On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Restaurants, Dive Bars, Music Venues [Edit]
Neighborhood: Potrero HillMon-Fri. 2:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sat-Sun. 3:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
"The Staff here are absolutely amazing. Super helpful and accomodating. As well as professional and and just all-around fun! I "rented" out…" read more »
Loading...
After over an hour of softball practice my crew and I were quite parched and thought what a better way to quench our thirst and reward ourselves after a rigorous batting session than a couple frosty adult beverages.
6 Points of Awesomeness, start here:
1. Happy hour from 4pm - 7pm Every day
2. Diverse, down to earth and overall super chill crowd
3. 3 awesome Bands play throughout the night
4. Their "bar food" is quality tasty goodness and tastes like anything BUT your typical bar food
5. Photo Booth!! enough said
6. OUTDOOR PATIO is like a heavenly oasis
LOVE
What Thee Parkside brings to thee table:
Bike racks.
Thee longest happy hour in San Francisco (theeir line, not mine).
Smoking out in thee back.
Taco Tuesdays.
Awful punk rock bands (theey lose a star for how bad/loud some of these groups can be... but I suppose that's just my taste).
and...
$1 beers on Monday.
Monday night got you down? Head over to Thee Parkside with some buddies and slurp down some Olympia cans. I can promise two things: you'll forget how bad Monday was... and Tuesday will be worse.
Sometimes I live in a delusional world in which I believe that I am capable of creating a budget and sticking with it long term. I create this budget for a future world in which I own 800 pairs of shoes, a large home with a closet just for said shoes and where I vacation in between philanthropic galas I must attend for causes that I hold dear.
Places like Thee Parkside temporarily aid me in the illusion that I will somehow achieve this life one day. They have cheap buckets of PBR over ice that I can sit outside and drink on a warm day, and food that will allow me to put some of my paycheck into savings. At night they have bands who's tickets do not come with a service fee on top of a "convenience" fee of $20 to have them emailed to me.
Then I spend the day here celebrating this dream. Toasting my friends over and over for my crafty frugal ways. Then I order another bucket of beer and talk about the causes and the shoes. And another while telling my friends I will invite them all onto my yacht one day. And another while mentally decorating my mansion in my mind and promising my friends the most lavish of parties.
Then I dip into my depleting savings for the extra money now needed to get a cab home because I drank too many PBRs in the sun. In one afternoon with friends my dreams of philanthropy and shoes and mansions is squelched.
No matter, Thee Parkside always comes through for the next time I decide to "watch my spending" and dream big.
I like the dudes who work at the fry shack.
I used to like Thee Parkside. It fed my dive bar fetish while letting me listen to live music ranging from "OK" all the way down to music so bad it would make Jesus slit his wrists (if they weren't already nailed down).
But the point is it didn't matter to me. I like live music, cheap beer, and hot tattooed chicks. When I was here, I was at peace.
But last time they got all shady on me. I rolled over for a going away shindig and we were there early, like 6pm. I had called ahead and they said "Yea, there is live music tonight with cover but if you're already in, then you're in". Sweet, sounded like a plan. So imagine the shock I was in when the guy at the door walks over and says "yo, shows about to come on so everyone here needs to fork over $10".
Are you kidding me? There were about 15 of us there at this point. How many people were there NOT with our party, ready to rock for what I assume was going to be a suck ass show? About 7.
A fifth grader can do the math. Scaring away 15 booze guzzling customers who have been eating and drinking for hours is just poor business. Especially since I called ahead and got the all clear earlier. I shared my dismay with the sexy tatted bartender of the night and she fully agreed.
Hope you enjoyed your 7 customers that night Parkside, we took our asses up the block and blew another $400 easy. You lose.
I've been to a handful of shows there (and played a couple too) over the last few years and have never had a bad experience there. It's a fun, little cramped place with a patio bigger than the inside and all the staff have always been pleasant. I like that they've been managing to book a lot of the better punk shows coming through town.
2.5, for the sound system. Yikes! Not an ideal system to hear bands from, but the lay out of the bar is great. I was looking forward to hearing Citay play, and they were great, the sound just kinda sucked. But they were still great. Also, this is where all the smokers in the city hide out.
