Tunnel Top - Union Square Area and other San Francisco, CA Nightlife Tips

Many people call the Tunnel Top a "dive bar," but I've never seen a dive bar with a DJ, cushy couches, fancy paint on the walls, a nice bar, and 200 people packed in shoulder-to-shoulder drinking expensive martinis. At the same time, few upscale yuppie bars have a strong stench of urine near the bar, Hitler videos on the wall, nor the danger of a major disaster should a fire occur. The Tunnel Top is hard for me to classify, but it is one of my favorite bars in San Francisco.

On a recent Saturday night, we arrived around 11pm and the place was packed. The DJ was cranking out the old and new hits and it was standing room only. After inhaling the stale pee odor for 30 or 40 minutes we walked upstairs where we could watch the DJ and the 1936 Olympics video featuring none other than Adolph Hitler and his nemesis, Jesse Owens.

Beers are about $4 each and mixed drinks $6 to $8. Tunnel Top is open each night except Sunday; DJ every night; no cover charge!

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Theme: Nightclub
Dress Code: Casual or a little dressy... either will fit in
Phone: 415-986-8900
Address: 601 Bush St, San Francisco, CA 94108
Website: http://www.tunneltop.com/

Nightlife Spot: Irish Pubs

O'Reilly's in North Beach is a popular restaurant and nightspot. I stopped by here around 9pm on a Saturday night just as the dinner crowd was starting to clear out, and the bar was already pretty crowded. The outside sidewalk area was also full, so I had to stand at the counter beside the bar. I had a Kilkenny and watched the people for about an hour then moved on.

This is still one of the most popular nightlife spots I found in the San Francisco area, and it had a variety of customers from couples to small groups of all ages. They have numerous small TVs, a lot of heated outdoor seating, and a large dining area.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: 415.989.6222
Address: 622 Green Street
Directions: At the corner of Green Street and Columbus Ave just one block from Washington Square.
Website: http://www.oreillysirish.com/
Other Contact: mailto: oreillys@earthlink.net

Nightlife Spot: SOMA District

After a great game at AT&T Park in which the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Giants 8-7, we stopped at Tres Agave on our way back to Union Square. The bar was packed around 10pm on a Friday night, but there were numerous tables available, even for our big group of six. We figured they specialized in tequila, but I was impressed by their significant tequila and margarita menu that included margarita pitchers ranging from around $20 to $80 and single shots of tequila from about $8 to $20 each.

We spent about an hour here (since they closed at 11pm even on Fridays) and had two pitchers of margaritas (four glasses each), three shots of mid-range tequila, and perhaps three beers for around $100 before tip... not bad for a pretty trendy and popular place. The service was excellent and our glasses were seldom empty.

Tres Agave also has food which get relatively low reviews at Yelp!. I guess you can't have it all!

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: 415.227.0500
Address: 130 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
Directions: Townsend Street at 2nd, just a block from AT&T Park
Website: http://tresagaves.com/
Other Contact: Fax: 415.227.0535

The top floor of the Marine Memorial Associations' hotel near Union Square is called the Flying Leatherneck Club, and is a well-kept secret in the city. If you are a hotel guest you can enjoy two hours of free cocktails overlooking the Financial District and listening to the live piano music (4pm t 6pm). Even if you are not a guest, feel free to stop in to soak up the ambiance and enjoy the scenery.

The bar and lounge is open 11am to 10pm on weekdays and 11pm on weekends. This lounge doubles as a steakhouse with prices ranging from about $20 to $35 per meal.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: (415) 673-6672 ext. 254
Address: 609 Sutter St, San Francisco
Directions: corner of Mason Street and Sutter Street near Union Square
Website: http://www.marineclub.com/leathernecksteakhouse.htm

Voda is a tiny club on busy Belden Place. They specialize in Vodak, and they have a huge variety available by the glass or bottle. The small, pink-themed dance floor has loud music and a DJ nightly from about 10pm until 2am. Of course the music is so loud you really can't talk, and there are just a few tables. My favorite feature is the stripper pole in the back for funky drunk girls to act like exotic dancers.

