The Cafe

I rarely leave negative reviews, but this one is absolutely deserved. I had an item stolen from me while I was at the bar. I asked the security guard if they can check the cameras and was lied to saying they don’t have cameras at the bar. I walked around and spotted the cameras myself in plain sight. I asked for the manager on duty and was finally helped to find who was the thief.

I give this place a 4-star rating, mainly due to their cash-only policy. However, as someone who typically doesnt carry cash (except for the cover charge), this stood out. Rating the music feels unnecessary because, well, its The Castro—where we trust the gays with that

They denied my partner entrance into the bar stating that her identification looked off when her identification is perfectly legal, meaning that they likely took issue with her ethnic features (she is the only visibly Latina person the white and Asian group we were with) or her Florida identification. If you are Latina or from Florida (emphasis on Florida) you might be discriminated against at this bar.0

Had a rare xenophobic experience in San Francisco from the security staff not accepting foreign passport for unexplained reason.

In my opinion this place destroyed their reputation by forcing a Pride month grand opening back in 2019- they’ve never recovered, and it might have to do with the fact that the remodels weren’t finished….? I mean at least sweep the saw dust off the floor? And where on earth do you get off charging cover though 💀

I used to love this place. I lived in the Castro in the mid-nineties, my roommate and I, along with two of our friends who lived above us, in an old Victorian house that was converted into a half a dozen apartments used to live at that place almost every weekend. Three out of four of us worked at Nordstrom SFO center. One was a store operator, the other worked in mens Shoes.I can remember standing in that same line along market street, waiting to get in. There was no cover back then. It was all cash 💸 even back then to, thats how must of us used to pay...lolThey played the best music, and all the hot younger guys ( mostly twenties and some thirties) used to frequent that place.This was before they served Food to. It was open seven nights a week back then. I remember having this crush on a hot Asian 🔥 bartender with black hair to.I was such a regular even on Monday nights that one of the female bartenders ( white lady with a Huge afro) used to have my first two drinks already ready when I walked up to the counter. It was a shot of Yager and a rolling rock. I would religiously tip a buck or two for every drink, and they really appreciated it to. Those bar tenders used to make Bank.This was most definitely the good Ole days. I moved out of San Francisco in 1999, and have never been back since. This place however gives me fond memories of San Francisco.

The Cafe is my favorite bar in SF. I love how diverse the staff is and the drinks are good and priced well. Every time I’ve ever been I’ve always had the best time!I feel safe, the bathrooms are great and newly remodeled. The staff is really friendly and overall a great time.Drinks are strong, music is fun.Everyone is always having a good time.

Last night my partner and I went out to have a fun night, have a few drinks and dance. The bartender who served us was a lovely young lady ,( ill leave her name anonymous) who was so kind and welcoming!, Somewhere along the way my partner lost his wallet. We searched high and low and could not find it anywhere. After a while of searching, we finally gave up and went home and I texted the bartender and let her know that we had lost it. If they found it, please let me know and she promptly responded to me that they had. In fact found my partners property and we were able to go and pick it up from her immediately. This level of customer service is astounding and very hard to come by. She knows who she is and I just want to make it known that you guys have a phenomenal employee!

Its a Cash Only establishment. which is ridiculous. Outside, we needed to go in the back of the line after getting cash out the ATM at the gas station next door. Once inside, we needed to step out of the bar line yet again to take cash out because they didnt except card at the bar. Its completely unacceptable. CASH ONLY. No one told us this in the first place. Inside, it was average. The music was lit. Dj was okay. But. Will not be coming back! people standing around with no drinks cause it was cash only. Yes, I asked them. There are better places around then to waste you night here.

Got in at 10:30, no people, no good music (latin night, so I expected fun music) decited to leave and ask if I can get my money back since I was there for 5 minutes and was not satisfied and will not give me my money back. I paid 10$ and I didnt get a drink or anything but they wont give it back. So heads up. I might give it another try in the future but for now, 1 star (might change the review in the future)

CASH ONLY! So don’t bother coming! $7 cash only cover charge for a bar (not a nightclub). When every single bar in WeHo has no cover charge. They direct you to their ATM inside which charges you another FEE! Oh and if your ID is expired by 1 day they won’t let you in! DJ basically plays Spotify or something. Enjoy!

Good drinks for a reasonable price, and Karaoke with decent singers. I like it a lot when Flora is here, but its still good when she isnt.

Love this place! Fridays are PACKED, if you’re new to SF and feel like the city’s cold, trust me don’t carry that assumption in here. You will be stuck holding your jacket all night long, it gets HOT. Friendly people and good vibe!