Thee Parkside reminds of a slightly smaller Bottom of the Hill, (it's about 4 blocks down the street). A similar set-up as well---decent sized bar, stage up front and a covered patio area outside.
The stage is smaller and lower than BofH. You're basically on the same level as the band. Thee Parkside has a warm vibe to it. More of a bar than a music venue. The food is good too.
A sometimes raucous rock and roll bar!
I may have had the worst drink of my life last night.
On Thee Parkside's menu is a Manhattan Over Ice w/ Bulleit.
This seemed like a cheap, good idea.
I asked the bartender for a Manhattan. She looked at me blankly and went, "A what?"
"A Manhattan."
She frowned.
"It's on your menu," I pointed.
She furrowed her brow, got out her iphone, looked up the recipe (apparently not taking note of proportions) and proceeded to dump about a shot's worth of bitters into a glass.
I love bitters, but they are just awful in quantity. I drank the drink since she was the only bartender that night and I couldn't imagine that a second attempt would improve things. But it was tough.
Why didn't she just ask me? I'd have made it, and well.
On the upside, we refused to pay at the door and the dude didn't care.
After hearing about this place for some time I finally gave it a try. There was some band playing that a friend really wanted to see so I came by to join them for a while.
This place really took me back! It reminds me of how the San Francisco scene in General and Zeitgeist in particular was like 15 years ago before the clueless yuppies and douchie hipsters started taking everything over. The clientele was more of the artists and student scene that S.F. used to be about.
After having some fun playing poker on the patio the band my friend wanted to see was on. Even this reminded me of the "cow punk" movement of the early nineties that was big among the small downscale venues that used to be all over town. To be fair these bands were more on the bluegrass side but still close enough to remind me why I never liked it in the first place. I'm just not really interested in a new interpretation of the sound and style I worked so hard to get away from.
I'd put this in my regular rotation if there were a reliable mass transit option for getting home.
This might just be my favorite dive bar in town.
1 star for being able to park across the street, which is standard for Potrero Hill
1 star for having Blue Moons! My favorite beer of all time.
1 star for having the coolest back patio that can smoke "outside" while still technically being inside.
1 star for having a cool crowd
-1 star for the bathroom, I am very sorry I had to pee that night, Yikes the bathroom was almost as bad as Zeitgeist
I saw my friends band play live here, and it was so much fun. What a great way to spend a Wednesday evening, hanging with friends, drinking Blue Moons and listening to some awesome live music. I haven't been here on the weekend, but I heard it gets packed and I can imagine why. If I lived in the area this would be the shpot to be at.
They only take cash which I get a little mad about, considering it's a bar and who knows, maybe I want leave my tab open... which ultimately ends up never being a good thing. So maybe the whole cash only isn't so bad, for me anyways.
I've heard they also serve food, which I didn't try but a bar that sells food is always a plus in my book.
Nice simple place to hear some quality rock and get a couple beers. The patio in the back would make a perfect "waiting room" if a lame band is playing but so far I have not had to resort to this, there's good punk, metal, and rocking bands every time I go. There was also a dog that liked fetching PBR bottle caps in that patio, think I've seen that same dog the last couple times I've been there. I love how there's a lot of parking too, I don't have to leave early for a show to give myself time to hunt for parking like I do at other places. Only thing I didn't like was there's not enough meat in their pulled pork sandwiches, but the chili and tater tots are pretty damn tasty.
If you're playing a gig here, be advised that there's only one line out to the stage monitors so everything gets mixed together and you might have a hard time hearing yourself over the rest of your band.
If you're watching a gig here, be advised that drinks are kind of pricey for a place like this and the crowd can be sort of rude. Nice patio though.
If you like black jeans, the kind with a chain attached to a belt loop, black fatigue jackets, wear your hair wild and free, and your musical taste tends toward the kind with a vocalist who sounds like he's telling you to fuck off between puking spasms, then this . . .
This is your place.
Thee Parkside is a big dark bar with a big dim back patio - they have a short order grill. Crowd's mostly in it's mid-twenties.
SuperBF's band played their album release show here, which means I of COURSE think the place is pretty awesome...
