Benchley - A Guide to San Franciscos North Beach Nightlife

Introduction: Youre Here!

Congratulations! You are in, or soon to be in, one of the most beguiling and well visited cities on the planetSan Francisco. Take a moment, if you havent already, and savor that.

And n ow that you have that grin on your facelets continue.

The North Beach area of San Francisco is rich in local history. It sports the oldest street in the city, and has hosted untold numbers of hopeful immigrants, weary gold miners, and carousing sailors. Well known as the birth place of Jack Kerouacs beat movement, Joe DiMaggios old romping ground, and contemporarily as a community of well established Italian charm, its also one of San Franciscos busiest party places! You will find the North Beach nightlife to be populated with a mixture of world and domestic travelers while maintaining a native character and host of interesting residents. The area is full of various styles of bar, a handful of dusty dives, nightclubs to shake what youve got, and still has room left over for San Franciscos sleaziest 3 blocks. Sounds like some good times to me!

In the following pages you will find information to not only help make your nights in North Beach run smoothly, but also a comprehensive list and detailed description of all the area bars and clubs you might choose to spend your evening in. All thats left for you to do is pick out your first stop and get out that door!

Looking Hot in Layers

Late spring and fall are the most beautiful times to visit San Francisco, with September and October being statistically the warmest months. These warmer times are a pleasant change but there are really only a few weeks worth of what most people would call truly hot summer days sprinkled about during those summer and fall months. Chances are you will not be here during the hot streaks! A nice average summer day will start out foggy and cool, warm to about seventy degrees with clearing skies for the afternoon and early evening, then quickly re-cool into the low fifties as the pacific sea fog rolls in for the night. The rest of the year, the wet season, is generally a ten to twenty degree cooler and windier version of this pattern. And really, the chilly ocean wind is pretty common at any time of year. Miserable tourists shivering in their t-shirts, shorts, and sandals grumpily searching for an I love San Francisco hoodie are a common sight. A small chore for the late night adventurist is to check the weather report and prepare for possibility of being both inside hot crowded bars, and outside soaking up the cold, damp, and windy ambiance of the street.

Public Transport

The city has a well developed, and somewhat famous, public transportation system. While the majority of the system is made up of modern buses and light rail, some of the historic streetcars and iconic cable cars have also been maintained. Lucky you, the Powell-Mason cable car runs right through North Beach. Beginning at Taylor Avenuereet and following Columbus Avenue for a couple of blocks (SW corner of the Joe DiMaggio Playground and Pool), it quickly turns onto Mason Street with a final destination at Union Square. For $6 each way this is a nice trip to take around dusk when the lights are coming on in Union square and Chinatown but before the shops have closed.

An overview of the whole San Francisco Muni System is available via paper schedules that can be bought in convenience stores and other places where maps are sold for $3. Or, if you would like to talk to a real person you may call 311 and they will help you plan your trip. 511 will have greater regional information. If you have Internet access, sfmta.com will give you more info than you could ever need, including a nice .pdf map of the whole system, and nextbus.com or MuniWatch can supply real time transit info so you know when your ride is going to arrive. There are literally dozens of good apps that will keep you on the right bus or train.