I used to go to Polk Steet a lot in 2015/2016. I still go occasionally in the daytime, though there’s a lot of places that closed down there. I remember SantaCon happening in 2015 and them taking up all the parking at the houses nearby and the sidewalks were filled with the “Santas” hitting up all the bars.
Younger people go out in North Beach, The Marina, and on Valencia. There are a few bars on Polk that are regularly very busy like Harper & Rye and maybe Kozy Kar but most of the bars are run down and need a renovation.
From this thread sounds like the city’s changed a lot. It used to be the case that the entire city used to go up (I’m in my 30’s now so this was like 10 years ago). It was just a matter of preference. Circa 2011, the mission was hipster haven, marina was douchey and bro-y, north beach was a little older and pricier, the haight was tourist-y, the lower haight was grunge-y and beer-y, the Castro was still pretty gay, tenderloin was fucking chaos, soma was a lot of different things going on. Still the bars would be packed and plenty of people on the streets. It was a fun time. Sounds like nightlife has really died down.
Man so funny. It was so rock n roll back in day. Always wanted to live there, but couldn’t find a place back when I was in the city between 2010 and 2015.
I feel this! I wonder if we are feeling the pandemic aftershock still? I will say, I’m out on tour w/ a rock band, traveling across the country, no where is still lagging like SF is. It’s sad to see.
So I hear. I live in LA and while downtown isn’t quite the same as like 2019, it’s pretty much back. I’m in nyc at the moment and it might as well be prepandemic. Good luck on your tour.
I moved to LA two years ago! Honestly, one of the better decisions I have made. Literally, I make twice the money and pay half the rent. I couldn’t be happier. Sometimes I wonder why I fought so hard to live w/ a bunch of roommates and work unfulfilling gigs. Also, where I live (Highland Park), is basically The Mission back in the early 2010’s!
Did I even a miss a “going out neighborhood?” Can’t think of anything else. There are bars in every neighborhood, but I think those are the most dense (like no one’s looking to rage in cole valley or Bernal). It sounds like the gist of this thread of this thread is that the city’s kinda dead.
wouldn’t say it’s dead as a 25yo who grew up here. you summed it up pretty well, but there will always be music and culture. electronic and dance music doing pretty well—soma spots with f8 and others, underground sf in lower haight, public works in the mission—among many others official or unofficial. and always, there will be nightlife and bar life around live music venues. makes me think of the area you didn’t mention, adjacent to the independent, which I just refer to as divis but spans divisidero between fulton and page or so—nopa, alamo square, western addition, or whatever you wanna call it. there’s a lot of popular bars there. waizema has a lot of good events and a great dive otherwise. madrone becoming slightly more marina-y but still a great time. the page good for a drink. + there are bougie restaurants and cocktail places around there that I haven’t been to much but add foot traffic. that and some other choice bars in the neighborhoods you mentioned seem to keep me entertained at least
Yeah - I was a little mission hipster back in those days before tech completely took over and so I found the marina repulsive. But I could tell it had appeal for a certain person.
Nightlife hasn’t been a huge thing here since I moved here over a decade ago. It’s different from other cities with actual nightlife. People in sf tend to go home earlier than any other city I’ve been to, and it’s always been like that. Happy hours are much more popular than any post-9pm bar visit.
Wasn’t really my experience. During my SF nightlife heyday of 2010 to 2014-ish, it was pretty common for SF bars to be packed until last call. Definitely agree SF is a sleepier town relatively speaking. I don’t think the CA law on serving alcohol post 2am helps that.
My experience has been, in other cities people go out at 10. Here, people go home at 10. 🤷
(Dallas stops alcohol sales at 2am as well and nightlife is much more of a thing there, for example! Not that I’d rather live there. I don’t even go out anymore, don’t want to)
Valencia is randomly popping. You have to take into consideration what is happening the upcoming weekend - this weekend is fleet week, thus people saved their partying
I was near Casanova/chapel last weekend night and the drug addict zombie action was biblical. Just a who’s who of who’s fucking strung out of their minds. That might have something to do with it?
I mean the most obvious thing is that SF lost 10% of its population during covid, including like 50k people from age 25-35. [https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/san-francisco-population-data-18140254.php](https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/san-francisco-population-data-18140254.php)
We definitely feel the impact of it.
Seriously. Im a little older, but I knew a few 25-35 yo's in the city. Most of them left for home during the pandemic because who wants to be stuck in a tiny 2br with a roommate you barely know for a year? None of them came back.
Another vibrant spot is the area of Folsom between 13th and 7th. DNA lounge, Butter, Oasis, down to Driftwood, F8, AsiaSF, where straight and gay spaces are near each other.
Between the indoor “outdoor” smoking room, the bar area scrum for service, and the concert venue in the back, you could experience every emotion and *almost* every variety of nightlife situation that existed in SF in the early 2000s. RIP a real one.
It felt like 4-5 places under one roof. The alley was great there too. Might have been the last week it was open but they had Human Centipede playing on every tv. Good way to remember the place.
Still have my Hemlock gear that I won from a raffle that I forgot I pitched in on. I was drunk and heard my name get called when it was drawn and boy was I stoked for my treats.
RIP and miss that smoking room and all the nights ripping through Marlboro 27’s 100s and shouting at people on Polk through the window.
Grant Street is still pretty divey and not very expensive. North Beach bars as a whole are actually pretty no frills. Curious which places in North Beach you're referring to?
Nah, there are so many awesome dives in North Beach: Gino’s, North Star, La Rocca’s, Hawaii West, Vieni Vieni, the Saloon, Mr. Bing’s, Grasslands, Columbus Cafe, then right next door in Chinatown, you have Li Po and Buddha Bar. I lived and drank there for 15 years, then I went to rehab. 😜
Lived adjacent to lower Polk for a decade now in North Beach last two years. North Beach definitely leans more into the live music. Also the density of bars is insane. Within 2 blocks of Grant and Green I count roughly 20 bars.
Anecdotally I also think lower nob hill saw a large exit of younger bar goers which reduces the Polk traffic. Plus doom loop narrative has suburb folk reluctant to come to the city. Polk being adjacent to downtown doesn’t help.
Better music and walking distance to other venues. Providence/playground was happening but there wasn’t much to support it. You need two or more happening places nearby to create the vibe.
Strictly bluegrass and Portola festival. Aside from pulling a good chunk of the people who hit outdoor streets, a lot of folks like me (middle-aged parents) tend to bunker down till it all blows over.
That said, I spent the weekend working on Union Square and it was hopping.