Love the space. love the renovations. I was gonna give 2 stars because the music was patchy when they tried to become the striaght gay bar. I mean who does snoop dog and 50 Cent and Kendrik Lamar. felt like a bad college party for months. They did come back to their senses, got new DJs and it is back to being cool

The bouncer refused to let us in or give our money back because we didn’t drink all the water he gave us at the door. We were pretty sober and the club after them had no issue letting us in. He asked us if we are from Taiwan when we were trying to argue the bouncer fee back. Not sure why that question is even relevant. It’s my sixth year living in the US, but it seems like I just can’t ever look local enough for people to stop giving me a hard time on random things. I felt pretty helpless since no matter how affirmative I was arguing for my own rights, they just wouldn’t take me seriously. I moved to San Francisco after college because I had a lot of faith in this place, now I’m not sure how much of that is left.

This was the first bar I ever visited on my first SF vacation years ago, I’m delighted to see it’s newly refreshed and still going strong. There’s a line but it moves quickly. All good vibes, everyone was dancing and enjoying themselves.

For main holiday celebration entrance fee can be $20 like halloween eve today, Oct 30, we were in line and got to the door to it being $20 cover fee. The Cafe isn’t worth a $20 cover fee whatsoever. If people can afford it, it is those whom can afford it but it isn’t worth the price. Try other local bars/clubs that have much better music and better priced drinks than the Cafe. Not sure why they’d step up to being $20 cover club. This isn’t a SOMA club or Polk street club environment, was really disappointing coming to the door while waiting in line, only to find it was playing the same cards are other none popular clubs. The music and Drinks don’t represent a $20 entrance fee whatsoever. Keep it under $10, you will survive yet again.

This is a really unprofessional establishment.They yell at you and expect responses instantaneously. They try to find any excuse to be rude to you and they act as if you owe them your BEGGING desperation rather than them providing appropriate customer service.It was an extremely rude, disrespectful, and unprofessional establishment. They were extremely aggressive for absolutely no reason. I have been to numerous establishments of the exact same type of bar as this place, but they felt so entitled to treat their customers like they did not deserve respect.I would never recommend this place to anyone.Financially, it is a total rip off.Inside, it is very trashy and unkept.Put unprofessional and aggressive employees on top of that, and there is absolutely no reason you should ever visit this poorly managed establishment.I definitely will never be back.

Amazing place, excellent staff, awesome music and great shows

The cover for the weekends and for shows is too much even for sf. Ive been couple times but I didnt pay cover my buddy did. Otherwise I wouldnt have gone back. The music is way to loud. The bartender are jerks and give attitude if u dont tip as much as they think you should. Like you will tip alot of slow service and attitudes. They tend to help the good looking people first regardless who was there first. The prices for drinks, including beer are high. The drinks dont have enough alcohol in them and arent that good. The lines are long to get in. They allow way too many people inside to where its hard to move. If the fire marshal comes in they would be drug down so quick.

I was just standing and talking to my friends and two random security guards tried to escort me out for “throwing up.” I barely even got off the plane and went straight to the bars, so I was sober and only had one drink and when I asked for explanation, they said they had “a witness.” When I asked who the witness was, they couldn’t further elaborate. Really disappointed with the service here. Being wrongly accused of something is a terrible experience. 1/5 star for the way these employees mistreated me. They were so unprofessional.

My girlfriend and I have never felt so unsafe or unwelcome at a club. It was packed with no room to move, the crowd felt rude and noninclusive, and the music was old with bad remixes. NOT a queer-friendly space, and we will never go back. Just bad vibes overall.

HORRIBLE THE PLACE REQUESTED US TO SHOW AN STAMP WHERE WE COUSIN AND I WENT HOME TO REFRESH OURSELVES AND THE STAMP FADED TO A POINT WHERE THEY WANT US TO PAY AGAIN.... REALLY !!NO NO NO I REFUSE... TO PAY$20 AGAIN ..

Pretty fun spot as far as gay bars go. The space is pretty modern, the crowd is young, and the music is fun. Theres a center stage where they usually have dancers and a back room, which tends to be less crowded if you want to just hang out with friends. Cash only, so be sure to grab some from the ATM before going in. Covers can get relatively expensive for the area.

One of the best clubbing experiences I have had. My friends and I went in expecting a good time with high expectations and we came out more than satisfied. The place was packed with amazing and friendly workers and customers. Definitely gonna go back with friends with high expectations! The place can get pretty hot and crowded but if youre planning to go clubbing...what do you expect? =]

I had never been to this bar before. During pride, some friends and I wanted to go. However, we couldnt get in because two of us had bags. I would have been okay with this if they werent letting women in with purses larger than our bags without even checking them. Not sure what the deal was, but it certainly was enough to make me never want to try the bar again.

