The best live music bars in San Francisco

a spacious two-floor natural wine bar, revolving art on concrete walls

a converted Mission chapel, a 40-foot arched ceiling with great acoustics

wine flights — red, white, orange, French-style pizza

Valencia Street patio, DJs plus a Wednesday salsa band

a semi-hidden Mission tapas bar, live jazz and DJ sets

multilevel electronic-music club, a sound system DJs rave about

Spanish taberna, porrón pouring direct to mouth

rotating DJs and bands from Afrobeats to Caribbean jazz to Italo, easy to dance even when you can't

Irish pub with reclaimed-parking-lot patio (AstroTurf, plants, murals), staggering single-malt whiskey list

piano bar with show tunes, encyclopedic-knowledge pianist takes requests

experimental synthesizer artists, free jazz / world music mashups

a working Hammond B3 organ in the corner with live organist most nights, tiny, dimly lit, no TVs, no phones-out vibe

occupies the iconic Elbo Room space — 30-year history preserved (closed Dec 2018 as Elbo Room, reopened as Valencia Room), kept the original church-pew booth seating and pinball machines

Mission dive with weekly bingo night (legendarily packed), DJ nights heavy on soul, garage, punk, drag

three rooms of music, DJs, live acts, bottle service

operating since 1908, open mic Mondays for 30+ years

post-work tech-crowd happy hour, high tables and wooden stools with brick walls

30+ year SF nightlife institution, two stages, four dance floors, seven bars

a North Beach fixture since 1907, a heated front patio for people-watching

a 1931-era supper-club music venue, red velvet and chandeliers

oldest bar in SF (1861), nightly live blues

bar, pool hall, and rotating art gallery in one, free pool always

in a historic 1912 building on Grant Ave, southern comfort food alongside cocktails and beer

a lounge with a tiny dance floor, a fireplace

two-level jazz supper club, live jazz most nights

below-street former speakeasy, indie music venue

industrial-chic Polk lounge, a small, inventive cocktail list

art-deco styling, cocktails and a dance floor

46th-floor rooftop at the Hilton, 360-degree panoramic views

authentic Irish pub decor, multiple small enclosed nooks

live jazz in an art-deco room, a gold-and-blue color scheme at night

family-owned since 1935, FiDi institution

arguably SF's best fish & chips, homemade sausage rolls and honey mustard

since 1941, fireplace

a gritty Inner Richmond Irish pub, an extensive whiskey selection

two-story Richmond music club, live bands, comedy, and trivia nights

live traditional Irish, bluegrass, and country music almost every night, 9pm start, considered the best Guinness pour in town

SF's best neighborhood jazz bar since 1989, blondewood 1950s look

opened 2024 in the former Milk Bar comedy space, live music, comedy, and trivia seven nights a week

nightly live jazz, Prohibition-style cocktails

indie music venue, balcony seating

queer institution since 1978, massive dog-friendly back patio with lemon tree

opened 2011 in a space that's been a bar since at least The Cherokee era — preceded by Alfonso's (1987-90) and Skip's Tavern (1990-2011), big horseshoe-shaped bar in the middle that points everyone at each other

an intimate live-music bar, live performances with no cover

underground basement bar — descend a staircase under a neon Persona sign, inspired by SF's erotic cinema culture of the 1960s–70s: dark textures, metallic accents, neon

intimate Divisadero venue, GA only (no seating)

restored Victorian saloon, live piano some nights

spacious courtyard with live Latin music, cigar lounge upstairs

basement of the historic Hearst Building, newspaper/journalism theme

rooftop bar, 'Vibin' Live' BIPOC music series

indoor rainstorms over a pool, band on a floating raft

since 1939, 360-degree view at the top of Nob Hill

40,000-sqft urban canvas, premier underground EDM/house music venue in SF

directly on the Embarcadero pier — water on three sides, live music almost every night — blues, jazz, rock, the works

John Lee Hooker's bar (purchased it 1997), live blues and funk

Bill Graham's 1966 legendary venue, the place where Grateful Dead/Jefferson Airplane took off

bright Ingleside neighborhood pub, a deep local craft-beer list

1911 two-story Edwardian, outdoor patio

SF's version of Cheers, 22 beers on tap