This posh and intimate bar is a relative newcomer to the Castro, though not the first new business in the neighborhood since the liquor licenses opened up for the first time since 1987. Sultry and sexy drinks come courtesy of owners Hi Tops’ Jesse Woodward and Blake Seely in a velvety, dimly lit lounge. At this bar you’ll see queer artists pulling shifts as servers and bartenders. It’s gay-owned and gay-operated, to boot.

Once upon a time, this place was called Daddy’s, and that name still defines the crowd here, where beards and bellies are most welcome. Mid-week DJs cater to more mature tastes, with a well-curated selection of videos from the 70s to the 90s. You’ll find go-go boys dancing for dollars on certain nights. The space is kept dark and extends back to a mezzanine with a second bar and coat-check closet that they put to good use on Underwear Night (Mondays). There are also drink specials galore, as there are in most of the Castro, including $3 beers all night on Tuesdays, and two-for-one drinks on Wednesdays, and happy hour most days.

Nicknamed “The Glass Coffin” many years ago because of its big windows and perennial popularity with neighborhood seniors, Twin Peaks is a warm and welcoming little bar with carpet and Tiffany lamps, geared toward quiet conversation. It’s plenty popular with younger people these days, especially after 10 p.m., and famously, the two tiny bathrooms here always smell like cookies, thanks to the exhaust vents from Hot Cookie next door wafting in through the windows. Historical trivia: This was one of the first gay bars in the country — and definitely the first in the Bay Area — to feature big-paned windows facing the street, meaning that people who came here weren’t trying to hide who they were to passersby. For that reason, it’s now a city landmark. Also, it’s the perfect spot to grab a hot toddy or Irish coffee on a chilly night.

For those who live in town, want to dance, and are too embarrassed to be seen at Badlands or Toad Hall, there’s Beaux. It’s a little of West Hollywood mixed with a bit of Millennial San Francisco, and it’s the first stop of all the Rupaul’s Drag Race stars whenever they pass through town. Wednesdays are Latin nights, Thursdays draw the biggest local crowd and are focused on ’90s and 2000s Top 40 remixes, while weekends tend to bring in LGBTQ kids (and their friends) from all over the Bay for crowded, boozy dance parties that always go ’til 2 a.m. Sundays and occasional weekday nights feature drag performances from local queens and Drag Race celebs alike. The sound system is good, the drinks are stiff, and there’s a small upstairs for whenever you need a minute to breathe.

The only gay sports bar in town, Hi Tops is known for crowded, mixed, raucous scenes on big game days, as well as a less sports-centric crowd on weekend and Thursday nights, which are the only “party” nights here, with go-go and shot boys and a locals-only scene. There’s a cocktail menu and a food menu with an above-average burger and a great fried chicken sandwich, and trivia night (Tuesday) is pretty popular as well. Hi Tops was featured in Sports Illustrated back when it opened five years ago via a now famous photo of two male 49ers fans, in jerseys, kissing after a touchdown. Because yes, there are gay sports fans.

It’s the last remaining gay bar in what was once the gayest neighborhood in town, the Polk, and the Cinch is still going strong after 45 years, drawing a mostly neighborhood — and sometimes very mixed — crowd. It’s vaguely Western-themed and covered in art, with pool tables in back and an intact smoking porch. They watch Drag Race here on Thursdays when it’s in season, and Sundays are for beer busts, often benefiting a local gay sports team. Otherwise, it’s a come-as-you-are, welcoming sort of spot that’s a last holdout among San Francisco’s neighborhood queer bars.

This bar has been a go-to for members of the gay community for many years. The interior is as historic as its significance in Polk Gulch with loads of the interior built from a 150-year-old farmhouse’s reclaimed wood. Still a spot for cheap drinks and events, such as ugly sweater parties and comedy nights, Lush Lounge earns its keep amongst other Polk powerhouses including oldies like McTeague’s and newcomers like DecoDance.

Enter this Mission Street dive by walking under the words “your dive,” a testament to the fact that this longstanding bar is committed to being a safe space for all. El Rio opened back in 1978 as a Brazilian leather gay bar, a concept inspired by founders Malcolm Thornley and Robert Nett’s “leather motorcycle riding lifestyle and their love for Brazil.” At least that's what current owner Dawn Huston wrote in the bar’s application for legacy business status — which El Rio was awarded in 2017. To this day, the bar’s spacious and tiered back patio, lush with greenery and giant lemon trees, plays host to all manner of community events ranging from bi-weekly Salsa Sundays to T4T, a dance party centering the transgender and gender non-conforming communities. Inside the dark-but-lively space, you’ll find friendly bartenders popping open cans of Tecate, shuffleboard, and a pool table. 

