Latin American Club
3286 22nd Street
(between Bartlett St & Valencia St)
San Francisco, CA 94110 (415) 647-2732
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 6:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m.
Fri-Sat 5:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m.
Sun 6:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Best Nights: Wed, Thu, Sat
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: No
- Coat Check: No
207 reviews
Neighborhood: Mission
"Never been here until I went for FiYaH's Birthday!! The party there was "GOLDEN" every third Saturday of the month and it was sooo crackin!…" read more »
151 Reviews for Latin American Club
Latin American Club is a place that you probably have walked past a thousand times and not ever known it. It's closed during the day, but at night becomes a mecca for hipstery drinkers. The interior is funky - pinatas with x's over the eyes, funky (huge) Chihuahua portrait art, a science poster on how to prevent alcoholism. There are tables and a bar and the ambiance is steps above Casanova, as are the drinks. I had a very refreshing lemonade with vodka.
The name has nothing to do with this place at all (that I could discern). There was probably no one in there from Latin America, but it was pretty boisterous - people yelling and singing and tripping and dancing...the atmosphere is chaotic, relaxed, and fun...
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I LOVE this place. On Saturday, walking to catch a cab from my new favorite restaurant (Beretta, sooo good), we stumbled onto this place. It's fabulous. Drinks are cheap, the company is good (love my hipsters), and the deco is fantastically bizarro. I would describe it, but I can't.
Two biggest realizations after a night spent at the Latin American Club:
1. I should probably have a BUI.
2. I am a ninja-gangster.
These two epiphanies, which struck me at the exact same moment, were themselves the direct result of 3 moments earlier when I struck a car wheel with my bike pedal on Valencia, after numerous beers at the L.A. Club.
Reason for realization #1:
I had been shouting some inebriated garble at my friend who was 10 yards back, when all of the sudden I hear "BRANDON LOOKOUT!!!" I looked up just in time to keep myself from doing a face plant into the hood of this stupid car (which was rather inconveniently parked where I was trying to bike... sheesh, the nerve of some people). I was not, however, quick enough to keep my foot from knocking into the tire, and sending myself soaring over the handlebars.
Reason for realization #2:
Without missing a beat, my ninja-gangster skills kicked into awe-inspiring action as I stretched my arms out in front of me super man style, tucked and rolled into a little ball of ninja-gangster-like fury, and popped back up onto my feet like it wasn't no thang but a chicken wang.
p.s. Don't try this at home, kids, that was the work of a ninja-gangster professional. So always wear a helmet, and remember, only YOU can prevent forest fires.
p.p.s. No cars were harmed in the making of this Yelp review.
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BEST STOUT I HAVE EVER HAD.
PERIOD.
Seriously - - it was full of chocolate and coffee flavor, but it was beer - meaning it also had alcohol.
Latin Club has a big bar and a really retro feel to it, bordering on being divey - but still has a lot of character. I rather liked it, and the music was also good. We happened upon it because we'd had dinner at Esperpento (all of us), and Latin Bar was right across the street.
Twenty of my friends and I came in, and we lined up almost all of the tables and chairs to make ourselves comfortable. A few got up to buy drinks for most and all commented on how strong their drinks were.
Excellent.
I noticed they had at least 5 or 6 beers on tap.
Excellent again.
Of the tap beers, I chose the stout.
Don't know the name, and don't know the price, but I know it was THE GREATEST STOUT THAT HAS EVER TOUCHED THESE LIPS.
After a weekend of nonstop wine drinking in Napa, I cannot begin to tell you how good this tasted!
Edited to add: Found out the name by going back: Old #38 Stout! Yummmmm!!!
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Latin American Club, huh? Don't lump this place in with the Italian American Club or the Irish Cultural Center; you might be a little surprised when you arrive. This is the neighborhood bar with the neon horseshoe sign outside. Why not just name it "The Horseshoe?" Oh yeah, the Marina got to it first. Whatever.
The crowd is fun and energetic; definitely a different hipster crowd than say...Casanova. I get the feeling the crowd here wouldn't judge me for going to Fluid (see next review). Or for liking Justin Timberlake. Or for not voting for Nader. No one here is trying to hard, and I love that. While were on the subject of first impressions, try not to make a sad face when you fork over 6 bucks for a small-ass cocktail. The bartenders at heavy-handed and the drinks pack some punch!
