Salsa - Bay Area
Contents
- 1 About
- 2 Websites
- 3 Salsa Venues in the Bay
- 4 Favorite Places
- 5 Maps
- 6 Old Venues (mostly closed)
- 6.1 Bar Fluxus **CLOSED**
- 6.2 Neck of the Woods **COMEDY ONLY NOW**
- 6.3 HUE Lounge & Nightclub ** CLOSED OVER PANDEMIC **
- 6.4 Gordon Biersch **CLOSED**
- 6.5 Cheryl Burke Dance / Mountain View **CLOSED**
- 6.6 Roccapulco **CLOSED**
- 6.7 Cafe Cocomos **CLOSED**
- 6.8 Avery Lounge **CLOSED**
- 6.9 Bissap Baobab **CLOSED**
- 7 Links
About
Covid Warning: Many of these events closed due to covid and never opened again. I'm in the process of updating the list over 2022 but it will take time |
This page contains resources I collect on the topic of salsa / Latin dancing the bay area (all around San Francisco bay) - particularly around SF (where I live) and silicon valley (where I work).
Websites
- Salsa by the Bay - appears to be the best resource out there for listing salsa [events] and [venues].
... keep an eye out for: Sabrosa Thursdays.
SF Dance Timetable
Here are some good places to try in SF for each day of the week:
- Mondays: .......... Used to be Neck of the Woods, but I think they stopped Salsa there.
- Tuesday: ........... I don't know anywhere since Bissap Baobab in the city closed... let me know!
- Wednesday: ..... I don't know anywhere since Bissap Baobab in the city closed... let me know!
- Thursday: ........ With bar fluxus closed down... I don't know.
- Friday: .............. Cigar Bar (trendy crowded bar in Financial District, but feels a bit seedy)
- Saturday: .......... The Ramp (afternoon 5-8) ... Cigar Bar (as above but with salsa lesson 8:30pm)
- Sunday: ............ HUE Lounge & Nightclub (hot bachata nights in Financial District, but a smaller room for salsa at the front)
Salsa Venues in the Bay
Name | Location | Evaluation / Times | ||
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SAN FRANCISCOMy home from 2018-onwards (with a little Hawaii in over the pandamic)
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Cigar Bar | ||||
Cigar Bar
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850 Montgomery St
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Evaluation: Very trendy place, with a bar area one side, then cross a little courtyard (a short crossing but even if you run across your hair will smell like cigar smoke for days FYI) and you'll find a very crowded dance floor. I find it's a bit too crowded honestly, but it's a popular place for people to dance and the music is decent - often with a live band. They also used to have salsa classes every Saturday night beginning at 8:30pm for ~$12 (less if you make a beer purchase). After the pandemic I feel like the energy changed - not quite as fun, fewer good dancers, more questionable guys waiting around the edges for the handful of women there. They also increased the entrance fee to $25, but maybe I'll give it a second chance soon just to help support live music.
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Space 550 or Club Fuego | ||||
Space 550 or Club Fuego
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550 Barneveld Ave
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Evaluation: Massive venue with a huge salsa floor and fairly big bachata area too. Surprisingly crowded for such a large space. Good live latin bands sometimes... who play very long songs. Is $20 if you book on eventbright, and includes a lesson if you arrive early enough (8pm), but the main dance crowd arrives later.
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The Ramp | ||||
The Ramp
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855 Terry A Francois Blvd
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Evaluation: Fairly chill and crowded restaurant / bar where they have a live band and you can dance beside the water. Some professional dancers might no like the fact the floor is outdoors concrete and sloped in places, but hey - some people will just appreciate the fact it's fun to dance anyplace where you can see the water. The band is pretty good. The venue itself isn't the cheapest, but you pay for a great view. It's $10 after 4pm to get in (and you have to be over 21).
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SILICON VALLEY (SAN JOSE, MOUNTAIN VIEW)The only place(s) I like in the San Jose (Also called Man Jose) and Mountain View area
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Alberto's (salsa studio & ultra lounge) | ||||
736 W Dana St
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Evaluation: I have years of amazing memories at this place. Pantea (the instructor) is the bomb!