Which in itself is actually quite remarkable, because I woke up so hungover the day AFTER the album release show that I vomited until 7:00 PM (please don't PM me and tell me I need help -- I already know this). You'd think I'd be turned off by a bar after that.
But honestly, it wasn't THAT bad of an experience, because the hangover didn't really START until about 2:00 (one might call this "drunkover," I suppose). I was doin' okay in the morning. I woke up at SuperBF's, bowed out of breakfast with his fam (OF COURSE)...
But I DID walk to El Metate with his buddy from Fresno. Then I did the walk of shame home to my place, decked out in my clothes from the night before. Including my hooker boots. With my Deigo-fro. Listening to "Street Fighting Man" on my iPod. About a mile of struttin', total. I rather enjoyed this. I was kinda on a high...
Only when I got HOME did I start barfing...
So although THEE Parkside, with its awesomeness, forced one of the worst hangovers of my life upon me, I consider it part of the experience -- and it had it's good moments. I almost want to thank THEE Parkside for adding that strut to my catalogue of ridiculous memories.
I mean, because CLEARLY, THEE Parkside is responsible. It's their fault, for showing me such a good time. I'M not responsible, for sucking at moderation.
ANYWAY!
The best thing about THEE Parkside is the back patio. Like, this place is way better than Zeitgeist for outdoor hanging, and it's in a way better weather belt, too. But no one will come down here for that because it's like... WHERE? Oh, RIGHT...
Potrero Hill. The dirty gross part.
I don't mind, though. Maybe some day I can convince my friends to come down here instead of Zeitgeist... Also, if you're at a live show and you come for one band and there are other bands you have to suffer through and they SUCK -- back patio, man. This is SUCH a bonus.
Also, the bartenders were, like, really into the music and super smiley and friendly EVERY TIME I went to the bar. This could just be because...
1. SuperBF's band rocks (Two Headed Spy -- SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT!!!)
2. They saw in me a CASH COW who was going to drink to a hangover of epic proportions the next day
...but either way, it's rare to find bartenders in a packed music venue that are seemingly enjoying their job.
This was, like, one of my best nights of live music in SF. Yeah, yeah... I was the trashed girlfriend of the singer, of the band having their album release show, and everyone knew it. I was probably going to have a good time no matter what.
But really, it wasn't a given that I was going to have THAT good of a time.
This was an EPICALLY good time.
I am definitely a fan of Parkside.
It has one of the most rad outdoor patio areas I've ever seen. It is a covered patio, which is cozy and smoking is allowed without feeling like you're really outside. Everything is close and intimate, and fairly quiet. There are hooks to hang, and/or lock, your bikes on.
Inside, a small divey bar, but pretty rad all the same. They have a photo booth and stage where bands play live. I've only been here twice but both times I had a pleasant experience.
The drinks are pretty fair on price too. I paid $4 for a Blue Moon so I wasn't disappointed at all.
This place is definitely one of the coolest dives out there.
I was here for Mission Indie Mart this past weekend and I really like the way the place is set up. Drinks and food in back with outdoor seating. It was packed with people, but the drinks were cheap and the bartenders were nice.
This place surprised me! I have always thought of it as a venue to see great rockabilly and punk, but I have started eating there recently and I have discovered they have GREAT food also.
On a musical note, this place still has great venues and stays true to the music scene. I have seen many bands come through here and appreciate the nostalgic environment and "feel" I get that other places out side of the city LACK! There are more places to see good live music other than 'Thee Parkside', but for starters, this one is my favorite in SF.
It's not quite Zeitgeist but it gets the job done when you're down by CCA. I liked the back patio, including it's bamboo wall mural. We order the veggie melt and I do not recommend this to anyone. It was quite terrible. The cheese seemed like plastic and the veggies were rubbery. The fries were a strange mixture of different shapes, which made me wonder quite a bit as to where they came from. But if I need to eat there again I think all I will be getting are those fries.
The live music was so loud that my ears exploded every time I walked into the main room. The kitchen was competing with the live music by playing loud music in their area. So when sitting outside, we got a strange mixture of heavy metal and soul music. ... strange.
I have been going to thee Parkside for years until about a year ago. That is when it all really downhill and FAST. To wrap it up into 1 word; GROSS!