The decor is festive with the ceiling full of pinatas and the Dio de Los Muertos feel. Also, I become an instant fan of places that offer outdoor seating. LAC is not the kind of bar I would trek across the city for, but definitely hit it up when barhopping in the Mish.
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Pinatas = hangover symptoms
Directly proportional, mathematical.
Proved, at least three experiments.
I don't remember clearly the first two.
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I can't believe that I've lived so close to this bar for so long and had never been there until a few days ago... but I made up for it by going two nights in a row!
When you're not in the mood to walk down to 16th, go to the Lone Palm for the 800th time, or deal with the Marina spillover at Medjool/Laszlo, this is a very good alternative. The crowd was chill, unpretentious, and the drinks were ridiculously strong.
The owners should really get an easier to see sign, though.
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WTF is the Latin American Club ? This is "that place with the horseshoe sign". It's pretty rad. Good cheap drinks and a nice mellow vibe and high ceilings so it's not suffocating on a hot night.
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The stout's good, but if you're in this part of the Mission, I'd recommend Revolution up the street instead (half a block towards Mission). You'll certainly get something faster -- we were pretty much lepers most of the time we were at Latin American.
After not so great experience at Amnesia and Beauty Bar, this was a really good turn around. The place wasn't so packed and definitely chill, though we couldn't find place to sit. No biggie.
One downer, they didn't have SoCo! I ended up getting Jack and Coke, which was STRONG! They ain't joking. I felt like I got my money worth though.
I kept wanting to beat the shit out of the pinatas and imagining if they're filled with alcohol. Oh dear heaven!
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After escaping from the SoCal scene that is Medjool was totally refreshed by this place. Nice, random Bay Area crowd and decor. People were mingling and having good times. Ordered 2 rounds of drinks with friends, bartender number one was kinda cranky because I asked for water after she poured up the drinks which was kinda baffling...her tap was right there :( (Otherwise this place would have 5 stars). The second round, the other bartender was really nice and poured us generously stiff drinks. I shall return...
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One manhattan, down the hatch!
Two manhattan, down the hatch!
Bathroom break. Nice blurrry people in line.
Another manhattan? Did I make it a batch?
Smear of city lights out of the cab window.
Wake up with a trail of clothes from the front door to the bed.
...
Yup, I like this place.
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drinks are strong as all hell. this place is fun, dark and dangerous (in the you might get way more wasted than you had planned sort of way). excellent place to get some cocktails before you wander across the street to esperpento to top off your latin lover night.
Three words: giant hamster cutout. The giant hamster is crucial to understanding the overall Latin America Club experience. While it might be random, it is surely awesome. I love sipping on a drink, gazing at the hamster and wondering why? I suppose it doesn't matter why... What matters is it's there.
Strong-ass margaritas with salty rim. Check.
Cool-ass bartenders with salty tongue. Check.
Spotting Matt Gonzalez here hitting on young girls...Um, check?
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I'd hit that again.
Had a fun time at Latin American despite it being Wednesday night - though to be honest I don't remember if there were other groups there. Unlike Stephy S. I really don't need straws with my whisky ginger's, and given how strong those drinks were (seriously...seriously), there are compelling reasons to return. I imagine that window seat would be a lot of fun on a weekend night.
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I have been here once. But I liked that one time a lot. I was asked by two complete strangers to be their wing man. One guy with successful with asking the girl out. The other guy was shot down by asking a guy out... I had not actual role in playing wing man, but I just like how the two were so determined on having one.
They have giant portraits of chihuahuas on their walls, and pitas litters all over the ceiling with their eyes "x'ed" out. I like dead paper machete animals... hell I like any dead animal that can be cooked up and put on a plate. I need to come here again. I am sure I will have another fun time.
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If the margaritas were any stiffer here they'd be in a drawer at the morgue. There's a thin line between a refreshing adult beverage and a pint glass of poison. I vaguely recall a pinata mocking me. Beware.
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Great bar with fun decorations! Very mellow, you can sit and talk with the people you came with. Like everyone has said, the drinks are VERY strong. I stuck with beer, but the next day my friends all agreed that the mixed drinks were crazy. Not a ton of seating, but most people didn't seem to mind. A little hipstery, but not so much that we non-hipsters would feel awkward.
