You’ll dance all night in San Francisco’s best nightclubs

Raven Bar is the place for throwback nostalgia, with a live video DJ every Wednesday through Saturday, plus a great laser system to help you rise into the beats. Craft cocktails, happy hour specials and bottle service round out the service at this club which is a throwback itself, dating to the early '90s in SoMa. 

Address: 1151 Folsom St.

Billed as a “community-minded nightclub and event space,” Public Works is an industrial-style Mission District nightclub that often partners with nonprofits and local acts. The crowd here is eclectic—anyone is welcome—and the venue hosts international DJs, underground artists and local musicians. Check out the sprung hardwood floors and Funktion-One sound system.

Address: 161 Erie St.

Celebrating 40 years in 2025, this sprawling SoMa lounge spans two stages, six bars and four dance floors for your kinetic triumph. Here you’ll experience everything from burlesque dancers, 18+ dance nights, live bands and experimental DJs spinning to… well, a lecture series. The attached restaurant and cafe called DNA Pizza is open late to fuel your clubbing.

Address: 375 11th St.

Madrone isn’t a club every night. As its name suggests, the walls of this neighborhood bar on Divisadero Street showcase a wide variety of art, including paintings, mixed media, video and photography. That creative ethos spills over into the events, including Motown on Mondays and other dance parties on the tiny dance floor. We’re intrigued by the Live Model Tuesday Sketch (yep, sketch a live model while accompanied by live music from Twango). Sounds fun!

Address: 500 Divisadero St.

There’s a little something for everyone at the Cat Club located south of Market. Regular themed dance parties get people grooving to the music that most moves them, like ’80s pop and new wave, ’70s disco and funk, goth, hip-hop and Brit-pop. The unpretentious club has two dance floors, both with a wild assortment of light and video projections, as well as two full bars, a smoking alley, VIP booths and the go-go cage. It’s also the home of beloved S&M theme night Bondage A Go-Go.

Address: 1190 Folsom St.

Known for a funky 1970s vibe, this club has two bars, a sunken dance floor and unparalleled sound and lighting effects. Earning its name, it houses the world’s first Funktion One 3D surround system and speakers, attracting world-renowned techno, house and EDM acts and equally passionate audiences. The complex 3-D lighting system showcases lasers, robotic lights, a dazzling LED tunnel and an infinity-mirror vortex.

Address: 316 11th St.

The Great Northern, with its “FutureDeco” aesthetic based on Art Moderne, offers two bars, 30-foot ceilings and a giant, writhing, teeming dance floor lit up with the sound of a super-hi-fi 80,000-watt Void audio system. The music here skews towards electronica, but the club also features the occasional jazz or pop artist and themed events like ABBA glitter disco night. This all-inclusive club also hosts regular LGBTQ+-friendly dance parties.

Address: 119 Utah St.

SoMa’s Monarch has nicely designed spaces for late night revelry. The basement club, where the dancing goes down, features a concrete bar and DJ stand with a Void Acoustics sound system. Couches for regaining energy and plants are everywhere—this is not a dive bar! Check out the brand-new 200 Channels cabaret.

Address: 101 6th St.

The futuristic Temple Nightclub gives Vegas a run for its money. The eco-conscious, interactive dance floor (we're not even sure what that is) teams with immersive, state of the art 4k high-def LED lighting to curate an artistic night. There are multiple rooms and levels to explore, and seasonally, the rooftop Skyline Lounge gives great skyline and sunset views.

Address: 540 Howard St.

Oasis is a late-night, LGTBQ+ and drag utopia with superstar drag shows, cabaret performances and plenty of dancing on the enormous dance floor. This 8,000-square-foot club resides in a converted gay bathhouse with a rotating calendar of fun performances.

Address: 298 11th St.

Another SoMa standard, The EndUp’s been around since 1973 with live DJ music entertainment and a thumping bass sound system. The outdoor patio filled with lush greenery is a fantastic place to catch your breath.

Address: 401 6th St.

The Power Exchange bills itself as America’s wildest adult nightclub. Need we say more than that you can get free safe sex supplies at the front counter? This is the only legal sex club open to all genders and orientations in California. Cell phones get turned off—unlike the attendees—and you must dress upscale. Dancing here may get eclipsed by the sexual partnering up… but we hope someone’s spinning the tunes.

Address: 220 Jones St.

1015 Folsom might be the biggest nightclub on our list, at 20,000 square feet and five rooms over three stories. 1015 Folsom takes pride in the fact that it was the first to feature electronic music back in the 1990s, along with clubs in New York and Chicago. Today it’s a massive playhouse in the SoMa neighborhood with a great calendar of visiting talent. 

Address: 1015 Folsom St.

The Grand, an upscale Vegas-style club with lots of gold and  glitter, prides itself on luxe interiors, state of the art lighting and sound, five levels of clubbing and VIP seating on the top floor. There’s a “dressy nightclub attire” dress code. 

Address: 520 4th St.

Another SoMa standout, f8 provides a huge varieties of genres, from house to hip hop, techno to dubstep, electro house to drum and bass and the list continues. The club’s stated goal is music first, everything else second, although the drink specials are boast-worthy. The club has multiple rooms for choosing your vibe.

Address: 1192 Folsom St.

Hawthorn’s taken over nightclub space in an area known for its 1800s brothels—but now it’s home to subterranean dancing in modern urban luxury with Austrian drapes (that match…?), ceilings swatched in purple and golden lounge seating throughout. The “Tri Motion” Void Sound System makes the party loud, and performers in couture costumes designed by the in-house designer circulate to keep things rolling. Happy Hour pricing is scaled; the earlier you get there, the better the deal. 

Address: 46 Geary St.