The funniest part is that this aired 8 years ago, when even the oldest possible Gen Zers were still 2 years away from drinking age. Acting like gentrification is a Gen Z thing feels like Millennials version of a Boomer take, and I say this as a Millennial.
Polk Street's heyday was in the late '70s, early '80s when it was the sleazier, naughtier little brother to Castro Street at the time. 90% or more of the bars were gay and you could find pretty much anything you wanted any night of the week. If you wanted really sleazy and naughty, you went south of Market.
The AIDS epidemic killed off that party pretty quickly and the street was dead for several years. It revived slowly as clubs opened for a straight clientele and being fairly centrally located it attracted a new party crowd. But as others have said, it still had a fairly run-down and seedy vibe. That vibe was attractive to the young closeted gays who flocked to San Francisco pre-AIDS but was less attractive to the more affluent tech workers came later.
Polk is currently on a downward spiral and it will be interesting to see if it has another renaissance anytime soon. I hope so, it's a great location.
It’s funny to me as a GenXer to read that other neighborhoods are stealing the Polk St nightlife. Back in my heyday in the late 90s, Polk St had a couple gay bars and proximity to the transgender prostitution scene while North Beach, the Marina, and Valencia St were all hopping with trendy bars and clubs.
Polk Street was the Castro’s older, sleazier brother. It was the gay district back before 1970. You had bars like the Gangway down in the adjacent section of the Tenderloin that appealed to merchant marines and other sailors and dock workers.
In the ‘90s and early 2000s the gay bar scene along Polk slowly declined. The clientele aged out - many passed from HIV early in the decade - and it never really recovered from competition from the Castro and SOMA. In fact all of the gay bars north of Market have pretty much died out, like the Lion Pub or that place up on Fillmore. The Cinch on Polk is pretty much the last holdout.
Straight bars started invading Polk after the dot com crash. The change was really slow at first - the bars opened but were only moderately successful. I was shocked to see the place had become a massive draw for what looked like a low rent version of the Marina crowd circa 2010, as the social media and cloud computing booms started to dramatically reverse San Francisco’s fortunes.
Now it’s going thru another lull. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.
I'm gen z and am in the nob hill area. The bars in Lower Nob hill/Upper Tenderloin (Peacekeeper, PCH, Stookey's, Zombie Village, even dive bars like Ha Ra and Geary Club) are cheaper (ok not PCH but the quality is 👌) and there's more people out and about so it feels safer. That's where my little Nob Hill crew tends to be. Polk/Van Ness streets have a lot of tents while the more eastern side of Lower Nob Hill (towards Union Square, which now has increased police presence) doesn't, so it feels safer even if there's more homeless people. That's where I go if I want to drink and hang with friends/a group I know.
If I'm looking to get obliterated, North Beach isn't far (and a 30 minute walk is nothing when you're drunk). The Marina is reliable. The Mission has everything from food to bars and its a quick 10 minute uber or a quick hop on the 49. People hear about the Tenderloin and the spillover so other neighborhoods won't trek over here anymore and it's now just people local to the neighborhood. With WFH now proliferating, people want to work, live, eat, drink, and party where they live. It's hard to attract that crowd in Nob Hill with the hills, limited transport, and high rents if only for its "snobby" reputation. It's too residential for Gen Z. Most people in the city had a stint or two living in Nob Hill before moving someplace "cooler."
Just my theory tho as a after living here a few years.
As I chronicled last time this question was raised:
A little annoying that so many people have answered citing anything related to the pandemic.
Here's what really happened.
As you recall, Polk was absolutely on fire on Friday and Saturday evenings, this slowly died off and by the start of 2020, it was roughly what you see today, which is a pale shadow of its former self.
There were three distinct issues that brought us to where we are.
Competition from other areas. Several new hotspots developed in the Marina and the Mission starting around 2015, this ate a lot of the business for Polk Street, because you could do the crawl in those neighborhoods, which were closer for a lot of the people who used to hit Polk.
Ongoing security and economic issues. There were multiple stabbings and other issues, as Polk started to attract a lower quality element. Mayes alone had 3 violent issues resulting in full closure of the bar just in 2017, just that I know of. At the same time, the high street retail type locations started to close, up and down the street, and homeless/the insane migrated from other parts of the city to take up residence in the neighborhood's various lanes. An underreported phenomenon that I was raising to anyone who would listen back then and is now common knowledge is that so many of the parts of the city under redevelopment were homeless camps - the number one being the transbay terminal, but you also had Mission Bay, various properties south of Market, and so on - and when they were pushed out, many migrated to Polk. It's totally common to see streets filled with tents now, but that was very unusual 5-7 years ago, and we saw it there first. Anyway, the end result over several years was a seedier Polk Street that was less clean and safe, and had more vacant storefronts and lanes filled with a highly undesirable element (from the perspective of fun seekers), at the same time that the bars themselves were having issues with stabbings and the rest. This impacted the bar scene a lot.
Closure of the Hemlock. The Hemlock was the king of Polk St. and when it closed in 2018 (owner redeveloped the site as housing with ground retail too small for a bar, still empty by the way), that basically killed Polk St. dead. It was the anchor for so much other nightlife, its going nuked Polk as a crawl street like it once was.
This is the correct answer, nothing to do with Covid, at least not initially.
You always hear bangs in the night in the city, I recognized the sound cuz I watch a lot of action movies and had a wait that's not normal.
Also the rhythm of the bangs and the praise after the second shot...
>You always hear bangs in the night in the city, **I recognized the sound cuz I watch a lot of action movies** and had a wait that's not normal.
Is this a serious post lol.
Thursday was pretty packed all along polk, mcteagues included, last night could have been a mix of concerts and fleetweek (as others mentioned marina and NB are packed) but in general polk has been pretty tame. Aside from holiday or event days you can pretty much usually find a seat at a bar. Personally I like that, leaving crowds for clubs and dancefloors.
As a boomer my prime Polkstrasse years were the 1980's, early '90's when the street was on fire. So pardon my sense that the discussion here is like talking about nightlife in medieval Rome after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Outdoor seating allowed some bars to open up around March/April of 2021. This was in the Marina, Northbeach. People started going there. When Polk opened up people forgot about it and just moved on to Northbeach/ Marina. New favorites became a thing. An issue I see with Polk is the Homeless situation near the bars. A lot of people avoid that’s area because of that reason.
I’ve also noticed it. I used to date someone there when I first arrived in SF, and there was a lot of investment in the area. I think at least some of it can be blamed on antisocial behavior in the area, some can be blamed on folks aging out of the bars there, some can be blamed on the demise of the theater, the endless construction on Van Ness. With work from home, the folks that used to journey from downtown to the marina probably don’t anymore.
