The Transfer
Categories: Dance Clubs, Bars, Music Venues [Edit]
Neighborhood: Castro198 Church St
(between 14th St & Market St)
San Francisco, CA 94114 (415) 861-7499
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Music: DJ
- Best Nights: Fri, Sat, Wed
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: No
- Coat Check: No
74 reviews
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
"BEST IRISH BAR I HAVE BEEN TO IN SAN FRANCISCO!! I found out about this place on yelp and was pleased to see this awesome Irish band…" read more »
134 Reviews for The Transfer
I'm not sure I can review this place with any sort of accuracy, I was so amazingly drunk while there. I danced. A lot. It was sweaty, crowded, and the music was... eh. But when there's a hot (and occasionally) shirtless man dancing with you... well, the whole experience seems much better. 5 stars for hot shirtless guys.
Oh, but I'm so hungover today...
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (2)
Cool (3)
I am white, cannot dance and rather clumsy. The Transfer on more than one occasion, a few random Thursday evenings, and one memorable Saturday put all those facts to rest. Or that is what I perceived?
Thanks to the affordable and toxic drinks served up here. Loud, dance oriented music. Everyone else dancing besides me the pasty wallflower. I was pressured into an attempt at shaking my body like I was channeling Beyonce and Prince all at once. While it was an ugly site. My enjoyment level was pegged. Crowd was a mixture of the rainbow. The straight and gay rainbow. You know the all pink one and the all brown one?
Line at the door can be a bit of a wait sometimes. Be prepared for a nominal cover some nights. And remember to double up on drink orders if you cannot dance sober!
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (4)
Funny (4)
Cool (4)
I spend an ungodly amount of time at this bar, & for good reason.
True, you do have to wade through a sea of drug-addicted, hipster-trash alcoholics AND a shitload of bikes worth more than most of them pay in rent to even make it to the front door....but hey, sometimes you end up riding home on the handle bars of one of those bikes, & yeah, you'd secretly (or not so secretly) love to liquor up one of those young art-school drop-outs & do terrible, terrible things to them in the bathroom.
But in all seriousness:
The doormen are lovely - professional, charming, & polite.
The bar staff are THE BEST: I have never waited more than a few minutes for a drink, bartenders are polite & respectful - which is practically unheard of in this city. On top of that, they are ridiculously attractive & personable. These people deserve some sort of award (er, tips maybe?). The cocktails are always on point & obscenely affordable ($2 well on Tuesdays), & their beer is dirt cheap ($1 hamms on Mondays).
Monday here is one of my favourite nights in this city - Suckerpunch. Cheap beer, dirty hip hop, & dirtier dancing. The DJs spin some of the best nostalgic & top 40 I've heard from a pair of white kids, plus they're rather dashing... Monday is the new Friday.
4th Sundays is Big Top - aptly described as a "Big Gay Circus," Lots of hot, sweaty party animals, eclectic & very danceable tunes, & an assortment of greased up boy dancers beautifying the bar. The tranny action is TOP NOTCH.
Saturdays is the SF mainstay - Frisco Disco. Love it or hate it, the people here are hotter than anyone who every came to your lame party & almost certainly on a shit ton more drugs than most people who go to ANY party. The music is bangin', the DJs are bangin', & it is always a sweaty mess of american apparel, asymmetrical haircuts, & indefinite sexuality. Not for the faint of heart - your tired ass should head to amber to chill & discuss novels you haven't read. & to think...they things you could have done to that hot tranny mess dancing on the bar.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Funny (1)
I have a friend. He's kind of lame.
He wears outfits that kind of suck.
He thinks some of his ideas are mental gold but they're pretty weak.
His e-mails are vapid, often of interest to no one and in general a waste of time.
So when he had a big throbbing member for this Frisco Disco event, I was rather apprehensive. I'm happy to report that yes, every dog has his day.
You know you get kind of weirded out walking by this place during the day and seeing surly looking folks in leather and metal sitting inside pounding beers while some more squalid folk jaw outside. Rest easy however because during Saturday night, this place goes crazy in a good way.
Drinks are mostly cheap. The good beers (Thurderhead IPA, Hemp Ale) are $4 while PBR rings in at $3. There are some bottled selections as well although unfortunately I'm unsure how much cocktails go for. The bartenders are practically begging you to get wasted. I ordered a few beers from one and was asked by the other two if I needed something.