Alright, first things first. I liked this place and I will be coming back and while I am potentially risking spit in my drink for this, I can't not comment on this one retarded aspect of this place and that is....straws.
Apparently, LAC is too cool for the straw carrying school which honestly amuses me to no end. I happen to like straws for more than just their mixing value. I like to pick them up, bite them, twirl them and most of all, I like to wrap my lips around them and not have to touch the glass at a bar.. Why? Because, I don't know how well their glasses have been cleaned. I don't know who's hands have been on what, but gimme a straw and I don't care about any of that. Maybe it's stupid, maybe it's dumb, but it can't be any dumber than the attitude I got when I asked if I could have a straw....
"Um, we don't have straws."
Whatever chief.
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This is an almost perfect neighborhood bar. Strong drinks, very heavy shoot pours and I mean very heavy. In fact I would recommend shying away from doing shoots there at all unless you have a strong desire to fall down or vomit outside as I have been a witness to these occurrences there. The only downside is there wine selection sucks and that is usually my poison of choice. Love the decor. I do however have secret fantasies of ripping apart all of the pinatas. shh... don't tell anyone.
come here for the beer, stay for the motherfucking rocket fuel mixed drinks that they concoct. seriously, i have been to a lot of different bars but MAN do they make the strongest drinks here EVER.
i think i know where i'm going if i ever get dumped from a relationship again, or fired from a job, or snubbed out of another "World's Greatest Cunnilinguist" Award for the 3rd year in a row.
follow the Neon Horseshoe.
I imagine I'm not much of a "Mission" guy, but as it's one of the "cool" neighborhoods in SF, I tend to find myself here on many a night during my visits here. I came with a few members of Team CM who weren't ready to call it a night after dinner. I'll echo Nish on the strong drinks - many points there. But I don't know - yeah, there's pinatas and a giant hamster cut out, but other than that, I found this place rather unremarkable. I did get into a big, rather heated debate about the importance of voting, and perhaps freaked out a few of my co-workers (what can I say, I'm a passionate guy). I'm sure on the right night, this could be fun, but the random Tuesday we went did not impress.
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Again people, why go to dive bars if you are lookin' for something like AsiaSF? Just don't do it! The one review below, about the surly dude, is probably the owner who also bartends at the latin - and word the the wise, don't request vodka redbulls, they don't have it, won't serve it and find it offending to be asked for it.
My review: I love the dodgy places, the place is a dope watering hole, you can stand outside, they have prosecco and I heart Pinatas. Oh, one more thing shouties to Jill & Dan - you R to the OCK.
Latin American Club, your bartender is SO SURLY.
But he pours strong drinks, even if he gives me a dirty look when I order them. (Come on, a gin fizz doesn't deserve that evil of a stare!!!)
You will have this place to yourself on weekend nights before like 9pm, and it will be great. It's fairly wretched when it is crowded, though.
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Let the lilly-livered be forewarned "Lead-Hands" lives here! There's no room for humor with him, only business. He could be considered more of an undertaker than a bartender...but who's complaining? Quietly I think his cousin is the bandana-neck chef at Tu Lan. After your fifth stiffy don't be scared by his pinata minions. Keep it cool and remember they really are just inanimate objects.
Arrre!
Whoa! They pour a strong drink at this place! The night went something like this:
Round #1:
"Hi. Could I get a Grey Goose and tonic and a Sapphire and tonic, please?"
Round #2:
"Hi. Could I get a Grey Goo an ton and a Sapphire and ton, peez?"
Round #3:
"Hi. Cuh getta Grgoo n ton un a Sapph n ton?"
Round #4:
"TAXI!"
Oy! Who knew you could get so much vodka into such a little glass!?!?!?!
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Okay so I am totally not a hipster by any stretch of the imagination. But I felt totally relaxed and had a great time at this place! The decor is off the wall with the giant pictures of chihuahuas and the pinatas all over the place! If you are in this area you should definitely check out this bar!
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Awesome decor, and really friendly bartenders. It seems like a place I would like to drink at, but good luck hanging out there on the weekend. We stayed for one very, very cramped drink, then fought our way through the crowd to the fresh air outside. I will have to revisit this place on a weekday trip.
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The atmosphere is cool.
