night life in SF / day time? (San Francisco, Marina: lease, hotel, house)

[wuaname]

Hello all,

We are visiting SF in June on business and will have some free time. It's been 2-3 yrs since I've been there, so need some help please.

Is there somewhere with some nightlife on a Wed / Thurs evening? I am thinking similar to South Beach here in Miami (without the beach, lol).. or a nice bar / restaurants to go with wife? With music? We're staying at the Drake, but Fisherman's wharf as no night life, I think? I went there during the day last time...

We're doing the Alcatraz tour and just stroll by Fisherman's Wharf on one of the days. I remember last time, I took the trolly down a few blocks away from Fisherman's Wharf and walked through some beautiful homes on a hill with flowers and landscaping, etc.. What's the name of that area??

Anything else to do during the day in that area for the wife while I am in meetings?

thanks

[NYC809]

Wait, you're looking for nightlife similar to Sobe? My god, I thought you would be wanting to get away from that scene completely and and experience something not offered in Miami. I live in Miami (Brickell) and we are moving to San Francisco in July. Can't wait!

[wuaname]

LOL, you have a point, you know just a bar with music, "night life".... not some whole in the wall , lol, we are traveling.... Brickell is nice, something like marybrickellvillage, or Lincoln road, I guess.. Brickell is very nice btw..

Any suggestions of something "not offered in miami'? We're open.. just don't want to stay in the hotel / finance district every night

[gone down south]

The Mission is grungy, SoMa is clubby.

[mayorhaggar]

Union Square is pretty lively at night. It is full of tourists but compared to somewhere like Fisherman's Wharf it's not super touristy. There are some really old local restaurants around there, go on yelp and find some recommended places. North Beach is lively at night too but you might find it a bit rowdy for your tastes.

Unfortunately I can't really recommend any restaurants in Union Square because I never really went there for dinner. The Gold Dust Lounge is a great old school bar but I think it's either closed down now or in the process of closing, they had some kind of lease problem going on. Honestly I never found a really good restaurant in North Beach, it has a lot of Italian places but all the ones I tried there were pretty crummy. It has some good bars and coffee shops though like Spec's and Caffe Trieste, though it also has a lot of greasy strip clubs and bars that tend to attract rowdy frat bro types.

Chinatown is nearby and is cool to walk around at night, but most restaurants there are not that good. I always recommend Hunan Homes and House of Nanking.

[dalparadise]

I would recommend Cafe Claude, in the Union Square area. They will have a jazz trio and delicious French cuisine. The music is background, but if you want something more, Oz is right around the corner with great jazz bands every night. Plus, there are many very nice hotel bars nearby with live music and dancing that aren't hole-in-the-wall joints. The Starlight Room is right in your hotel, in fact.

Try the Clift, down the street on Geary for hip contemporary or the Tonga Room up on Nob Hill for a kind of kitschy tiki bar scene that is a lot of fun. SOMA places would be nice, too and there are always interesting things happening in North Beach, though the grunge factor there might be higher than you want. The music will be great, though.

Have fun exploring. That's a big part of the experience.

[dmode]

Cafe claude is a good recommendation. I would also recommend hanging out in the Marina area, especially around Chestnut or Union streets. Chestnut is always buzzing and they have a ton of bars and restaurants.

[Gatorgrad2004]

Waterbar by the Embarcadero near the Bay Bridge, there is also the Americano and a few other bars/restaurants in that area. If it's not foggy, it is very nice to go for a walk around there during the day and grab some drinks/food by that area. Not sure if Watebar still got the $1 oyster though, but ask them, great deal!

[eureka1]

Have "the wife" call the Visitors' Bureau and ask about walking tours.

[andyadhi01]

Originally Posted by wuaname

Hello all,

We are visiting SF in June on business and will have some free time. It's been 2-3 yrs since I've been there, so need some help please.

Is there somewhere with some nightlife on a Wed / Thurs evening? I am thinking similar to South Beach here in Miami (without the beach, lol).. or a nice bar / restaurants to go with wife? With music? We're staying at the Drake, but Fisherman's wharf as no night life, I think? I went there during the day last time...

We're doing the Alcatraz tour and just stroll by Fisherman's Wharf on one of the days. I remember last time, I took the trolly down a few blocks away from Fisherman's Wharf and walked through some beautiful homes on a hill with flowers and landscaping, etc.. What's the name of that area??

Anything else to do during the day in that area for the wife while I am in meetings?

thanks

Night life ends at 9 pm around here! You can go to the 24h Denny's for fun