, pee-your-pants funny, and downright fantastic. Each night's music is different—from funk, soul, and hip-hop to '80s tunes and disco favorites. At Frolic, the Stud's most outrageous party (second Saturday of the month), club goers dance the night away dressed as bunnies, kittens, and even stranger creatures.
399 9th St, at Harrison St., San Francisco, California, 94103, USA
Nightlife Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon.
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Nob Hill | Bars/Pubs
Shuffleboard, arcade basketball, a jukebox, and plenty of flat-screen TVs make this spacious yet divey place feel like a time machine back to your college days. On weekends the crowd is a sea of popped collars, baseball caps, and chest bumps, so get there early if you yearn for a turn at one of the games.
1390 California St., at Hyde St., San Francisco, California, 94109, USA
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Union Sq. | Bars/Pubs
Closed Permanently
Enticing, romantic, and ultrahip in one package, Vessel has a cavalier glamour that embraces you as you descend the staircase into its sleekly designed 5,000-square-foot industrial space made intimate with glowing amber lighting and low-slung benches that line exposed brick walls. New York in attitude and decor, but quintessential San Francisco in its egalitarian mix of casual Gen-Xers, fortysomething professionals, and tourists, Vessel emits a classy, sexy vibe that telegraphs "this is the place to be" without snobbishness. Light food and signature cocktails are served in the lounge weekday evenings 5 to 9. Action picks up after 11 pm, when DJs and live acts take the stage pumping through a multimillion-dollar sound system. You can escape to strategically placed cognac leather love seats or dance on top of the long plank tables spotlighted from below.
85 Campton Pl., at Stockton St., San Francisco, California, 94108, USA
Nightlife Details
Rate Includes: No cover weeknights; weekends $10–$20; reserved seating $250–$500
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Marina | Bars/Pubs
Closed Permanently
This classy lounge with shimmering chandeliers is dimly lighted, but fellow patrons will still notice the logo on your purse, so dress appropriately here (and elsewhere in the Marina). At the central, square bar, attractive yuppies sip cosmos and nibble pan-seared scallops, while skilled DJs spin down-tempo electronica. This place takes tongue-in-cheek chic seriously, down to the lobster-and-truffle mac-and-cheese. As expected, there's a strong list of specialty cocktails.
2001 Chestnut St., at Fillmore St., San Francisco, California, 94123, USA
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Mission District | Bars/Pubs
Closed Permanently
According to its slogan, "every night is ladies' night" at this all-girl club geared to urban alterna-dykes in their twenties and thirties—expect piercings and tattoos, not lipstick. The women's room has awesome graffiti.
3464 19th St., at Valencia St., San Francisco, California, 94110, USA