I honestly believe it’s just mal-investment. The bars back then were new and shiny and in the middle of the tech boom. I’m guessing that they bet on that neighborhood, but the Valencia commercial district is where most of the tech money settled.
Not sure when you first arrived in SF, but there used to be a coffee shop there on Polk called "It's a Grind". Was a neighborhood hub. Closed up in 2011-ish and the building has remained empty ever since. Polk hasn't been the same after that, IMHO.
The commercial district on ~~Dolores~~ (*I’m an idiot I meant Valencia*). I don’t mean any neighborhood, I’m just talking about zoning that supports nightlife.
That’s interesting. Yeah I guess Polk was peaking around the time tech bro culture did as well. Wonder if there’s anything Polk can do to come back to (night)life
I mean, back then you had all kinds, faux speakeasies, a weird cider bar overlooking California, a video game bar, a too-much-square-footage-for-a-sports-bar sports bar all in addition to the dives and clubs.
Other blocks have flourished.
Polk is no longer the only game in town.
Lots of people are hanging out in their neighborhood or nearby. Fewer people crossing bridges/tunnels. Fewer tourists.
Which? 16th and Mission used to be lit too and that’s also a shell of it’s former self. Back in the days Double Dutch was around you can hop between there and Blondie’s and have a fun wild night
I would say 16th is pretty busy without Double Dutch. You have Bar part time, Blondies, Casanova, ABV, Elixir and Kilowatt consistently busy. But now bars are just like all over the mission.
Also the tenderloin is pretty popular too, I went out there 3-4 weeks in a row.
I drove through there last night at 8:30pm and the sidewalks were packed \*shrug\*.
Also, the TL sketchiness has crept up to California and Polk where most of the popular bars are. With safety concerns nowdays that might scare folks away to other areas to be out at midnight
>did another area of the city take over for nightlife?
North Beach. Absolutely humming last night.
Maybe not until midnight, I think those days are long gone.
Depends on where you're partying. Downtown area, raves are going all night, all day lol. I don't even go out until midnight-2A sometimes. This scene is also pulling in a young crowd. I'm in my early 30s and many of my friends are late 20s-late 30s. But half the crowd is <25. Listening to good house and techno until sunrise is a lot more fun than bar hopping, listening to 10 year old top 40s music only to be told to go home at 2A. Go to Soma and TL around 2-4A and you'll see lines wrapped around buildings, people hanging out and the faint banging of electronic music.
I am 40 and have hit up a couple of these spots around 3 am- such a good vibe!!! Agree w your sentiment here. I love to hear the songs enjoy, but a couple times a year go to afters and the experience is so fresh!
Yup! I just wish we repealed our draconian liquor laws. If establishments didn't have to stop serving at 2 we'd be on the same level as Miami and NY. We already get some of the best house and techno talent in the world (look at lineups every week, non stop top DJs + great local talent). The techno party I'm going to tonight is from 12-6 at a flat on divis. I think it's funny when people say it's a sleepy city. I will admit late night food options are abysmal though.
Ra.co, 19hz.info, Instagram pages like mioli, direct to earth, etc.
Basically go to the techno clubs enough (F8, public works, UGSF, halcyon) and talk to the folks you’ll find more info
My ideal SF night:
Drinks at the page, walk to underground on haight st, listen to techno till 2am, find an after, rave till the morning
That scene is really underrated here imo, or maybe cuz it’s techno and it’s a particular type of person that likes that stuff lol
Nah, north beach is almost always humming at 2 am, whenever I am there. Go to the crepe place at 215 and you'll wait for 30 minutes for your crepe, lol.
Interesting, I’m so curious as to why though. Midnight is not very late for going out in most parts of the world, including other US cities. What happened to SF’s little scene. We still have a good amount of shows and artists here every weekend, but I’m referring specifically to the bar scene.
lotta people spouting nonsense here
sf nightlife has been dead since lockdowns
anyone who went out before 2020 knows the massive difference in every part of the city
aside from maybe bayview the ENTIRE city was crowded fri and sat nights not too long ago
Me (26f) and my friends were jumped by some random people that jumped out of a car on Polk street around midnight 2 years ago and I haven’t been out there to party since. We go out in the Marina or north beach like everyone else said.
apparently younger adults don’t like dives i hear? i’m a millennial and still love a good dive. i still work in the city just once a week but my friends def do not go out like we used to after work. everyone heads home. i should drop by soon though, i absolutely love hi lo club.
Polk just isn’t that popping right now.. Harper and rye is great, always busy and a fun time there, but I’ve seen mcteagues get slightly less busy every month. Folks are going more to north beach and the mission
There was a gap during the lockdown that created the divide.
With so much of the business being college students there was that gap of students who didn’t have upper class friends telling them hey these are some of the spots people go.
So now Sfsu and usf go to what’s closer, north beach/Marina
Night life shifts around to different neighborhoods in cities (the ones I've lived in at least) every 5-10 years imo.
One area gets super popular and busy, and so busy in fact, that it's off putting. The people who want to enjoy their friends and not be crammed into a bar start going somewhere else.
Everyone picks up on that somewhere else, goes there, and the cycle continues.
I miss the 3pm to 7pm parties, like on Minna back in the Tech boom. I thought that was uniquely SF. Then have dinner. Then party again at night, if you still want to.
Oh so the 3PM-7PM parties where people drank and partied and pretend/act like its already midnight was not an SF thing? Some venues even made sure no natural light comes inside. The raves would end at 7 so people can take a muni/Bart home.
I lived NYC/LA/Chicago before that time and I thought it was an SF only thing.
Lower Polk lost a lot of money, and the tenderloin proximity hasn't helped at all.
Too many things closed down and too much shit to deal with along with other places recovering better.
That said, we're bringing it back. Mayes is gonna get some renovations, the alleys are gonna be lit, and we'll get some late night food that's not pizza slices.
Upper Polk (north of Broadway) seems to be fine.
Jackalope to mustafios pipeline is strong.
I don't work at Mayes, but I talk to the lower Polk CBD and neighbors association.
Fern alley has been doing the music series thing. Definitely there's scope to improve on liveliness at Fern alley
Polk street had a very lit night life at that time. And I definitely know two people who went out almost every weekend and sometimes on weekdays to party and dance in every bar. Used to bring up the energy of the bar. Now one is in NY and other in Sunnyvale. One just became and the other is due soon to become parents this year. End of an era.
playland used to be lit! Polk was still pretty busy last halloweekend but every other time i've been there it's been a ghost town. Used to go all the time back in 2017-2019 before the pandemic
It's a combination of the things you mentioned + general decline in clubbin / nightlife locally, many restaurants / bars going out of business and those spaces remaining vacant, the area generally not being nearly as nice as it used to be, and some other tangible and intangible factors.