I don't know if I came on a bad night but the bartender was really snobby when my friend asked for a PBR. I know it's not the best kind of beer, but shit, it was his first time there. Other than that, the place is pretty cool. I totally love the decorations and the huge Chihuahua posters! So random!
Also, I ordered ONE margarita. Just one. It came in a pint class and by the end of my drink, it was a pretty pungent margarita. I was probably the most boisterous one in the crowd which is least to say, awesome.
I wouldn't really come back here all the time though.
Epiphany number two. There's a simple truth to the Mission for a boy, we're a tyranny of cads. To regress momentarily whilst I give light to this theory, in this world there exists two types of boy - the dad, that of paternal behavior and burgeoning resources. His shirt beckons a broad belt, and never one to shy away from an elaborate crotch adjustment - as though to imply the weight of adulthood is his to know alone. Then we have the cads, we lack staying power, ambition and smarts - but we gots the razzle dazzle. Evolution stymies serendipity - girl goes for her dad.
There's an end to be reached, but not yet.
Pre-conclusive-copulation this girl wanders into the Latin American Club. She permeates the need for a zipless fuck, bitingly put as "a sexual consummation, presumably with a cad, so quick, so spontaneous, and so "in the moment" that unzipping isn't even called for." And we reach our purpose. The platonic ideal.
"A perfect encounter in which zippers fell away like rose petals, underwear blew off in one breath like dandelion fluff."
This is modern love.
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I have had many a wonderful experience here, but perhaps the most humorous was one night when I was with a couple of pals and we met some Canadians (or at least I think that's what they were) whom got wonderfully drunk.
After many a libation, one Canuck proceeded to throw up all over her open-toed sandals, and then slide around in the sidewalk, toes and all in the vomit. Her boyfriend, or at least that's what I took him to be, was sitting at the table outside while this was occurring and commenced vomiting as well, although unfortunately he did not have any open toed footwear. A "barforma" akin to that of "Stand by Me" fame right in the Mission. Good times.
Not to mention this place has some of the best bartenders in the city with some of the stiffest drinks. The only reason it gets four stars as opposed to five is the hipster contingent. I guess these skinny, white-belt, irony-laden doucebags are better then the Chads and Jens from the Marina.
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Not really sure about the appeal of this place. It is neither Latin (unless you consider pinatas "Latin") nor American, nor a club. The beer selection is pretty good but the atmosphere is like any o'l bar. My friend ran into some people she knew through her recently ex-boyfriend. That was awkward especially when she kept swearing that one of the girls in the group had hooked up with the x since their breakup. But really, it didn't bother her, no really it didn't. No really, I swear it was fine with her.
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First of all, let me just say (since its apparent someone has to): You mean that big guy is named tiny? That is HIGH-larious! You see what they did there? He is huge. But they call him tiny. They flipped the script! Its like opposite's day! How novel, and droll.
If you hang out in the Mission on a Friday or Saturday night, then I can almost guarantee you that you wouldn't traffic at bar that was full of Latinos. I know this, because those bars exist and all you incredulous Yelpers who are shocked... Shocked! That this bar isn't full of brown people should genuflect on the last time you interacted with a Latino that didn't involve buying something (no disrespect to those looking for Latin Love, but this ain't that bar either).
This bar has the best pour in the City, and some of the best bartenders. If you're the kind of person who wants the "realness" of the Mission on a weekend night, then go here, you'll be embraced in the familiar tropes of striped shirt, bleached hair and teeth. Which is Awesome! (I can't help thinking though, that Tonic or Bliss would really get you where you obviously need to go. Just sayin'!) But for the rest of us, we already know how to navigate a neighborhood that gets ambushed on the weekends (I have sympathy for North Beach now).
Besides it's probably an empirical fact. If you don't like the Latin, you live on the other side of the Caldecott Tunnel.
Don't lie.
I won't judge.
I'm just sayin' the Skylark is bangin' on Thursday and Friday. Or the Elbo Room.
That's all. I'm here to help.
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After Nick, I went to 22nd St.
On the curb (I took a drink outside).
Fresh air, smelled like cigarettes, felt good.
I didn't stay long at Latin. Thanks to a good friend-- I'm lucky. She took me to Rye.
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I'm not telling you what my number one all time favorite secret thing about this place is bc I don't want it to get gone.