Not my kind of place, but it seems to be pretty popular. At least the service was good early in the evening and the beer I had was relatively cheap at around $4.25 (hey, I'm not a vodka drinker).

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Theme: Nightclub
Phone: (415) 677-9242
Address: 56 Belden Place, San Francisco
Website: http://www.vodasf.com/Flash/home.htm

Nightlife Spot: Irish Pubs

Tiernan's is a huge, open Irish Pub in a great location at the edge of Fishermans Wharf. We stopped in one afternoon, and I was impressed by the big windows along the street allowing in ample daylight. We sat at the bar and chatted with the friendly bartender and other patrons while we had a few beers, but didn't stay too long. They have a great variety of perhaps 20 Irish and local beers on tap, as well as another 20 in bottles. They also have a full menu and live music every night of the week.

Probably not the best Irish pub in town, but not a bad spot in the touristy Fishermans Wharf area, especially for an afternoon beer.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: 415 673-9700
Address: 685 Beach Street, San Francisco
Directions: Corner of Hyde and Beach Streets at the end of the trolley Line
Website: http://www.tiernans.com/
Other Contact: tiernanpub@aol.com

Nightlife Spot: North Beach Area

Every good nightlife area needs one: a late-night pizza joint with good greasy pizza by the slice. Even better? Golden Boy Pizza in North Beach has beer on tap so you can grab a bite to eat without losing your buzz.

Golden Boy is considered by many to be the city's best pizza. Their large, thin, Sicilian-style slices can only be purchased in house...no delivery! Late at night around 2 AM expect long lines of 20-30 people outside, despite the frequent presence of numerous seats inside at the bar and the counter in the back. A slice of pepperoni is around $3.50.

Their best feature is the graffiti-covered bathrooms. What a trashy mess... come drunk and it won't be as disgusting!

Open weekdays until 11pm and Fri/Sat until 1am.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: 415-982-9738
Address: 542 Green Street, San Francisco
Directions: On Green Street, just 1/2 block from Columbus Ave and one block from Washington Square
Website: http://restaurants.sfweekly.com/search/restaurants.php?oid=6300

Nightlife Spot: North Beach

North Beach is San Francisco's Little Italy, and is a hugely popular restaurant and bar area. Here you will find cable cars, Lombard Street, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill, Washington Square, and the Italian Cathedral.

For nightlife you have microbreweries, Irish pubs, late night pizza shops, Grant Avenue's cafes, Broadway's strip clubs, and more. Restaurants are mostly Italian, but you can find good Indian, Chinese, Persian, Mediterranean, Mexican and more.

In 2004 the Project for Public Spaces named North Beach the third best neighborhood in North America behind only downtown Vancouver (Granville Island) and East Village in New York City. They also named Washington Square in North Beach as the 10th best square and plaza in the world!

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Address: Columbus Ave and surrounding streets
Website: http://www.sfnorthbeach.org/

Nightlife Spot: Combined Suggestions

Various neighborhoods in San Francisco are known for different kinds of nightlife. My favorite area is North Beach with its Irish pubs, microbreweries, and pizza joints, and it is known as an area with all types of nightlife and people. The downtown Financial District has mostly pubs that are frequented by businessmen and tourists. Union Square and Chestnut Street near the Marina are centers for some of the most popular bars for those in their twenties and thirties. SoMa is famous for its dance clubs, and the Castro is known for its abundance of gay nightlife.

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Theme: Adult Spot

Nightlife Spot: SOMA District

Nova is a comfy little bar in SOMA just a few blocks from AT&T Park. We stopped in around 12:30am after the game and a few drinks down the street at Tres Agave. We grabbed the big oval table in the very back next to the restrooms and had a few rounds of beer before leaving just a little after 1am. Most drinks were around $5 each.

The bar/restaurant is in a long, narrow building and dominated by a bar on one side that runs the entire length, and a single row of tables down the wall on the other side. Maybe a little trendy, but not over the top. They also have food, but we were a little late for dinner.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Dress Code: Maybe work clothes in the afternoon, pretty casual at night.
Phone: (415) 543-2282
Address: 555 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
Directions: SOMA between Bryant and Brannan
Website: http://www.novabar.com/
Other Contact: res@novabar.com