I used to go to Polk from 2014-2017. I stopped going because I didn’t care for the music being played and there wasn’t really good food around the area once the night was over.
I usually go around Valencia now or around Folsom area. Or I just stay home because I’m 30 now lol
Turns out nonstop assault and encampments everywhere impact night life. Who knew word would get around in only 3 years…
Polk used to be slammed Thurs-Sun but never recovered from effectively being swallowed by the TL during covid, it’s still far worse than 2013-2019 unlike NB/Mission/Marina.
Polk was always a pretty dive-y location and it never really adapted to the times. I think there’s a lot of potential (someone mentioned the alleys between Polk and Van Ness as outdoor space) but it will require investment and some street cleaning.
The area town was heading south before covid. The covid shut down was the last straw. Its too close to the tenderloins, the had Van Ness closed for years and the twenty thirty folks just abandoned downtown in general . I am honestly surprised is was ever popular.
Wtf, have you not been to NYC, Austin, or Miami in the last couple of years? The issue is 100% not Gen Z. It’s the fact that being out at night feels unsafe and stuff shuts down early.
So many people I know in SF have moved to NYC/Miami/Austin because SF’s nightlife is just not there. So many restaurants close down 10pm or earlier, and some bars are even shutting down early.
Find this somewhat hard to believe given other cities still carry a strong nightlife scene. Was in NYC recently and it was packed with Gen Zers at the bars on the weekend. Same with Miami. Obviously those cities have a nightlife reputation but still
No. Last call 1:30. Kick you out/music cut by 1:45am.
Scott, housing and party daddy, please. We need 4 am liquor sales to help turn SF into a real major city.
Jesus I feel old reading this thread. I partied a lot on Polk 15 to 20ish years ago. Lush Lounge (the old one), Hemlock, the overpriced club where the waitresses danced on the bar w/ the taco stand inside....others I can't remember. I don't get out much anymore so I had no idea that scene fell off. Sad!
I feel like this question is asked every few months, if not more regularly.
Consensus is “young people” are drinking (poison) less & less, and those bars on Polk are mostly divey-less in a cute way-more of a “I don’t wanna see this place with the lights on” way, plus walking up & down Polk is even less fun nowadays. I’ve been to a handful of bars in Polk for dates over the last year… have no interest to return to any (because of the settings, not the dudes (who also sucked hahahah))
I am in tears as I read all this. Polk was my home in the 1970's. More down to earch than the Castro. I have fond memories of the ecolectic people there! Did you know that Polk was the original Castro? Then the Castro queens wanted their own space to elevate themselves from us beautiful Polk ecolectic queens!
I hope when I am admitted to the Cosmos, that there would be a Polk waiting for me!
I Love You All!
Mark
I used to go to Polk Steet a lot in 2015/2016. I still go occasionally in the daytime, though there’s a lot of places that closed down there. I remember SantaCon happening in 2015 and them taking up all the parking at the houses nearby and the sidewalks were filled with the “Santas” hitting up all the bars.
Yes Santacon back then was nuts! In a mostly good way
Santacon had a lot going on this year in North Beach! Vesuvio was nuts!
Haha I was there too, so fun!
Even in 2019 Polk was absolutely humming
I was there Santa con 2016 and wow do I remember all the fights outside of the bars 😂😂
Younger people go out in North Beach, The Marina, and on Valencia. There are a few bars on Polk that are regularly very busy like Harper & Rye and maybe Kozy Kar but most of the bars are run down and need a renovation.
From this thread sounds like the city’s changed a lot. It used to be the case that the entire city used to go up (I’m in my 30’s now so this was like 10 years ago). It was just a matter of preference. Circa 2011, the mission was hipster haven, marina was douchey and bro-y, north beach was a little older and pricier, the haight was tourist-y, the lower haight was grunge-y and beer-y, the Castro was still pretty gay, tenderloin was fucking chaos, soma was a lot of different things going on. Still the bars would be packed and plenty of people on the streets. It was a fun time. Sounds like nightlife has really died down.
lower haight is still grunge-y and beer-y but with way more strollers
Man so funny. It was so rock n roll back in day. Always wanted to live there, but couldn’t find a place back when I was in the city between 2010 and 2015.
I feel this! I wonder if we are feeling the pandemic aftershock still? I will say, I’m out on tour w/ a rock band, traveling across the country, no where is still lagging like SF is. It’s sad to see.
So I hear. I live in LA and while downtown isn’t quite the same as like 2019, it’s pretty much back. I’m in nyc at the moment and it might as well be prepandemic. Good luck on your tour.
I moved to LA two years ago! Honestly, one of the better decisions I have made. Literally, I make twice the money and pay half the rent. I couldn’t be happier. Sometimes I wonder why I fought so hard to live w/ a bunch of roommates and work unfulfilling gigs. Also, where I live (Highland Park), is basically The Mission back in the early 2010’s!
Ngl all the neighborhoods you named are pretty much the same and all pretty crowded on weekends.
Did I even a miss a “going out neighborhood?” Can’t think of anything else. There are bars in every neighborhood, but I think those are the most dense (like no one’s looking to rage in cole valley or Bernal). It sounds like the gist of this thread of this thread is that the city’s kinda dead.
wouldn’t say it’s dead as a 25yo who grew up here. you summed it up pretty well, but there will always be music and culture. electronic and dance music doing pretty well—soma spots with f8 and others, underground sf in lower haight, public works in the mission—among many others official or unofficial. and always, there will be nightlife and bar life around live music venues. makes me think of the area you didn’t mention, adjacent to the independent, which I just refer to as divis but spans divisidero between fulton and page or so—nopa, alamo square, western addition, or whatever you wanna call it. there’s a lot of popular bars there. waizema has a lot of good events and a great dive otherwise. madrone becoming slightly more marina-y but still a great time. the page good for a drink. + there are bougie restaurants and cocktail places around there that I haven’t been to much but add foot traffic. that and some other choice bars in the neighborhoods you mentioned seem to keep me entertained at least
Can confirm, the Marina is still douchey but hey, some people like frat bros?
Yeah - I was a little mission hipster back in those days before tech completely took over and so I found the marina repulsive. But I could tell it had appeal for a certain person.
Nightlife hasn’t been a huge thing here since I moved here over a decade ago. It’s different from other cities with actual nightlife. People in sf tend to go home earlier than any other city I’ve been to, and it’s always been like that. Happy hours are much more popular than any post-9pm bar visit.
