Nightlife Areas in San Francisco

Castro Street

All Ages / Alternative / Artists

Party Earth Review Arguably the first – and easily the most famous – gay neighborhood in the country, the Castro first experienced the tides of LGBT activism during the 1970s, and nowhere is this history more alive than along its namesake main drag. Emporiums for libidinous shoppers are easy to find – especially with ... more

Castro Street between Market Street
and 19th Street and surrounding environs
San Francisco, CA 94114

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North Beach

All Ages / All Types / Artsy / Bars

Party Earth Review North Beach has been San Francisco’s official Little Italy for over a century, but its history extends back to the days of the Barbary Coast, when hustlers and gold miners trekked in nightly to cut loose with cheap wine and cheaper women. The intersection of Broadway Street and Columbus Avenue marks the beginning of the ... more

Primarily the area east along Broadway Street and north along Columbus Avenue at the Broadway/Columbus intersection
San Francisco, CA 94133

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Mission and Valencia Street Corridor

20s / All Ages / Anything goes

Party Earth Review Prior to the 1990s, establishments along the Mission and Valencia Street Corridor were mostly limited to auto shops, dive bars, and taquerias serving a working-class Mexican population. Internet-fueled gentrification, however, brought an explosion of eclectic stores, chichi restaurants, and higher-end bars, creating what ... more

Mission and Valencia Streets stretching
approximately from 16th to 24th Streets
San Francisco, CA 94103

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Chinatown

Affluent / All Ages / Culture

Party Earth Review Not only is San Francisco’s Chinatown the oldest of its kind in North America, it’s also the largest Chinese neighborhood outside of Asia, and surpasses even the Golden Gate Bridge as one of the city’s top tourist destinations. Out-of-towners tend to stick to Grant Avenue, entering through the “Dragon Gate” at the intersection ... more

Roughly between Columbus Avenue on the east, Jones Street on the west, Broadway
to north, and Bush Street to the south
San Francisco, CA 94133

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Haight Street

All Ages / All Types / Bars / Free

Party Earth Review No other stretch of road in San Francisco evokes images of tie-dyes and 60s rock like Haight Street, even if the area has since developed into a diverse shopping and nightlife destination that caters to everyone from still-tripping neo-hippies to salon-centric style hounds. The less-commercialized lower Haight – roughly ... more

From the intersection of Haight Street
and Webster Street on the east
to Haight and Stanyan Street on the west
San Francisco, CA 94117

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Castro Street - Culture | Nightlife Area | Shopping Area in SF

There is a boundless array of activities to fill one’s day in this city by the bay, and the same can be said of the wide assortment of San Francisco nightlife areas.

From high-end to low-end, big to small, preppy to punk, SF nightlife areas cram a good bit of variety into a city that’s barely seven square miles. North Beach’s bar and club scene draws huge crowds on the weekends, whether its old-time barflies and sports hounds mixing with boisterous pre-clubbers at Gino and Carlo, live music lovers packing into Bimbo's 365 Club, or out-of-towners and European tourists tanking up at The Saloon (the oldest bar in the city).

The Mission and Valencia Street Corridor is equally vibrant, brimming with young revelers of all types, from grunge-tastic music fans at Elbo Room and Make-Out Room, to cocktail connoisseurs in the speakeasy tucked inside Dalva, to rich tourists nibbling foie gras with their martinis at Chez Spencer.

Club kids and velvet rope-seekers head to SoMa and the blocks around Union Square Downtown, while college kids of every permutation know there’s never a dull moment crashing down the bar-hopper’s paradise of Polk Street in Russian Hill.

The Castro, of course, is most-famous for its vibrant gay history, and remains to this day packed with friendly watering holes and bumping little clubs catering to folks of every sexual permutation, while the equally famous Haight Street has lost much of its hippy roots but replaced them with great jazz haunts, hip cocktail lounges, and raucous beer-centric dives.

Nightlife areas in SF can be found in almost every little neighborhood, with distinct vibes and price points as varied as the city itself. So hop on the train, climb on your bike, amble down the street, or (gasp!) drive your car to another great SF nightlife area near you!