Nightclubs and bars in San Francisco

4 more images

After spending most of the first period of the Stanly Cup final game 1 at Knuckles near Fishermans Wharf, watching a small screen with no volume (for the Stanly Cup final!), we started calling all the sports bars in town... thank god for Blackberries. As it turns out, very few bars in this hockey-hating town had the hockey game on with volume. Finally we called one of our last options: Zeke's sports bar near AT&T Park. The bartender said she was showing the game on their biggest TV, and the sound was on... I must've sounded incredulous when I made her repeat the fact that the game was playing with volume! So we paid up at the other sports bar and jumped in a cab for the $10 ride across town.

When we arrived at AT&T Park we didn't know where the bar was, so we starting wandering looking for it, which only took a few minutes. Upon arriving we found about 15 people intently watching the game, a mix of both Red Wings and Penguins fans, and the bar seats were full. We grabbed a seat way in the back by the restrooms right in front of their biggest TV with volume!

While there were enjoyed good service, relatively cheap beers, and an order of average hot wings. The other people at the bar were well-behaved and generally seemed to be knowledgeable sports fans. The poor waitress was so busy, she seemed to be bartender, waitress, and cook all in one, but service was still more than acceptable.

Zeke's is a relatively small and old hole-in-the-wall neighborhood sports bar, but it has a great location a few blocks from AT&T Park on Third Street, and about 20 TVs strategically placed at the bar and above almost every table. The food is average at best, but hey, it's decent greasy bar food in a decent greasy bar... you might want to try their sampling of Asian dishes for a change. In their respective seasons, Zeke's is a gathering spot for fans of University of Kentucky football, Cleveland Browns, Ohio State football, and the Green Bay Packers, not to mention the San Francisco Giants.

1 more image

It's over for Trannyshack - here's the SFChronicle TRIBUTE

so nowadays in 2011 what's left of the Shack has transferred to occasional appearances at the DNA LOUNGE
My old T-Shack tip belowMost of the fun or interesting SF nightspots
from (Plush Room is CLOSED) to AsiaSF have already been done to death and done well on VT:

So try this place...The Trannyshack is actually an event that happens every Tuesday night at the Stud Bar.

I have always pretended to be a
connoisseur of drag shows & cabarets
but this place (on this particular night anyway) took the cake.

First time I went was Tues. June 24, 2003.

Little did I know it was Gay Pride Week in SF, and a special night @ the Shack.

Heklina (your gracious host) had flown in the infamous, legendary, beautiful, & my alltime favorite Lady Bunny for a 1-night engagement ...(which was the reason I went there in the first place)

To say the place was packed would be an understatement. But everyone there was extremely kind, treated me very well, and Bunny's show was outstanding & hilarious.

I had forgotten how theraputic full-bodied laughter can be.



Incredibly raunchy;
completely tasteless;
highly recommended.



Take a cab, it's in a slightly hairy part of town.

WARNING: Heklina can be very salty both in person and at the website.

Do not sit with grandma and click recklessly on the heklina/Trannyshack weblink below: you never know what is going to pop up (n.p.i.).
Trannyshack

Show time is midnight, and cover charge is $7

PHOTO CREDIT:
This photo by the Reverend was taken at the actual show I attended 6/'03. That's Heklina on the left, and venerable Lady Bunny on the right.
THANK YOU REV!! (Rev's website appears to be gone)

For millions of Trannyshack fotos - ( if you are over 18, have a yahoo/flickr account, and you are currently logged in ) you can click below:
(Warning: don't be cruisin' Heklina's flickr pages @ work)

Heklina's 'Shacksnaps

NOTE - all good things must end. August, 23 2008 - TRANNYSHACK FAREWELL BONANZA!
Trannyshack will cease to exist as a weekly night event, with founder Heklina concentrating on bigger, special events.

Those needing a weekly SF Tranny"fix" can try catching Midnight Mass @ the Bridge theater (Geary & Blake) with Peaches Christ

or goto Aunt Charlie's

Dress Code: ....... Oh, very funny.....



This tip is posted in honor and memory of the greatest actor / "gender illusionist" of all time:

Charles Pierce

Here is a great Charles Pierce tribute site:
In Memory of Charles Pierce

my favorite & I think the funniest CPierce "bit" in the tip below.....

In memory of the greatest actor-illusionist of all time, Charles Pierce, who imho did the best "Bette Davis" ever in long gone places like Finocchio's and the Fairmont Hotel.