This large SoMa club co-owned by drag queens Heklina and D’Arcy Drollinger has been a bright spot for LGBT nightlife, providing a venue for dozens of regular dance parties, drag shows, and cabaret stars passing through town like Justin Vivian Bond and Our Lady J. The front bar sometimes plays host to its smaller events, like Drag Race viewing parties, and in addition to the large dancefloor area and back bar, there’s a sizable roof deck that gets used more in the warmer months — and usually features a pop-up taco stand. It’s the biggest club on this list and very community-focused and was a welcome addition to the otherwise dwindling nightlife landscape when it opened.

Revived after near extinction a couple of years back, the SF Eagle is the stomping ground of San Francisco’s leather community, as well as home to the biggest outdoor patio of any place on this list. Sunday beer busts have traditionally been some of the busiest times to come, with things typically winding down after sunset, but monthly parties bring in good DJs and draw a younger crowd — including some puppy play fetishists (go ahead, look it up). It’s a big place that needs a lot of people to make it feel full, which it definitely does on theme nights and on Folsom Street Fair weekend.

Easily San Francisco’s raunchiest gay bar, and one that keeps the tradition of SoMa cruising alive, Powerhouse is both a leather-friendly gay dive and host of many nightly themed parties that lean toward kink — there are wet underwear contests as well as smelly armpit contests, and much, much more. Weekends feature DJs and dancing on the back dancefloor, and this place has a smoking porch behind the dancefloor where just about anything goes. Famously, this place has a highly sexual mural frieze painted along a beam that runs down the center of the bar, which dates back to this place’s early days, and it’s still probably one of the least comfortable places to bring female friends. Drinks are fairly cheap here, especially compared to nearby spots like Oasis and the other 11th Street clubs, and these days the crowd tends to be a mix of young hip kids, fetish fans, drag queens, and the old guard.

Bears love the Lone Star, and over the years this has become their clubhouse. The expansive back patio (with its own bar) gets crowded during beer busts and occasional weekend parties, but generally this place has room for moving around, and space to play pool in the main bar. It’s also a fun place for day parties, where disco blasts inside and on the patio. Along with The Stud (RIP), the Lone Star applied for and was granted Legacy Business status, meaning it will hopefully be saved from development pressures as the years go on.

Open since April 2021, Que Rico is one of a number of new-school East Bay queer bars and nightclubs. Owner Valentino Carrillo says he aims to cater to both the queer and Latino or Latinx communities by making Que Rico a safe space for those at the beginning of their identity exploration and for those who have been out for years. Oftentimes the party spills out onto the rainbow-lit parklet, where patrons can enjoy happy hour specials, Sunday brunch, or perhaps a a Beyonce tribute show. Food comes from Carrillo’s successful East Oakland restaurant La Frontera Mexican Restaurant, known for serving golden quesabirria tacos stuffed with cheese and braised beef. 

Local poet and activist Jess Semaan loves this Oakland destination for gorgeous drinks and dishes so much that she and her partner celebrated their wedding at the bar. Woman-owned, queer-owned, and even the site of a beloved queer speed dating event, this business also as a conduit for numerous nonprofits and local organizations supporting various causes.

Though it looks nothing like it did back then, and barely like it did a few years ago thanks to a recent remodel, the White Horse is very possibly the oldest continually operating gay bar in the country. As the story goes, when Prohibition ended, the owners had the bar building moved across the city line from Berkeley to Oakland, because in 1933 Berkeley briefly became a dry city. This means the bar’s official opening date was in 1933, but it seems highly likely that it was operating as a gay speakeasy catering to the liberal university crowd during the 1920s. Longtime White Horse regulars still remember going there in the 1950s and ’60s, during a time when gay and lesbian bars in San Francisco were constantly getting raided and shut down by the police, though for reasons now unknown, the White Horse was always left alone. These days the big dance floor in the back provides a regular weekend escape for LGBT kids from Cal, and the front bar is a regular weeknight hangout for East Bay lesbians, gays, and their friends. Note that the pool table up front, which now adjoins a front smoking porch, can get very smoky and is walled off from the rest of the bar.