Keys Jazz Club–Jazz in North Beach

Posted on June 4, 2024 by Reed

So you’re in San Francisco, had a great dinner (and if you didn’t, you made an effort not to, or insisted on eating on Fisherman’s Wharf), and are wondering how to end the evening. Guests often ask “Where can I hear live jazz?” Fortunately, there are a many good jazz venues.

Keys Jazz Bistro Live Jazz in San Francisco North Beach

Keys Jazz Club in North Beach is a local’s favorite. They have a good happy hour. The club is intimate and every seat is good. As is the food. And drinks. And staff.

Keys Jazz Bistro Happy hour and late night menu

And of course, the music.

The Listening Room is where you see the band at Keys Jazz Bistro. You can sit in the lounge if you want to socialize and still hear music.

There are two sets Wednesday through Sunday, with an additional late set on Saturday. Prices vary depending on the show. All ages are welcome.

The last time I was a Keys, I got tickets for the early set and was allowed to stay for the second set. I’m not going to say this is a regular perk of getting to the early set, but it’s possible if the second set is lightly ticketed they’ll let you stay. It’s not guaranteed, but it has been my experience in other clubs in other cities that they’d rather have a venue full of people who appreciate jazz, rather then be strict about kicking people out when a set is over.

North Beach audience enjoying the band on stage at Keys Jazz Bistro.

There are few places as good as this to end your night right. Take advantage.

Keys Jazz Bistro
498 Broadway in North Beach
Corner of Kearny, and a block down from Columbus Ave

I tried to find a phone number and I don’t think they have one. The website is good enough.

Specs’–the Best Dive Bar in San Francisco

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Reed

Years ago in Hamburg a friend I and were wandering and came across Harry’s Harbor Bazaar. As I remember it was two buildings, connected by an upstairs doorway created by bashing through adjacent walls. It was a three story warren, a maze, a labyrinth, crammed with stuff supposedly collected from an old pub that accepted things like masks, shrunken heads, carvings, idols, and musical instruments sailors brought from their travels and traded for booze. You could buy most anything on display, but the majority of people just walked the aisles stunned not only by the oddity but the sheer vastness of the collection. It has changed owners and locations since I was there, but it still retains the charm of an overstuffed Natural History museum storage room arranged in haste for an inspection.

One of the many idols you will see at Specs. The walls and shelves at Specs are filled with antiques, treasures, and oddities.

The collection at Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Café, or Specs’, isn’t as big, not by a longshot. It’s a bar, after all, not a warehouse-as-museum. But what it lacks in size more than makes up for by serving drinks to a cast of North Beach regulars who fit nicely into the ambiance the artifacts create.

There is dust on the upper shelves and stuff too far away for someone to reach, because if someone can’t touch it why bother dusting it? The walls and ceilings are brown from decades of burning tobacco and occasional pot, a reminder of times when smoking was allowed indoors. It is cramped and therefor friendly. You will likely have to squeeze by other patrons, maybe even share one of the bigger tables, and the close proximity inspires spontaneous casual conversations.

Some of the North Beach regulars hanging out at Specs.

If you’re lucky, you may wander in when there is music, book reading, or sketch class.

Mr. Lucky and the band performing at Specs.

Spec’s is the kind of bar a good traveler hopes to discover. It’s off the tourist path, has a unique eccentricity, and caters to the locals.

I encourage my guests to get a drink here, Tosca across the alley, and Vesuvio’s across the street. The three bars put together give a good overview of the spirit of North Beach.

Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe

12 William Saroyan Place, 94133 Phone 415-421-4112

4pm-1am, 2am Thursday-Saturday

Castro Theatre–A Grand Movie Palace

Posted on March 5, 2017 by Reed

One of the questions I often get from my private tour guests is “What to do at night?” After a day of seeing the sites and having dinner, people often just go back to the hotel to crash and watch TV.

Instead of watching TV, why not go to the movies? And go to the movies in style.

The Castro Theatre is a rare experience. A gorgeous Art Deco movie palace, built in 1922 to not only show films but to lure people out of their homes to bask in ornate beauty for the price of a ticket. Few of these movie palaces exist anymore, and even fewer with a full Wurlitzer Theater organ, complete with silent film sound effects. The organ rises out of the floor and is played at night before most screenings.

The Castro screens an eclectic variety of films: second run, indy, foreign, vintage. There are also sing-alongs where lyrics are projected on the screen. Sing-a-long “Grease” and “Moana” are recent offerings,and every year their is the sing-a-long “Sound of Music.”

Visiting a city is about experiencing what you can’t back home. And I’m going to bet that your city doesn’t have a movie palace like the Castro. And if it does, go and compare our palace to yours.

If you’re staying downtown, getting to the Castro Theater couldn’t be easier on MUNI. 3 lines, the M, L, K/T underground trains go to the Castro District, so you never have to wait more than a couple of minutes, and the Castro street station is just across the street from the theatre. Getting back downtown is equally quick and easy.

The Castro Theatre