Zeitgeist on Valencia in SF is a German beer garden and Mission dive with a backyard the size of a city lot, 60 taps and a kitchen turning out cheeseburgers late.
Tip: Cash bar only; the patio sets at picnic tables. The kitchen runs Bloody Marys all weekend and shuts the grill by 23:30 most nights.
Address: 199 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
The Saloon on Grant Avenue first poured in 1861 and survived the 1906 fire, making it the oldest operating bar in San Francisco with blues bands every night.
Tip: Live blues every night with a small cover most weekends. Cash bar; the original 1860s wood bar is the photo opportunity.
Tunnel Top sits over the Stockton Street tunnel in San Francisco's FiDi, a two-level corner bar with built-in cushion seating upstairs and a divey downstairs.
Tip: Upstairs lounge has bar-rail views over the tunnel mouth. Ten beers on draft and a short cocktail list; cash bar moves faster on busy nights.
1015 Folsom in San Francisco runs five rooms over three floors with a refreshed sound system and headline EDM, house and techno bookings on Friday and Saturday.
Tip: Buy tickets online before 22:00 to avoid the queue around the corner on Folsom. Rooms upstairs draw smaller crowds than the main floor late.
Audio SF on 11th Street is SoMa's dedicated house and techno room, booking international DJs onto a single dance floor under a Funktion-One rig in San Francisco.
Tip: Doors at 22:00; the line moves faster after midnight. Resident Advisor tickets are cheaper than door for headline bookings.
DNA Lounge in SoMa is the late-night, all-ages SF club running seven bars, two stages and four dance floors across goth, industrial and drag programming.
Tip: Monday's Death Guild is the longest-running goth-industrial night in the country. Saturday's Bootie SF mash-up party runs until 04:00.
The EndUp at SF's 6th and Harrison has run since 1973 as the after-hours house club, with a back patio and the Sunday daytime party that gives the venue its name.
Tip: Saturday night runs straight into Sunday morning then resumes Sunday afternoon. The back patio is the smart move when the dancefloor heats up.