The music is pretty good. The DJ on the Saturday night I was there had a good mix of beats without it feeling toooo much like a rave. They let you dance just about anywhere in this joint, not to mention that they throw a board up on the pool table so people can really get down in full view of their fellow revelers. This ensures some humorous moments especially when you send two of your straight skinny friends up there and watch them get attacked by some folks of seemingly other sexual orientations.
The crowd is rather varied. From barflies to partiers to people who really came to tear up the dance floor, in any case the place seemed like a great combination. Nothing pretentious or fancy.
The $5 cover charge is a little crusty given how much of a dump this place is but I had a blast will likely be back.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Cool (1)
So much fun it should be illegal (and probably is)! Shhhh! Don't tell anyone. I want the one with the spots! WOOF!!!
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (6)
Funny (8)
Cool (7)
The glory days of Frisco Disco are over. :(
Frisco Disco is not for picking up chicks; it's not even for staring at hipster eye candy - it's for fucking GETTING DOWN, going nuts and having fun. Still a really friendly crowd, but the party is past the peak and into the "B&T yuppies know about it" phase.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (4)
Cool (3)
Frisco Disco. Wear whatever you want -- whatever you wish you wore in 3rd grade, what you wore to work, dinner, gardening, your sister's wedding -- and you'll be a ok. The crowd's a mix of ppl tired of dancing alone in their underwear at home.
Stiff drinks, electro/indie, b&w photobooth, dirty bathroom, small but sufficient dance floor, nobody cares, nobody's trying to take you home, just get drunk and dance.
Understandable if it's not your thing.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Cool (1)
Um, if you want to party hard this is the place.
I went for Frisco Disco and it was very fun. A good scene that is well put together and the beats never ever stopped. It was actually the way a good club should be.
Yes, there is hipster B.O, but this place outweighs or shiesty places like Popscene...
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
Hates it.
Way too packed, way too hot (not in the sexy way), and you'll be up to your eyeball's in hipster b.o. Bathroom is nasty. Some of the idiot clientele wear sunglasses INDOORS. Gimme an effin' break.
I'm not usually a one-star guy, but I gave this place several tries (because a friend seems to think it is the bee's knees) and I have been sorely disappointed each time. This place just does not bring out my inner happy.
Oh yeah - the drinks taste like cat litter & ass.
it's so close to where I live, I am surprised I dont go there more.The transfer is a cute little spot with cute boys who go to it(although they dont want me bc they want one another). They get some really good djs that spin REAL TECHNO(big ups to when Kendig spins there, a top choice of mine if i ever need a sperm donor--that guy is so hot) .I dont know i just like this place, and they have yummy drinks and reasonable prices.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
Friday nights are boring. Saturdays rule.
There's always something to be said about loving a place that you go to for the first time when you're plastered.
With that said, the first time I went to the Transfer, I was plastered. The door guys were very polite and one of them remembered me. Sadly, I forgot his name as it's been weeks since I've last attended.
There's a photobooth in there that I think is WAAAAY cooler than busting out your digital camera for Myspace/Facebook photos. Remember to always pay and call dibs on those photos because they're usually the coolest and they're original.
The music is ok. I'm not very educated in good music, being that I'm from Fairfield and I like songs where rappers say things that make me laugh, but the crowd loves it. The DJs play everything. They played "Woman Trouble" on the tv screens and the bartenders are always HELLA cool.
You should go if you're not a douche. If you are a douche, go to Amber around the corner, then leave around midnight because that's when I usually go to Amber.
Thank you.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Funny (1)
Fun alternative to the typical Castro crowd. You can only deal with so many coked out fag-o's, pretentious whores, and gross old men that want me to 'love them long time'.
This place has everything! Men, Women, Straight, Fags, Tranny, Dyke, Butch, Hipsters, Homos, Transformers. And 2 dollar ass beer (Hamm's).
Music is a fun mix and you can actually (kinda) dance. 5 bucks to get in. Worth checking out for sure if you are tired of the typical stuff in Castro.
I think this place is called The Transfer, because you can Transfer sexual orientation here.
I have pink fingernails almost every day. These match my pink purses, pink lip gloss, pink sparkly eyeshadow, and pink beverage choices. Everywhere I go, this gives off a girly-girl image. Everywhere, except for The Transfer.
You see, I entered this place of ambiguous androgyny and my former girly-girl title sorta turned into a lipstick lesbian or bi-sexual babe image.
Ravena F. and her husband, Daryl, believe that's what's cool about this place.