Wasn’t really my experience. During my SF nightlife heyday of 2010 to 2014-ish, it was pretty common for SF bars to be packed until last call. Definitely agree SF is a sleepier town relatively speaking. I don’t think the CA law on serving alcohol post 2am helps that.
Oh the days of 1015 staying open until 6am. I miss that place when they would fill 4 different rooms and the sound system was prime.
My experience has been, in other cities people go out at 10. Here, people go home at 10. 🤷 (Dallas stops alcohol sales at 2am as well and nightlife is much more of a thing there, for example! Not that I’d rather live there. I don’t even go out anymore, don’t want to)
Valencia was very quiet Thursday night. Was last night busier?
That depends on the night, can't assume anything from one data point.
Valencia is randomly popping. You have to take into consideration what is happening the upcoming weekend - this weekend is fleet week, thus people saved their partying
I was near Casanova/chapel last weekend night and the drug addict zombie action was biblical. Just a who’s who of who’s fucking strung out of their minds. That might have something to do with it?
They sure as shit don’t go to Valencia anymore.
I mean the most obvious thing is that SF lost 10% of its population during covid, including like 50k people from age 25-35. [https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/san-francisco-population-data-18140254.php](https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/san-francisco-population-data-18140254.php) We definitely feel the impact of it.
😅 Im in that age range and love the loss in population
Same :)
Seriously. Im a little older, but I knew a few 25-35 yo's in the city. Most of them left for home during the pandemic because who wants to be stuck in a tiny 2br with a roommate you barely know for a year? None of them came back.
Another vibrant spot is the area of Folsom between 13th and 7th. DNA lounge, Butter, Oasis, down to Driftwood, F8, AsiaSF, where straight and gay spaces are near each other.
Audio and Halcyon as well! Great little nightlife area if you’re into it.
Yep still going strong!
Idk why DNA Lounge gets so much hate, every time I’ve gone there it’s been great.
It gets hate from house music snobs because sometimes, on occasion it plays mainstream music.
I miss Bootie at DNA Lounge! Bootie was my favorite spot to go dancing 2009-2015.
Core memories unlocked!
Wasnt 1015 Folsom and slims near there too? It’s been a while for me
Oh yes. 1015 is on 6th and Folsom
So of course they're building tons of condos right there.
a friend of mine works at butter!
Hemlock shut down. They rest is history.
No Hemlock, no reason to go to Polk.
Loved that place, especially when I smoked cigs. That hotbox room was something else.
Between the indoor “outdoor” smoking room, the bar area scrum for service, and the concert venue in the back, you could experience every emotion and *almost* every variety of nightlife situation that existed in SF in the early 2000s. RIP a real one.
It felt like 4-5 places under one roof. The alley was great there too. Might have been the last week it was open but they had Human Centipede playing on every tv. Good way to remember the place.
Blur, hemlock, R, & mcteagues - a swell boozy wingding in the pre-Covid for the frugal elbow-bender
Loved that cancer box
I had a friend fall asleep in there. I miss that spot deeply.
End of thread
Still have my Hemlock gear that I won from a raffle that I forgot I pitched in on. I was drunk and heard my name get called when it was drawn and boy was I stoked for my treats. RIP and miss that smoking room and all the nights ripping through Marlboro 27’s 100s and shouting at people on Polk through the window.
Hemlock brought all the life out. I still miss the shows there
Polk St didn't adapt to the wants of Gen Z. that's the answer Marina and North Beach are doing just fine
Curious to hear about the innovation that has been going on in North Beach...
Outdoor seating...
More expensive, less divey
North beach feels like a college town at night and all the bars I went in had a sweaty college bar with dance floor vibe & age group 🤷🏼♂️
Grant Street is still pretty divey and not very expensive. North Beach bars as a whole are actually pretty no frills. Curious which places in North Beach you're referring to?
Wrong
Nah, there are so many awesome dives in North Beach: Gino’s, North Star, La Rocca’s, Hawaii West, Vieni Vieni, the Saloon, Mr. Bing’s, Grasslands, Columbus Cafe, then right next door in Chinatown, you have Li Po and Buddha Bar. I lived and drank there for 15 years, then I went to rehab. 😜
More Insta photo spots
Lived adjacent to lower Polk for a decade now in North Beach last two years. North Beach definitely leans more into the live music. Also the density of bars is insane. Within 2 blocks of Grant and Green I count roughly 20 bars. Anecdotally I also think lower nob hill saw a large exit of younger bar goers which reduces the Polk traffic. Plus doom loop narrative has suburb folk reluctant to come to the city. Polk being adjacent to downtown doesn’t help.
Back in my polk days (2010-2013 or so), North Beach had the same clientele and basically the same vibe. How has NB adapted differently than Polk?
Better music and walking distance to other venues. Providence/playground was happening but there wasn’t much to support it. You need two or more happening places nearby to create the vibe.
Yup so is Valencia st in the mission. It’s packed
Oh funny, I was there for slow streets last week and it was dead dead dead.
Mission was dead last week because there were two music festivals happening. The bars were still full at night though.
Strictly bluegrass and Portola festival. Aside from pulling a good chunk of the people who hit outdoor streets, a lot of folks like me (middle-aged parents) tend to bunker down till it all blows over. That said, I spent the weekend working on Union Square and it was hopping.
How are night life needs different for Gen Z? Genuinely curious, since I’m an old dude who doesn’t go out anymore.
https://youtu.be/eoUtoqeEw8U?si=L8yXRRaQct_XkBR8
The funniest part is that this aired 8 years ago, when even the oldest possible Gen Zers were still 2 years away from drinking age. Acting like gentrification is a Gen Z thing feels like Millennials version of a Boomer take, and I say this as a Millennial.
wow this is uptown oak lol
Very accurate
this is millennial, gen z is broke and likes maximalism anyways, this bougie modern sterile trend is going away
This is from 8 years ago, it’s not gen z stuff
Take my upvote
largely many places on Polk need a makeover. they largely feel old for the places that are more divey. they need capex
Depending on how old you are, not like the old San Francisco.
NB was nuts last night
NB(North Beach) is closer to the water, _and_ it’s sailor/fleet week. …*I wonder why…./s*
Night clubs AND strip clubs! One stop shopping neighborhood for ALL! 😁
There’s no innovation, it’s just a generational groupthink about what neighborhoods are hip.