"Blaaannnnche...... ya' didn't eat yer din-din.....
........so someone ELSE... is gonna' eat yer christmas puddin!!! "


Charles Pierce (1926 - 1999)

Check website below for some Charles Pierce / San Francisco history.

aannnddd another one bites the dust. Closed. Here's the gory details

According to "Northside San Francisco ©" - "These days there is still jazz in North Beach: Joey and Eddie’s, the Washington Square Bar and Grill, and a few other restaurants and clubs feature jazz, much of it exemplary."

but this little 'gem' (Pearl's) will be missed. Thank you Madame Kim Nalley for trying, and for everything.
I'm keeping the old tip below for personal nostalgia.

_____________________________________________

It's not really free. Jazz at Pearl's is a nice club with good music.

The reason I say "free" is I walk by here all the time, and the night I took this picture they had the big windows wide open. We could stand on the sidewalk only about 10 feet from the stage, closer than many of the tables in the club.

I shot this pic of the band thru the open window.

The band that night, Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, were very good (bigtime good) and people were boppin' on the sidewalk & really enjoying the music (awfully generous of the club to do that: in itself imho it's reason enough to go there)

If I get a chance to go back I'll pay the cover and go inside as it looked like a fun club and the website shows some good acts on the upcoming calendar. Some good paintings on the wall too.

Dinner & show packages, looks like a good club, and I really enjoyed the extended peek I had.

Dress Code: Your non-slob jazz club duds. It looks like a "class" place to me
(yeah, like I would know class if I saw it....)

4 more images

Part two of my 5A5 Steak Lounge, the lounge part tips

the 5A5 steak lounge is a combination of a steakhouse and lounge and is voted the number ONE steakhouse in San Francisco! this tip will be on the Bar/ Lounge Part and a separate Tip for the Steak part ok.

Dress Code: Dress Code: Smart Casual, no jeans or flip flops allowed

Dinner
mon-thu: 5:30-10pm
friday: 5:30-10:30pm
sat-sun: 5:30-9pm
Lounge
sun-thu: 5p-11pm
friday: 5p-midnight
saturday: 5p-2am

4 more images

the 5A5 steak lounge is a combination of a steakhouse and lounge and is voted the number ONE steakhouse in San Francisco! this tip will be on the Bar/ Lounge Part and a separate Tip for the Steak part ok.

Dress Code: Smart Casual, no jeans or flip flops allowed

Dinner
mon-thu: 5:30-10pm
friday: 5:30-10:30pm
sat-sun: 5:30-9pm
Lounge
sun-thu: 5p-11pm
friday: 5p-midnight
saturday: 5p-2am

The Purple Onion is a cross between Comedy Club, Nightclub and live music venue. The setting is very intimate. All tables can see the stage clearly. The decor is vintage and I think the place has a lot of charm.

Open since the 1950s, the Onion has hosted such diverse acts as; Phyllis Diller, the Kingston Trio, the Smothers Brothers, Barbra Streisand, and more recently; The Phantom Surfers, Untamed Youth, The Count Backwurds, The High Fives, Orbit & the Purple Knifs, Fortune & Maltese, The Loons, The Saturn V, and The Makers.

In 2004, the club reopened under new management as a comedy club. On the weekends there is improv. Serves beer and wine only.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater is the venue for San Francisco Performances Dance Series. The 755-seat theater is located at the Center for Arts at Yerba Buena Gardens on Third Street, between Mission and Howard Streets. The center is just a short walk from the Powell or Montgomery BART/Muni stations, and there's a parking garage nearby. The Moscone Convention Center is right across the street. This is an excellent theater showcasing international acts but with an intimate venue. We usually purchase tickets on-line for one of the internationally acclaimed modern dance performances, such as the recent Compania Nacional de Danza, a multi-national troupe of modern dancers based in Spain. Since these shows are often sold-out, those staying in the city should plan for this in advance. Program descriptions, seat selection, and ticket purchase is easy at the website, the link for which is below. I recommend arriving and having the daytime open for other activities, then treat yourself to this at night. There are matinee performances too for some acts, however. San Francisco Performances also has world-class classical, jazz, and ethnic musical acts at the Herbst Theater, among other venues.

Dress Code: Informal is OK, but a lot of people choose to dress up. Don't wear shorts and a T-shirt, that's for sure. I usually wear a brown leather jacket and decent slacks.