Conversation:
Me: Ooh, that boy is cute.
Daryl: Gay.
Me: What?! No way!
Daryl: Yeah.
Me: How about that one?
Daryl: *pauses* You know, he might be straight. Maybe.
Me: Perfect.
You see... I'm the lame kind of girl who isn't looking for somebody to take home for a night of meaningless impulsive drunken booty groping that neither of us will remember the next day.
And a land of mysterious attractive men that may or may not be gay is perfect for me. If the guy isn't interested, I can say that he must be gay. If he is interested, and this scares me, then I can smile and grab a girl's hand. Which will help him not take it personally, because I like girls.
See, it's impossible to feel rejected here. Genius!
Instead of "he's not that into you."
It becomes: "he's not that into girls. probably."
Great place for my self-esteem and fickle bar-flirting behavior. Next to the MUNI, which is a definite plus. Sit at the bar and you can sneak olives when no one is looking. Bowls of peanuts provided, not too creeped out by the germs, because everyone in this place has very soft, clean hands.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (17)
Funny (31)
Cool (25)
The people who hang out in front and smoke when I walk past are enough to make me homophobic, but then again the word "homophobe" implies that I fear them, when in actuality I find them repulsive and cliched. Yeah, you're gay, you're hip, you're on coke, I get it. This place could be called "Gay Pop's", it's that lame.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (3)
Cool (1)
I dig the Transfer although I rarely go. Some friends have thrown parties there and the location is super convenient and they have a photo booth although I have yet to partake.
Usually cheap drinks and although it can get crowded, it's pretty unpretentious.
Monday night at the transfer- known as "suckerpunch"
are super rad!
used to have dollar pabst - amazing...
but then they switched to dollar hamms? yuck ha.
but i've been out of town for the past few weeks...soo maybe they're back to pbr...
seems like there are usually 2 djs - the broad is sub par compared to the later awesome fun dj guy...or maybe it's because i'm usually way more drunky at the end of the night so more likely to "loooove every song that comes on" hahaha...
i think it's known as a gay bar - but it's like a midwest-style gay bar where it seems like a group of straight kids bring their 1 gay friend ha. that's why i bring my best friend gia - she a gay and i'm a straight...we're eachother's wingmen ha.
what else what else...oh it gets sooo hot on that dance floor - windows dripping type hot. so you're better off freezing on the walk there or wearing a shirt that you don't care to sit down and forget about.
saturday nights - frisco disco are also great - but i've only been to this night once or twice because i work at 530am on sundays bummmer.
you should check this night out too though.
OH OH OH I ALMOST FORGOT!! STELLAR BANDS PLAY HERE!!
i saw glass candy here...if you weren't there, you blew it. it was great.
yelply yours,
jen
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
So I have this dumb habit of wearing sweaters out - with just a sports bras underneath. And it may seem like TMI, but there is a point to this disclosure.
This annoying habit has ruined many a dance night.
Cause a girl can't get down, when she's sweating her butt off, trying to pull sweater lint off her sticky skin.
And so this is why the Transfer is magic.
Because in such scenario awhile back, I had no qualms about taking off said sweater - and making it happen, in a sports bra, because there were a number. Yes a number. Of shirtless grinding bodies in the place. Getting down to Prince. With attitude.
I plan on coming here again, but will be sure to leave the sweater at home.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (20)
Funny (55)
Cool (39)
This bar ROCKS! And Regina, one of the bartenders is the BEST! I don't care what night of the week you go there, there's ALWAYS something interesting to see, watch and/or hear! Cool ass spot!
I wouldn't invite friends here, but it's not one of the places I try to talk my group out of. It can get pretty crowded but the room is more spread out than the other two, so you aren't stuck with one of those single-file lines along the backs of the bar stools where you wait 5 minutes before the direction changes, like in Elbo Room and Delirium.
I think I recall ordering a $3 Skyy tonic here once during happy hour. Sweet.
Yeay Frisco Disco. I love to get dirty at the transfer, no better place, and mucho appreciation for the fancy door guys!
Escape to the Transfer
Home sweet home.
Saturday=$5 Frisco Disco
The Frisco Disco used to be at the Arrow Bar off of 9th and Market, but sadly it closed down and now it is here. Jeff and Jason are some of the best DJ's around, which will be pretty obvious by the size of the crowd. It is always something you can count on doing if you are bored and feel like dancing for cheap on a Saturday night. I have taken all my friends here, and no matter how preppy or hipster they are, they all love the Frisco Disco
This place is not glamorous, but it can be if you make it that way!
