Formerly Daddy's, the Castro's reigning leather bar, 440 Castro has reinvented itself as a moderately swanky lounge but hasn't quite managed to shake off its preening he-man...

Vying with Doc's Clock for the title of the Mission's best marquee, the 'Five Hunge' is everybody's favourite dive. Cavernous booths, a punk jukebox, a pool table and cheap,...

The welcoming atmosphere at Berkeley's oldest pub allows its diverse crowd to take part in a range of activities. For the (relatively) active, there's a huge variety of board...

The Alley is designed to look like a shanty-town street, complete with knickers strung between building façades and jagged fences separating the booths. At the end of the bar...

Known by some as the Peacock because of the illuminated feather out front (there's no other sign), the Argus is far enough down Mission to escape the gentrifying masses. A...

Sports nights, stiff drinks, old-fashioned drag shows and lip-synching on weekends, plus a long-standing Tenderloin location all combine to make this a popular spot with loyal...

Young suburbanites drenched in scent and sporting the latest in designer label knock-offs flock to this flashy video bar, which boasts one of the few dancefloors in the Castro....

A perfect spot for sunset cocktails, the Beach Chalet, a historic Willis Polk-designed building on the coast, is home to a fine restaurant and brewpub. The ground-floor walls...

This little cocktail bar, modelled after its sister bar in New York (and now four other locations nationwide), is decorated with bric-a-brac salvaged from a Long Island hair...

A surprisingly sophisticated find among the collection of after-work destinations, this wine bar and small-plates restaurant is as big on atmosphere as it is on choice of...

The secretive locale and supper-club menu of Bix, named for owner Doug 'Bix' Biederbeck ('very vaguely related' to 1920s and '30s jazz cornet legend Bix Beiderbecke, evoke the...

A Berkeley institution, Blake's has grown up with the university. Three floors handle overflow crowds on days when Cal teams play, but at other times the space offers something...

While many speakeasies were essentially repurposed basements, storerooms or even secret floors in hotels, their modern-day facsimiles are anything but bare bones. Bourbon &...

Part laundromat, part bar/café and part performance space, this popular spot remains one of the premier singles hangouts in town. People bring along their dirty linens and a...