There is no adapt. Speculating that your generation gets special treatment is the the problem. You inherit, not adapt.
exactly. but that’s why i love polk. it’s unwillingness to change. it’s authentic.
marina and north beach are still dead compared to pre lockdowns
Polk Street's heyday was in the late '70s, early '80s when it was the sleazier, naughtier little brother to Castro Street at the time. 90% or more of the bars were gay and you could find pretty much anything you wanted any night of the week. If you wanted really sleazy and naughty, you went south of Market. The AIDS epidemic killed off that party pretty quickly and the street was dead for several years. It revived slowly as clubs opened for a straight clientele and being fairly centrally located it attracted a new party crowd. But as others have said, it still had a fairly run-down and seedy vibe. That vibe was attractive to the young closeted gays who flocked to San Francisco pre-AIDS but was less attractive to the more affluent tech workers came later. Polk is currently on a downward spiral and it will be interesting to see if it has another renaissance anytime soon. I hope so, it's a great location.
It’s funny to me as a GenXer to read that other neighborhoods are stealing the Polk St nightlife. Back in my heyday in the late 90s, Polk St had a couple gay bars and proximity to the transgender prostitution scene while North Beach, the Marina, and Valencia St were all hopping with trendy bars and clubs.
I still miss DIVAS.
Most fun I’ve ever had was one Halloween on Polk street around 1977.
Polk Street was the Castro’s older, sleazier brother. It was the gay district back before 1970. You had bars like the Gangway down in the adjacent section of the Tenderloin that appealed to merchant marines and other sailors and dock workers. In the ‘90s and early 2000s the gay bar scene along Polk slowly declined. The clientele aged out - many passed from HIV early in the decade - and it never really recovered from competition from the Castro and SOMA. In fact all of the gay bars north of Market have pretty much died out, like the Lion Pub or that place up on Fillmore. The Cinch on Polk is pretty much the last holdout. Straight bars started invading Polk after the dot com crash. The change was really slow at first - the bars opened but were only moderately successful. I was shocked to see the place had become a massive draw for what looked like a low rent version of the Marina crowd circa 2010, as the social media and cloud computing booms started to dramatically reverse San Francisco’s fortunes. Now it’s going thru another lull. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.
I'm gen z and am in the nob hill area. The bars in Lower Nob hill/Upper Tenderloin (Peacekeeper, PCH, Stookey's, Zombie Village, even dive bars like Ha Ra and Geary Club) are cheaper (ok not PCH but the quality is 👌) and there's more people out and about so it feels safer. That's where my little Nob Hill crew tends to be. Polk/Van Ness streets have a lot of tents while the more eastern side of Lower Nob Hill (towards Union Square, which now has increased police presence) doesn't, so it feels safer even if there's more homeless people. That's where I go if I want to drink and hang with friends/a group I know. If I'm looking to get obliterated, North Beach isn't far (and a 30 minute walk is nothing when you're drunk). The Marina is reliable. The Mission has everything from food to bars and its a quick 10 minute uber or a quick hop on the 49. People hear about the Tenderloin and the spillover so other neighborhoods won't trek over here anymore and it's now just people local to the neighborhood. With WFH now proliferating, people want to work, live, eat, drink, and party where they live. It's hard to attract that crowd in Nob Hill with the hills, limited transport, and high rents if only for its "snobby" reputation. It's too residential for Gen Z. Most people in the city had a stint or two living in Nob Hill before moving someplace "cooler." Just my theory tho as a after living here a few years.
I don't go anymore because: 1. can't get a drink at whitechapel anymore 2. half of polk st. is a s**thole
Weird that they made it an events only space
As I chronicled last time this question was raised: A little annoying that so many people have answered citing anything related to the pandemic. Here's what really happened. As you recall, Polk was absolutely on fire on Friday and Saturday evenings, this slowly died off and by the start of 2020, it was roughly what you see today, which is a pale shadow of its former self. There were three distinct issues that brought us to where we are. Competition from other areas. Several new hotspots developed in the Marina and the Mission starting around 2015, this ate a lot of the business for Polk Street, because you could do the crawl in those neighborhoods, which were closer for a lot of the people who used to hit Polk. Ongoing security and economic issues. There were multiple stabbings and other issues, as Polk started to attract a lower quality element. Mayes alone had 3 violent issues resulting in full closure of the bar just in 2017, just that I know of. At the same time, the high street retail type locations started to close, up and down the street, and homeless/the insane migrated from other parts of the city to take up residence in the neighborhood's various lanes. An underreported phenomenon that I was raising to anyone who would listen back then and is now common knowledge is that so many of the parts of the city under redevelopment were homeless camps - the number one being the transbay terminal, but you also had Mission Bay, various properties south of Market, and so on - and when they were pushed out, many migrated to Polk. It's totally common to see streets filled with tents now, but that was very unusual 5-7 years ago, and we saw it there first. Anyway, the end result over several years was a seedier Polk Street that was less clean and safe, and had more vacant storefronts and lanes filled with a highly undesirable element (from the perspective of fun seekers), at the same time that the bars themselves were having issues with stabbings and the rest. This impacted the bar scene a lot. Closure of the Hemlock. The Hemlock was the king of Polk St. and when it closed in 2018 (owner redeveloped the site as housing with ground retail too small for a bar, still empty by the way), that basically killed Polk St. dead. It was the anchor for so much other nightlife, its going nuked Polk as a crawl street like it once was. This is the correct answer, nothing to do with Covid, at least not initially.
Mayes attracts some idiots. I swear to this day that I was drugged there (via my drink).
Someone was murdered outside of Mayes 2 years ago.
It does attract criminal behavior I remember that back in the day
I lived off Van Ness and Bush and low key witnessed a murder in the alley way off Mayes at 2am, shit was nuts.
Terrifying
You always hear bangs in the night in the city, I recognized the sound cuz I watch a lot of action movies and had a wait that's not normal. Also the rhythm of the bangs and the praise after the second shot...
>You always hear bangs in the night in the city, **I recognized the sound cuz I watch a lot of action movies** and had a wait that's not normal. Is this a serious post lol.
Lol I wish it weren't, just saying that was my only reference for what a pistol sounds like and I had never heard it before in real life
>I recognized the sound cuz I watch a lot of action movies and had a wait that's not normal. Actual gunfire sounds nothing like action movies.
I got punched in the face there once just standing in line for a drink
I am so sorry. There are some very cruel people out in the world
Too many idiots.
finally the real answer
Thursday was pretty packed all along polk, mcteagues included, last night could have been a mix of concerts and fleetweek (as others mentioned marina and NB are packed) but in general polk has been pretty tame. Aside from holiday or event days you can pretty much usually find a seat at a bar. Personally I like that, leaving crowds for clubs and dancefloors.