Find me sometime with my camera and I'll take your next hot Yelp photo!
xo
I've been to The Transfer a couple of times usually on MONDAY nights for SUCKERPUNCH, the DJ's RULE. They play dirty raps, bay slaps, and great dance music. I heard it was a gay bar but the crowd was really mixed. A super fun spot with a killer dance floor.
GO TO SUCKERPUNCH MONDAY NIGHTS!
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (2)
Cool (1)
The one star is the super nice door man. The lacking others are for the insides. I walked in and my glasses fogged up. The music was way too high pitched. The bathroom was filled with guys doing blow and the urinal was out of commission. Because of this, guys just were urinating on the floor. I ordered a drink and the bar tender didn't give me enough change. I ordered a Frenet on the rocks and gave him a $20. He handed $7 back. When I asked how much the drink was and he gave me better change. I wish I could have enjoyed the evening.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
First off: Covers are lame.
Don't be surprised if the dance floor gets super crowded, this place is tiny.
The bartenders are friendly. And they've got $3 PBR for you big spenders.
Bonus for having a photobooth.
Definitely a good place to go to if you plan on getting drunk and ripped and showing off those dance moves you don't have. Because it'll be so crowded that no one will see you do the funky chicken behind the sea of tattoo sleeves. Trendy below-thirty clientele with an affinity for getting shit-faced and making out in the bathroom.
Or maybe that was just the couple who decided to slobber all over themselves, and then me, while I was ever so innocently waiting for the (one) stall. Which was by far one of the nazzzztiest I'd ever been to, by the way. I guess they got really turned on by the wavering smell of piss and spilt Tecate.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
Hands-down the coolest place to go in SF on a Monday night. And by cool, I mean you'll be privy to your favorite hip-hop from the 90's (cue Skee Lo and Naughty by Nature); "top-tier" bike-riding, 85 lb, skinny jean bandanna clad-hipsters; and some of the most impressive? gyrating there is to be had on yes, a Monday night. See for yourself.
My secret shame. I end up in a drunken stupor here way more than I want to admit. Thanks to the $2 happy hours.
Cheap drinks and cheaper boys.
It's inevitable that I'll be back but my hangover and I are boycotting this place starting now.
I've only been to Frisco Disco as of late, but i guess it depends how fucked up you are or wanna be to have a good time here, and you can... but this place is a real mixed bag, i've heard some craptastic music here, and even seen the medics hall out someone in a stretcher here, so you fill in the blanks. The drinks come fast and friendly, and the same could be said about what goes on in those dingy bathroom stalls...
But how could you go wrong with a nightly called sucker punch??? Yea, maybe you could!
only been here twice, and it was pretty different both nights. i guess friday is men's night and saturday is ladies night. they don't have dubonnet but they do have bud-lite. music is pretty good...crowd is a bit on the young side for me (i sound like my mother). bathrooms are beautiful. i want to have sex in them. and eat dinner. and give birth...they are just that god damned sterile.
not.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (5)
Funny (2)
Cool (1)
I really do like this spot.
Once upon a time it was a place to hop off the J and take a shot of Jager (usually on my way to Dolores Park or to Ambiance on 24th street).
I actually stopped in last night and stayed for a little.
It's a cool little spot to get your drink on.
This place is super fun. I come out for suckerpunch on mondays and frisco disco on saturdays. It's the new arrow bar ever since the arrow turned into the matador. This place is filled with pretty, androgynous boys and hot hipster fembots. This is awesome for two reasons, first of all because there is less competition for the fembots, and 2nd of all because even the boys are cute enough to talk to!
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Cool (1)
I can see why people like this place. But I was disappointed by "Baby's on Fire" night. The poster even said "Brian Eno". But they only played two Brian Eno songs and they were both from the same album. You've let me down The Transfer. And your Pabst is expensive. And your floor is slippery when wet.
I was surprised to see that this place had hardly anyone in it on New Year's Eve. I guess it was still pretty early. However, there was plenty of space to move around in and the bartender made us all Brosephs after we instructed on how to make them: (like an irish car bomb, except with an absolut citron dumped in a glass of Sparks). The consensus says it tastes like Flintstones vitamins.
We stayed for a drink and then left. 1 star off for bathrooms with no functional locks on the door.
