Entertainment
Feb 4, 2008 4:11 PM
Girls Will be Boys and Boys Will be Girls…
Searching for that “only in San Francisco” experience? Look no further than Asia SF (www.asiasf.com), a trendy, upscale restaurant/bar/dance club just five blocks down Folsom Street where locals and savvy tourists alike wash down blacked tuna sashimi and sweet tomato-edamame salad with some potent Tyra’s Toyko Tea, served by the lovely and stylish“gender illusionists,” who hop up on the bar once an hour to lip-sync their favorite odes to girl power by the glow of the color-morphing shoji screen walls. On weekends, bring earplugs: Bachelorette parties rule the dance floor…—Sarah Jones
Party Like a Rock Star
With its funky rooms, colorful poolside cabanas and hip and friendly staff, the Phoenix Hotel in San Francisco’s seedy Tenderloin neighborhood has served as a haven for traveling rock stars for years, evidenced by the tour buses often outnumbering cars in the parking lot. Inside, the hotel’s posh Bambuddha Lounge (601 Eddy St. at Larkin, www.bambuddhalounge.com) is a mellow oasis of cool, drawing hipsters from all over the city looking for dainty plates, signature cocktails and mostly, the DJs that spin into the wee hours.—Sarah Jones
If the Bambuddha scene gets a little too “atmospheric” for you…
Head around the corner to the Edinburgh Castle (901 Geary St. at Larkin), a cozy Scottish tavern featuring a generous selection of imported ales on tap and “authentic” fish and chips, delivered in newspaper from the shop around the corner. The pub also hosts a variety of literary and music events, and an ass-kicking trivia night on Tuesdays. For a complete schedule, visit www.castlenews.com—Sarah Jones
Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia St.
Possibly the only bar that you can actually smoke in—okay, it’s in the outside beer garden, but you’re still technically in the bar—Zeitgeist is what we affectionately call the “rock/metal” bar. In addition to hosting a gazillion great beers on tap and numerous down-home cocktails, the bar also has 20 guest “apartments” upstairs for overnight or short-term accommodation ($35 a night) for “hook-ups” or too drunk to drive home! Another perk is Port-a-Potties in the beer garden, reducing the long lines for the one bathroom inside the bar. You can eat there, but you’re gonna end up straining your ears as the grillmasters shout your name (no fancy intercom here!) when your grub is up. Oh yeah, motorcycles welcome!—Sarah Benzuly
Blues for Everyone
No matter how bad you got the blues, there’s a club for you. Just west of Union Square, Biscuits and Blues serves up live music and hearty soul food seven nights a week, in a classy nightclub environment. Recent headliners have included the likes of Roomful of Blues and Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers. If you feel more like grooving on a sweaty dance floor, John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom Room, a “sultry down home juke joint” across town in the Fillmore, also showcases both national and local acts every night, from blues to soul to funk. On the can’t-pry-my-feet-off-the-sticky-floor end of the spectrum, a tiny bar called The Saloon—which also holds the title of San Francisco’s oldest bar—shakes up North Beach nightly. —Sarah Jones