The djs are usually terrible on the weekends. The music is just bad. Man, you just cant dance to Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.The transitions are plain BAD, dude playing Donna Summer (👌) and then playing the Chainsmokers (🤮) after doing a terrible free dj software, scratch the vinil... No man, no.

Unfortunately, very disappointed. It doesn’t matter that this place is cash only, that is irrelevant. The music however was quite boring.There wasn’t a clear energy or vibe to the place. Huge place but it was dead on the inside.

Karaoke Wednesdays are fun. Everyone was polite and the crowd was friendly as hell. Thank you guys, you guys, that kindness goes a long way. Thanks to KJ Cole, Remy, and bartender Sabrina and the other awesome chick who found my money that I dropped 👍

Good music. Fun atmosphere. However, home to THE WORST BARTENDER in history. Rude, nasty and got our drinks wrong. After asking her politely not to make our vodka tonics with sprite she just pushed our second round of vodka sprites at us while yelling over my head for the next customer. I asked for a round of green tea shots which she said she did not know how to make. I told her how and she told me they sounded disgusting and refused to make them! I was with a group of people and each of them complained about how rude she was. I wont be going back if shes bartending

Imagine: I came here and had to pay 7$ per person and the people couldn’t even give me a receipt for the entrance? Are the covering up their revenue? Definitely! Do they speak Spanish as well as they say they do? Definitely not. If they can’t produce a receipt for their services, what are they doing?

Came here with my gay friend on a friday night. It was def a fun night. The DJs play great music and the bartenders are super friendly and funny. I would totally recommend this place if you are ready for a good time. The decor is nice. Good size dance floor as well.

This is a solid gay club and a popular spot for tourist and locals alike. Typical pop sounds and top-40 play at this place, and the dance floor is full of SF gay pride.I would say that this place does not compare to a typical night in West Hollywood but it certainly comes close. Over all a great night with lots of dancing.

My friends and I were really looking forward to going to The Cafe and we had heard great things about it. Unfortunately, the bouncer was a HUGE A**HOLE. My friend handed him his REAL NJ ID and the bouncer immiately said “well, well what kinda fake ID do we have here?” My friend proceeded to show him FOUR other forms of identification including his school ID, debit card and insurance card. The bouncer scanned his ID, black lighted it and bent it and obviously it passed every test because it was real and he was actually 21. After all that the bouncer threatened to take it. The major problem was that if he had taken my friends ID, my friend would not have been able to get on his flight back to NJ. After all of that, the bouncer finally gave it back but then another bouncer insisted on searching all of our bags even though we obviously were not going into the bar. It was absolutely ridiculous. I highly suggest hiring a new bouncer who doesn’t have it out for every young person coming into the bar. SF is a huge tourist place and obviously there are people coming from out of state. EDUCATE YOURSELF ON WHAT REAL OUT OF STATE IDS LOOK LIKE! I will never come back to this bar and I will advise against anyone with an out of state license coming here.

Gets pretty busy on Saturday night. Fun shows going on, welcoming atmosphere. Great DJ too. Visiting from NY and hope to be back soon!

Came out on a Friday night and had a ton of fun good music and plenty of space to dance with quick bartenders and the rest of the drinks were fairly priced. The $5 stoli special for chocolate Raz was a cruel joke please throw it in the garbage where that flavor belongs.

Beware cash only everything. Seems silly to even type that in SFO. Get with the times. IRS; they are obviously not paying taxes. Get ‘em!!!!

Ive been here about 3 times and each time its pretty enjoyable.A list on the place:1) Its fun !!!!2) Mostly guys : not really a queer/lesbian place, if thats your think try cockblock,el rio and the lexington (probably closed now)3) Boy bar is the best night : really attractive men dancing in underwear4) Drinks are normally priced5) It doesnt pick up till about 11pm +6) There is a cover of usually $5

Great dance floor that gets fun and rowdy. Often part way through the night there will also be a dance off with patrons showing off some of their best moves. The Cafe did not disappoint

“What’s not to like” gush groupies of this “entertaining” Castro dance club where “excellent DJs”, “friendly” bartenders and a “fabulous” space make for a “wonderful” place “to dance the night away”; an “eclectic”, “young” crowd – largely “but not necessarily gay” most nights – pays a “cheap” cover to “mingle” at themed events like Thursday’s Latino night and Sunday’s drag show.