I have a blast every time I go here. The drinks are alright and the crowd is always fun. This is my favorite place to end the night.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Cool (1)
i usually have fun when i come here. i think it's a fun place if you want to just be silly and have a good time dancing. minus 1 star for being able to smell the bathrooms on the dance floor.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (1)
this place is pretty fun on any night but the real night to go and get crazy is Saturdays. whenever i go on saturdays which is the night called Frisco Disco, im always surprised by the kickass music, the fun crowd, hot bartenders (girls and guys) and hot hot people making out, dancing, etc. some of the many times ive gone ive had the luck of seeing Glass Candy play, i saw a male stripper in a policeman suit dance for one of the djs, and an awesome performance by some crazy hot rapper girls called Hottub. whenever me and my girlfriends want to go nuts on a saturday night, this is definitely the place to be. *hint* get there early because this place gets crowded and you dont want to miss any of it.
I like to start my nights early, and on Frisco Disco night that saves me five big uns. That's right, I get there so goddamn early, they ain't checking the door yet. 9:30, baby.
This is one fun night. I like to dance with awesome strangers and awesome strangers like to dance with me. I hit the store just around the corner when my pocketbook gets light. I go back and get my dance on. The dancefloor is a blender, but I am the outlet. When I plug in, we stir things up. We don't just stir things up, we grate, chop, pulverize, we even make fresh juice with the appropriate attachment.
I am now a fixture and no one will ever stop me.
I am fucking single, San Francisco. Watch yerself.
UPDATE:
Yeah, I'm over it. But it can keep the stars for all the good times we had.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (7)
Cool (4)
This is the bar to take someone you want to make out with. It doesn't matter if you are a big ol' Mission queer, a pretty gay Castro boy or a hipster Hayes Valley straight girl.
The music rocked my socks off. The drinks were cheap and the service very friendly. There is also a funky pool table -- a lot of the balls are doubled and if you get your white ball in, you won't see it again. You might try to lift the table this way and that to get it to come out, and have a laugh about it with the person you want to kiss, but eventually the cutie bartender will have to reimburse you.
You can take that dollar, put it together with a few others and take some pictures at the awesome color photobooth (not digital!). If you don't kiss them then, come out for a cigarette onto the busy sidewalk in front of The Transfer and snaggle one out of them then. They will be smiling.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
I love this place. Hands down my favorite club/ bar.
Even though i have only been here a good 5 or 6o times, i have a great time every time i go. I have been here single, on a date, and with a girlfriend of 1.5 years.. and the experience taught me that its a good place for any kind of outing.
Cool dudes, Hot chicks, and awesomely cheap STRONG drinks!
Hey cute hipster girl with the long scarf and striped sweater, give the mexican dude a chance!
Lets dance!!
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
I heart The Transfer!
Cute lesbians (I'm straight and married, but loved the girl who kept smiling at me and reaching over to ruff up my hair in a very flirty yet grandma type of way), half naked girls and boys dancing on stage, strong drinks, amazing music, a photo booth, back room indoor-outdoor super cool smoking area (I'm a ex-smoker, but not one of those "I can't stand the smell get away from me ex-smokers" but I'm also not one of those "I don't smoke anymore but love the smell, can you please blow smoke in my face" - what's up with that?!?! ok, where was I??? Oh ya, but I do believe in giving those smokers the right to not freeze when they want to have a smoke so this was a nice touch. Still a free country, right?
I have a few guy friends who think they are too cute to hang in the castro and in their defense, they are hotties, and they do get looks, but the gay men at Transfer were very well behaved. I think straight cute men need to get over themselves when they are around gay men, but that's just my opinion!
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (2)
Cool (6)
I danced so hard at the Transfer at Frisco Disco night that I sprained my ankle. Glass Candy was playing, and they rocked hard. And the background DJ's music that was playing after Glass Candy's act was even dancier. That's where the night ended for me, sadly, but I'll be back in 4-6 weeks.
Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review
People thought this was:
Cool (1)
People Who Viewed This Also Viewed...
Related Lists
-
Sex Sells!
Yes, it sure does. These are the places are… -
Sweet Purgatory
My neighborhood has some serious identity issues,… -
Sundays in the City
I remember living in the city and Sundays were my… -
My Neighborhood
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,… -
i'll have a bud light
it's the god damned king of beers, folks. whys… -
The Dive Bars I heart.
No posh swanky-clubs for me. I'm all about the… -