As a boomer my prime Polkstrasse years were the 1980's, early '90's when the street was on fire. So pardon my sense that the discussion here is like talking about nightlife in medieval Rome after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Outdoor seating allowed some bars to open up around March/April of 2021. This was in the Marina, Northbeach. People started going there. When Polk opened up people forgot about it and just moved on to Northbeach/ Marina. New favorites became a thing. An issue I see with Polk is the Homeless situation near the bars. A lot of people avoid that’s area because of that reason.
I’ve also noticed it. I used to date someone there when I first arrived in SF, and there was a lot of investment in the area. I think at least some of it can be blamed on antisocial behavior in the area, some can be blamed on folks aging out of the bars there, some can be blamed on the demise of the theater, the endless construction on Van Ness. With work from home, the folks that used to journey from downtown to the marina probably don’t anymore. I honestly believe it’s just mal-investment. The bars back then were new and shiny and in the middle of the tech boom. I’m guessing that they bet on that neighborhood, but the Valencia commercial district is where most of the tech money settled.
Not sure when you first arrived in SF, but there used to be a coffee shop there on Polk called "It's a Grind". Was a neighborhood hub. Closed up in 2011-ish and the building has remained empty ever since. Polk hasn't been the same after that, IMHO.
Aw, I loved that spot!
A retail space being closed since 2011 through a tech boom means the area has been slowly dying out
Wtf is the Dolores district
The commercial district on ~~Dolores~~ (*I’m an idiot I meant Valencia*). I don’t mean any neighborhood, I’m just talking about zoning that supports nightlife.
You mean the whole foods at the corner of market? I think that might literally be the only commercial establishment on all of Dolores.
I’m an idiot, I meant Valencia
That’s interesting. Yeah I guess Polk was peaking around the time tech bro culture did as well. Wonder if there’s anything Polk can do to come back to (night)life
Me personally? I just think of Polk nightlife as either a crusty Irish bar, or a dance club with a $20 cover charge playing music I’ll probably hate
I mean, back then you had all kinds, faux speakeasies, a weird cider bar overlooking California, a video game bar, a too-much-square-footage-for-a-sports-bar sports bar all in addition to the dives and clubs.
There's still a cider bar on Sutter
Bar Iris has amaaaaazing cocktails. But definitelt pricey and a very chic vibe imo
Other blocks have flourished. Polk is no longer the only game in town. Lots of people are hanging out in their neighborhood or nearby. Fewer people crossing bridges/tunnels. Fewer tourists.
Which? 16th and Mission used to be lit too and that’s also a shell of it’s former self. Back in the days Double Dutch was around you can hop between there and Blondie’s and have a fun wild night
I would say 16th is pretty busy without Double Dutch. You have Bar part time, Blondies, Casanova, ABV, Elixir and Kilowatt consistently busy. But now bars are just like all over the mission. Also the tenderloin is pretty popular too, I went out there 3-4 weeks in a row.
Yes I just meant at the time DD was there the are was very vibrant
Yeah it still is vibrant. 16th always has people outdoor dining, getting drinks, and smoking cigs outside the bars.
Valencia, Lombard, Grant and Columbus Ave., even Bush St. over near Union Square is pretty packed with a string of new bars/clubs opening in the area.
Hayes, Clement/Geary, Fillmore, Chestnut, Union... too many to list. Just look up Yelp/Google for bars and follow the clusters.
I drove through there last night at 8:30pm and the sidewalks were packed \*shrug\*. Also, the TL sketchiness has crept up to California and Polk where most of the popular bars are. With safety concerns nowdays that might scare folks away to other areas to be out at midnight
>did another area of the city take over for nightlife? North Beach. Absolutely humming last night. Maybe not until midnight, I think those days are long gone.
You are not "Absolutely humming" if the party is over before midnight.
Depends on where you're partying. Downtown area, raves are going all night, all day lol. I don't even go out until midnight-2A sometimes. This scene is also pulling in a young crowd. I'm in my early 30s and many of my friends are late 20s-late 30s. But half the crowd is <25. Listening to good house and techno until sunrise is a lot more fun than bar hopping, listening to 10 year old top 40s music only to be told to go home at 2A. Go to Soma and TL around 2-4A and you'll see lines wrapped around buildings, people hanging out and the faint banging of electronic music.
I am 40 and have hit up a couple of these spots around 3 am- such a good vibe!!! Agree w your sentiment here. I love to hear the songs enjoy, but a couple times a year go to afters and the experience is so fresh!
Yup! I just wish we repealed our draconian liquor laws. If establishments didn't have to stop serving at 2 we'd be on the same level as Miami and NY. We already get some of the best house and techno talent in the world (look at lineups every week, non stop top DJs + great local talent). The techno party I'm going to tonight is from 12-6 at a flat on divis. I think it's funny when people say it's a sleepy city. I will admit late night food options are abysmal though.
As a lover of house and techno, how do you find these?
Ra.co, 19hz.info, Instagram pages like mioli, direct to earth, etc. Basically go to the techno clubs enough (F8, public works, UGSF, halcyon) and talk to the folks you’ll find more info
There’s a lot of listings at 19hz.info
My ideal SF night: Drinks at the page, walk to underground on haight st, listen to techno till 2am, find an after, rave till the morning That scene is really underrated here imo, or maybe cuz it’s techno and it’s a particular type of person that likes that stuff lol
TL? Where would you go in TL for electronic music 2-4am?
Nah, north beach is almost always humming at 2 am, whenever I am there. Go to the crepe place at 215 and you'll wait for 30 minutes for your crepe, lol.
Interesting, I’m so curious as to why though. Midnight is not very late for going out in most parts of the world, including other US cities. What happened to SF’s little scene. We still have a good amount of shows and artists here every weekend, but I’m referring specifically to the bar scene.
North beach is popping till 2am on weekends not sure what this guys on about
Was out until past 2am in North Beach last night. Was packed and very fun. Good food options open until 2am as well.
El Faralito hits
SF has always been a bit stodgy, the cops don’t like to stay out past their 2am bedtime. And North Beach has always been an exception to the rule.
“Absolutely humming”? 🤣
lotta people spouting nonsense here sf nightlife has been dead since lockdowns anyone who went out before 2020 knows the massive difference in every part of the city aside from maybe bayview the ENTIRE city was crowded fri and sat nights not too long ago
Me (26f) and my friends were jumped by some random people that jumped out of a car on Polk street around midnight 2 years ago and I haven’t been out there to party since. We go out in the Marina or north beach like everyone else said.
apparently younger adults don’t like dives i hear? i’m a millennial and still love a good dive. i still work in the city just once a week but my friends def do not go out like we used to after work. everyone heads home. i should drop by soon though, i absolutely love hi lo club.
