Dance Floor

It may have been launched as a semi-private lounge in 2005 (and it does still host private parties), but the days of being “too cool for school” every night of the week are over. This sleek Union Square bar offers a dark upstairs lair for those who want to lounge, and a hip main floor made for dancing. Order your cocktail at the bar trimmed with peacock feathers and watch as the bartenders efficiently pour whatever your heart desires.

This low-lit bar is one of the few places in the neighborhood to feature local DJs spinning hip-hop and world beats. Pack yourself in with the regulars for the $2 happy-hour special, or cruise by on a Sunday for live Brazilian music courtesy of Pagode da Paz Pureza with Grupo Da Sete.

Flat step, Lindy Hop and grind the night away amid the gritty bordello-chic of this Valencia Street hub. The lively crowd varies according to the music that’s playing—anything from bluegrass and karaoke to local bands and DJs. There’s rarely a cover, and with a vast selection of domestic and imported beer, wine and soju concoctions, Amnesia easily delivers on the promise of its name.

Flat step, Lindy Hop and grind the night away amid the gritty bordello-chic of this Valencia Street hub. The lively crowd varies according to the music that’s playing—anything from bluegrass and karaoke to local bands and DJs. There’s rarely a cover, and with a vast selection of domestic and imported beer, wine and soju concoctions, Amnesia easily delivers on the promise of its name.

Surrounded by produce markets, this eccentric dive, where dice players curse in Cantonese and sip the bartender’s secret-recipe cocktails, is easy to overlook. The basement is host to numerous hipster functions, from live music to indie-rock dance parties.

Ms. Pac Man, bingo Thursdays, a pool table and a photo booth—really, what more could you want? How about music (live or spun) all week long? Done.

In this new club, named for the ladies of the evening that once made SoMa’s alleys infamous, you can sip cocktails called the Libertine or Auto da Fe as you settle into a dark corner and thank the heavens thick velvet curtains are keeping the outside world from looking in on you.

In this new club, named for the ladies of the evening that once made SoMa’s alleys infamous, you can sip cocktails called the Libertine or Auto da Fe as you settle into a dark corner and thank the heavens thick velvet curtains are keeping the outside world from looking in on you.

Slightly sinister Victoriana meets Hollywood Regency in this petite new lounge on a rough-around-the-edges stretch of Market. Its owners, Brandon McKee and Neej Gore (the pair behind Element Lounge, also in the Tenderloin) are banking, perhaps, on luring a nascent bureaucrat/architecture-buff crowd—Thom Mayne's slick Federal Building is mere steps away.

Tired of settling for indie-rock head bobbing where full-fledged dancing should be? Element offers multiple nights of Bay Area exclusives. Every third Thursday of the month, break-dancers from all over converge to compete for a $500 prize by remixing the run-of-the-mill bar scene with handstands and butterfly kicks.