When I want to go dance and pick a some guys I go here. I love that it is kinda hidden so it feels like a hidden speak-easy. I And if love hot Latin men you must go here. Lot or room some wild time.

The black security lady is very unprofessional. She needs to go, did not let my boyfriend and I in the club claiming we were drunk.. we were not… meanwhile she let the plastered people in front and behind us in

I remember while i was drinking a triple expresso outside that back in 1973 they had filmed an episode of the Streets of San Francisco across in the parking lot. But my expierence having a mouth watering Turkey Burger accompanied by a full green salad was all i could dream of. Plus the locale was cool to very low incognito away from the hustle and bustle stay where you are.

This place is fun depending on who you come with. Ive had a different experience each time so I cant really determine the actually rating. However, the last time I went they started charging for cover, which I think is absolutely ridiculous.

Vibrant club with top DJs & popular theme nights.

Nice place with good drinks. This place was really great in the 90s when the castro was actually fun... and it still is I guess I when you are a young buck! But over all this is a nice establishment with great service!

Had a wonderful pre birthday last night great performance by Liza Minnelli what a beautiful person also loved the dancing people were great Ill certainly will be going tonight

The worst mixes I’ve ever heard in my life lol

Great space for an event

Well actually I was there a long time ago .the only thing there was there more guys than woman it was my favorite but not anymore .I wish to see more ladies dancers!!!

Love the atmosphere, every night they are open. Everyday they have theme nights. Very afford able drinks and Very good Music.

DJ is always popping and it Paus back to get the wristband If they offer it that night! Always have a good time here!

I came here with my friend on a friday night. It was def a fun night. The DJs play great music and the bartenders are super friendly and funny. I would totally recommend this place if you are ready for a good time.

I had a terrible experience came out at 120 am and I payed for the entrance and the security did not let me go back in because it’s was 125 am and I payed until 145 am

It was fun, some sloppy girls pushing and falling everywhere. But thats not the place. Great place to get a drink.

I loved this place when I was in SF. The drinks were good and I had an amazing time dancing the night away!

Dont go there!! Never never never!!They did fake bills and we had to pay 1000 dollars for drinks that we didnt have!They charged our credit cards and we never saw any bills!!

So much fun. Nearly naked male dancers, shots in test tubes being passed around, lots of dancing.Bring cash.

Nice place to stop by for a cute Show and a cocktail then keep it moving....

Went on a drag night and had an awesome time. Good music and fun crowd.

Excellent club in the city in any event or special occasion they give fee drinks! and security are very friendly too

Cool but damn they need to turn down music a bit my ears were ringing so much.

Love the Café` been going there since the 90s had a lot of good times there

Sexy dancers. Fun drinks. Crowded. Cash only.

Friendly employees, very cool decor and delicious breakfast and specialty coffee.

How old must one be to work here as a dancer?

Great place ! I always have fun here ! I recommend it! ☺️😌

The best place to dance in the Castro gayborhood

The cafe is good but the atmosphere not so great!

One of the citys landmarks.

It was very mainstream. Nothing creative in there.

Fun bar on the weekends. mixed age crowd.

Great Atmosphere. OK food. conveient location

So much fun and Latino music!!

Excellent club#fun #music #drink

Great place to chill and hang out

Wonderful establishment! Miss everyone at The Cafe!!!

Great place and great music.

Best place in Castro District 👌

Chic

So much fun

Good place to hang out

Cute

Cybers

Fun

Good entertainment

Nice place

Big shop, fun, dancers, very good entertainment, lots of people late at night, around 11:00 p.m. and up. Drinks arent expensive.

If you are looking for a place to dance hip hip and Latin music, there is so much dancing here that they almost always end up throwing people out of the club because everyone wants to stay haha. I definitely recommend it, its super fun

I HAVE BEEN COMING TO THE CAFE FOR YEARS..AND TODAY THEY BEHAVED VERY BAD..OK I BROUGHT MY ID BUT IT WAS EXPIRED AND I AM GOING FOR THE VACCINATION.AND THEY DID NOT LET ME ENTER.OKIN MY CELL I BRING A PHOTO OF MY VALID PASSPORT AND THEY, WITHOUT CHECKING IT, TOLD ME NO..YOU CANT ENTER

The truth is that I am quite demanding and it bothers me that they make me pay in places when I see that the locals dont charge them. I think they should change their company policy and start charging only for drinks and put them like in my country, with reason.

I celebrated my birthdays there…. And it was great

The best attention for the general public

I love that placerrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Gooooooddddd