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Favorite Places
Albertos
Alberto's nightclub is my favorite place to Salsa! I've been going for four years now - almost always on Thursdays salsa night - and most of my best friends I met there. It's a really lovely group of people. They have a schedule as follows:
- Mondays: Tango / Salsa on 2 (never been)
- Tuesday: Salsa (less crowded generally)
- Wednesday: Batchata (sexier dance)
- Thursday: Salsa (bit crowded, finally thins out towards midnight, so I stay late!)
- Friday: Salsa (less crowded, but varies)
- Saturday: Espanol rock (very hispanic crowd with more banda dancing)
- Sunday: Tango (too pretentious a dance for me!)
- Cost: $10 most nights I believe (definitely for Thursday)
Since Thursday is the day I know best, I have this advice for new dancers! Show up early to the introduction (7pm), the teacher, Pantea, is a heap of fun and she'll teach the basics. Then it goes into a beginner lesson, then an intermediate lesson where you'll learn a little routine. These are usually really great routines! All these sessions you have the option to "rotate" which I recommend. Basically the girls stand in a big circle, and the guys rotate clockwise every few minutes... this is good practice to help lead or follow with people of different skill, styles and heights!
Around 10pm, free dancing starts. This is intimidating for new people, because all the good dancers suddenly show up, but if you stick around and actually chat to people (it's loud but possible) and are friendly you'll find someone to help teach you. There are almost always more men than women, so for women it's possible to find a few good leads. Most of the guys there are a bit selfish in terms of only wanted to dance with the girls who are most attractive or best at dancing, and will stay with the same girl many songs. I'm not a huge fan of that, I like to dance with everyone, but if you do get *rejected* when asking for a dance don't take it personally - some people really do only want to dance with better dancers so they can get better. Just hunt around for nice people who enjoy teaching... like me ! :)
Maps

Old Venues (mostly closed)
Name | Location | Evaluation / Times | ||
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Bar Fluxus **CLOSED** | ||||
Bar Fluxus **CLOSED**
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18 Harlan Pl
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Evaluation: Small place with amazing live band on Tuesdays.
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Neck of the Woods **COMEDY ONLY NOW** | ||||
406 Clement St
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Evaluation: Salsa Mondays with great atmosphere, and actually has a little bit of space to dance.
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HUE Lounge & Nightclub ** CLOSED OVER PANDEMIC ** | ||||
447 Broadway
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Evaluation: Fairly large fancy nightclub that gets packed on Sundays, and mostly is a big bachata room at the back. The salsa room is at the front and actually doesn't have that many people - most people go for "bachata".
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Gordon Biersch **CLOSED** | ||||
33 E San Fernando St
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Evaluation: Lovely little crowd.... during winter they put over a cover, but otherwise it's an outside area. Girls may find it hard to dance on account of its on a brick surface, so you may not want to wear heels.
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Cheryl Burke Dance / Mountain View **CLOSED** | ||||
260 S. California Ave
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Evaluation: Is actually not really for Salsa! They mostly do swing, but some night are latin ballroom I believe. Nice venue though - three dance floors, so often different stuff playing each dance floor. Very well lit and really designed for learning.
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Roccapulco **CLOSED** | ||||
Roccapulco **CLOSED**
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3140 Mission St
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Evaluation: Haven't been, but I do know it's a "superclub", so probably gets crowded some nights.
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Cafe Cocomos **CLOSED** | ||||
Cafe Cocomos **CLOSED**
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650 Indiana Street
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Evaluation: Big venue with small bar and area upstairs to watch. Dance floor at bottom is pretty big and the live bands are pretty darn good too. Covers a little expensive I think ($20) but it's become the main place to go in the city I've heard.
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Avery Lounge **CLOSED** | ||||
Avery Lounge **CLOSED**
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399 S 1st St
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Evaluation: Not really that much salsa, just a generic dance place, crowded. Was once called Agenda.
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Bissap Baobab **CLOSED** | ||||
Bissap Baobab **CLOSED**
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3372 19th Street
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Evaluation: Was crowded, but lots of fun! Incredible music... went once when it wasn't salsa, but amazing African beats.
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Links
For information about Salsa dancing check out my dancing pages:
- AndrewNoske.com - All About Dance - links to several docs I wrote, including:
- Dancing_Tips_For_Beginners.pdf - wrote back during my PhD... be warned, it's LONG!
- Albertos website... official website for Albertos.