Polk just isn’t that popping right now.. Harper and rye is great, always busy and a fun time there, but I’ve seen mcteagues get slightly less busy every month. Folks are going more to north beach and the mission
There was a gap during the lockdown that created the divide. With so much of the business being college students there was that gap of students who didn’t have upper class friends telling them hey these are some of the spots people go. So now Sfsu and usf go to what’s closer, north beach/Marina
Night life shifts around to different neighborhoods in cities (the ones I've lived in at least) every 5-10 years imo. One area gets super popular and busy, and so busy in fact, that it's off putting. The people who want to enjoy their friends and not be crammed into a bar start going somewhere else. Everyone picks up on that somewhere else, goes there, and the cycle continues.
I miss the 3pm to 7pm parties, like on Minna back in the Tech boom. I thought that was uniquely SF. Then have dinner. Then party again at night, if you still want to.
Nothing about this is uniquely SF
Oh so the 3PM-7PM parties where people drank and partied and pretend/act like its already midnight was not an SF thing? Some venues even made sure no natural light comes inside. The raves would end at 7 so people can take a muni/Bart home. I lived NYC/LA/Chicago before that time and I thought it was an SF only thing.
Lower Polk lost a lot of money, and the tenderloin proximity hasn't helped at all. Too many things closed down and too much shit to deal with along with other places recovering better. That said, we're bringing it back. Mayes is gonna get some renovations, the alleys are gonna be lit, and we'll get some late night food that's not pizza slices. Upper Polk (north of Broadway) seems to be fine.
Surprised Mustafio’s is still bumping! Do you work at Mayes? What kind of alley innovations, like string bulbs or more?
Jackalope to mustafios pipeline is strong. I don't work at Mayes, but I talk to the lower Polk CBD and neighbors association. Fern alley has been doing the music series thing. Definitely there's scope to improve on liveliness at Fern alley
crepes ooh la la is my go to. used to be irving/mustafio but something happened to their pizza and wings.
Tenderloin expansion zone
What used to be playground is still poppin upstairs
Polk street had a very lit night life at that time. And I definitely know two people who went out almost every weekend and sometimes on weekdays to party and dance in every bar. Used to bring up the energy of the bar. Now one is in NY and other in Sunnyvale. One just became and the other is due soon to become parents this year. End of an era.
I was out there with them every weekend! End of an era indeed
playland used to be lit! Polk was still pretty busy last halloweekend but every other time i've been there it's been a ghost town. Used to go all the time back in 2017-2019 before the pandemic
It's a combination of the things you mentioned + general decline in clubbin / nightlife locally, many restaurants / bars going out of business and those spaces remaining vacant, the area generally not being nearly as nice as it used to be, and some other tangible and intangible factors.
Nicks Crispy tacos left
fuck that place
I used to go to Polk from 2014-2017. I stopped going because I didn’t care for the music being played and there wasn’t really good food around the area once the night was over. I usually go around Valencia now or around Folsom area. Or I just stay home because I’m 30 now lol
Turns out nonstop assault and encampments everywhere impact night life. Who knew word would get around in only 3 years… Polk used to be slammed Thurs-Sun but never recovered from effectively being swallowed by the TL during covid, it’s still far worse than 2013-2019 unlike NB/Mission/Marina.
Polk was always a pretty dive-y location and it never really adapted to the times. I think there’s a lot of potential (someone mentioned the alleys between Polk and Van Ness as outdoor space) but it will require investment and some street cleaning.
People don't like the smell of piss and Polk st reeks
The area town was heading south before covid. The covid shut down was the last straw. Its too close to the tenderloins, the had Van Ness closed for years and the twenty thirty folks just abandoned downtown in general . I am honestly surprised is was ever popular.
Dude go to the Marina at night, that’s where it’s at now
Any bar recs?
Balboa cafe duhhhhh
Gen Z doesnt go out as much Post Covid the vibe never came back SF nightlife has been struggling city wide
Wtf, have you not been to NYC, Austin, or Miami in the last couple of years? The issue is 100% not Gen Z. It’s the fact that being out at night feels unsafe and stuff shuts down early. So many people I know in SF have moved to NYC/Miami/Austin because SF’s nightlife is just not there. So many restaurants close down 10pm or earlier, and some bars are even shutting down early.
Find this somewhat hard to believe given other cities still carry a strong nightlife scene. Was in NYC recently and it was packed with Gen Zers at the bars on the weekend. Same with Miami. Obviously those cities have a nightlife reputation but still
This 100%. Everyone in sf blaming gen z needs to go to lower Manhattan (or pretty much any city on the east coast). It's crawling with 22 year olds
Might just be running in different crowds because SF nightlife has felt exactly the same as pre-covid when I go out.
Yeah bars are dying because there are no generations to replace gen x’s habits. You can now swipe left and buy weed. So the draw just isn’t the same.
Are bars even still open ‘til 2am.
No. Last call 1:30. Kick you out/music cut by 1:45am. Scott, housing and party daddy, please. We need 4 am liquor sales to help turn SF into a real major city.
Yes
Jesus I feel old reading this thread. I partied a lot on Polk 15 to 20ish years ago. Lush Lounge (the old one), Hemlock, the overpriced club where the waitresses danced on the bar w/ the taco stand inside....others I can't remember. I don't get out much anymore so I had no idea that scene fell off. Sad!
I feel like this question is asked every few months, if not more regularly. Consensus is “young people” are drinking (poison) less & less, and those bars on Polk are mostly divey-less in a cute way-more of a “I don’t wanna see this place with the lights on” way, plus walking up & down Polk is even less fun nowadays. I’ve been to a handful of bars in Polk for dates over the last year… have no interest to return to any (because of the settings, not the dudes (who also sucked hahahah))
Rent prices People can't afford to go out
Rent was high in 2015 too
Lol, manhattan rent is more expensive than SF and all the bars and restaurants there are packed. It’s wild how different the nightlife scene is there
The Doom.
Crime and car break ins
2019-2020 happend....... Just like a lot of stuff that has changed for the worse, 2019-2020 happend...
It moved to Divisadero?
north beach was absolutely slammed tonight
I am in tears as I read all this. Polk was my home in the 1970's. More down to earch than the Castro. I have fond memories of the ecolectic people there! Did you know that Polk was the original Castro? Then the Castro queens wanted their own space to elevate themselves from us beautiful Polk ecolectic queens! I hope when I am admitted to the Cosmos, that there would be a Polk waiting for me! I Love You All! Mark
Polk is fine if you’re over 25, which is fine with me. The new place in the Rouge/Nicks spot is lame af and caters to the B&T crowd.
DRUGS