I will say:
Ditto all applauding or fearing the largess of the bartenders when making their margaritas. Um, yeah, they're strong ('tenders and margaritas).
What is it also I love? The light is great at the Latin when it opens in the evening.
Great dreamy fun too, watching the tables and chairs shift throughout the course of the evening like one of those puzzles -- you know, the nine little squares you shift around somehow, not Rubik's Cube....
O you NEVER have to wait in line for the bathroom here! It is shocking to me! And it's just one stall for girls! These girls can hold their drink. I mean eeeeveryhwere else, a line. Not The Latin.
What's everyone all up about about the name? It's the name of the place. And it sounds nice.
And, maybe this belongs on some other establishment's review board, but what is everyone so UP about the hipsters??? Every place I go to review in the Mission is riddled with complaints of "their" presence. Isn't there possibly, just maybe, maybe, o c'mon, maaaybe, something else better stronger more evil to rage against in our big machine? 3 words for thought?: George W. Bush.
?
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You know what I find hilarious?
If there were a bar in The Mission named The African American Club with a large red SIN sign flashing in the window....
ain't nary a bitch would be in that mug. Well, except me.
More "no straw included" cocktails for me bitches!!
The servers were quite kick ass if I do say so myself. I didn't wait longer than a second for a drink and they attended to every customers want and need in a heartbeat, despite the hectic crowd.
However, not even the gorgeous velvet chihuahua paintings on the wall could make me want to stay longer than half an hour. The vibe was way too hipster happy and we all know I'm still working out my feelings toward hipsters in therapy.
"...and how does the hipster make you feel?"
"...and why do you think the hipster makes you feel that way?"
"...and why do you run and scream in fear of Pabst Blue Ribbon?"
"...and why do you think you go temporarily blind when walking past Thrift Town?"
I think I was molested as a child by a hipster or something because this is a feeling that has only surfaced in the past year or so.
Why, just the other night I had a dream that included Bugs Bunny, a hipster with size 2 pants and half a mustache who sang "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" upon entering and leaving a room, a field of talking poppies and a paper clip necklace someone tried to steal from me because they believed it to be the holy grail. Timothy Leary was my boyfriend and the singer Nico was my sister. I was the prettier one of the siblings.
Need more therapy I suppose because we all know Nico was one stunningly beautiful woman and poppies don't talk. At least not before you take that one pill....
Seriously though... how many hipsters does it take to walk into a club called The African-American Club?
That is not a joke and there is no punchline. Just an observation on our culture and our society.
Someone open a club called The African American Club and see how many patrons you get. I'll bet you two nickels nary a hipster will walk in. I know, I know... I'm a high roller.
I wasn't appalled, but I wasn't impressed either. It's as if with the cuckoo clocks by the bar, the chihuahua portraits on the wall, and, the pinatas on the ceiling, The Club Latin American really just doesn't know what it is or what it wants to be... just like many of its hipster patrons.
Utter confusion in a land of hipster illusion.
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I saw the chihuahua painting and I knew that I would like this place. Cool spot on a weekday night to chill and grab a strong @ss margarita. I had one and was tipsy. I would've had another but I'm trying to be more responsible...yeah, right!
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I'm getting concerned. A disturbing number of reviews I've written lately have been about drinking establishments. Or places I've eaten. While drunk. Or tattoo parlors.
My parents would not be proud. Thank god only one of them is alive and is only remotely internet savvy, therefore the likelihood of her stumbling on yelp is not great.
And now I'm going to yelp about how excited I am that soon I will be living just steps away from the Latin American Club. Because it's dirty and divey and they have mannequins and cuckoo clocks and all other manner of weird and slightly disturbing trinkets on the wall, like something out of the A-bombed town in "The Hills Have Eyes." Or maybe it's more like, with the setting sun coming in through the ultra-dingy windows, hitting all the colorful vinyl chairs, I almost feel like I'm in that bar scene in "From Dusk 'Til Dawn," right before nightfall, when everyone turns into vampires...
Cool.
God, I love dive bars. And horror movies.
God, I need help.
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Is it possible to review just one drink at a place and nothing else? All I know is I was told I'd get one of the best margaritas in town, and I did. I had ONE and I was well on my way to being done for the night.
I remember pinatas, and a giant piece of art with a chiuaua on it.
And my really strong, and really good margarita.
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