Here is the the good, the bad, and the ugly about thee Parkside.
Good: It can be a good place to throw a show because the owner does not ask for much. Parking is abundant! It is a great place for a small car show because it is located in an industrial area and getting a street permit is easy if you plan appropriately. The food is pretty damn good for a bar and cheap! The drinks are also pretty cheap as well. They also have FREE twang on Sundays which is nice. Free is always nice. The large outdoor patio is pretty much the highlight of thee Parkside and rare to see in SF.
The Bad:
The sound at thee Parkside is pretty bad so you might as well bring your own PA. The staff has a tendency to let in their friends without charging them and that isn't good when you paid for kegs to serve free beer to PAID guests. The owner also forgets to mention a lot of things upfront and fails to remember anything that was said upfront. GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING when dealing with this bar as far as events go.
The Ugly:
What once once called the restroom, has turned into a disgusting pisshole. You would be asking too much to think they would supply toilet paper let alone ass gaskets. In our case we had to pay for port-a-potties!
Will I go back? Probably not. They would have to have one hell of a show going on to get me to go back there.
Sure, it's a longer walk from the office than Mars, but Parkside is my preferred spot for after-work drinks. It's smack on the commute home for all those working-in-Soma, living-in-Potrero techie types, so if you and your coworker confidantes want to rehash your tough week while skirting the vague existential angst that underlies your bourgeois existence, well, Parkside understands. Their huge back patio welcomes all, including bikes and dogs, and you can feast on chili cheese tater tots all night (they taste as amazing as they sound--and did I mention it's vegan chili?). I've seen this place get almost as packed as Zeitgeist on occasion, but it can also be just right--I guess it depends on who, if anyone, is playing on the stage inside.
thee parkside is still my favorite place to see bands who haven't yet made it to the bigger venues (and even some that have). no complaints, even the bathrooms...deal with it. I've seen worse. It seems like most of the complaints come from people who aren't used to good ol fashioned rock n roll or punk shows. for that I say waaaah. bring your own toilet condoms and ear plugs. and credit cards are for suckers...
On a better note, things seem to be improving after the change of ownership (I think a year ago?). slowly but surely. better sound, good food now (especially the fries and chicken tenders!!!!!), nice bartenders which is RARE in this city, and I've recently noticed a damn good happy hour. cheap! where else can you get a shot of beam and a pbr for five bucks?
Six months ago I embarked on, what I like to call, 2008 OPERATION GET MY SORRY ASS A HUSBAND. I thought it was a good time to give you all an update on how that's going.
::crickets::
::crickets::
::crickets::
::crickets::
Ya, you get the point.
Over the past several months I've received photo-filled email after photo-filled email of my friends' new homes, new husbands, new engagement rings, new, oh hell, I don't know... fetus filled uteruses. The only photos I tend to email back are the ones of me face down in a pool of my own vomit after a single gals night of heavy drinking. Again. I say 'again' to the heavy drinking, not the vomit, because I only vomit once every six years. Like buttsecks, vomiting is something that feels really weird and you vow, on all that you own, that you will never EVER pick up a drink again in order to avoid doing again in your lifetime.
I'm starting to become that single woman, whose a little bit on the crazy side, that they never invite to their 'MOMMY AND ME' or 'YARN CRAP AND TALK ABOUT HOW FUCKING SPECIAL WE ARE BECAUSE SOMEBODY LOVES US' get togethers or whatever the hell these people do.
Oh, and ya, they send me photos of these get togethers too. "Look at us, KayJay! We're knitting shit and changing diapers and in love and married and stuff! Hahahahahahahahahaha.. yes we're laughing at you! Here... here's a photo of us laughing... laughing hard.... laughing long... at you... because you're still alone and will probably die that way!"
Bitches. I never liked you heifers anyway... and your babies looks like a mix between Al Roker and Willard Scott. That's right, I said your baby looks like an inter-racially bald weatherman... whatcha gonna do about it???
I'm sorry, I got a little emotional there; back to the review. This IS a review site and not a blog afterall (Wait... what...?!?!). If I did ever find a man that wanted to marry a little bit 'o crazy and a whole lotta ass I'd like him to be just like Thee Parkside:
1. Hella cool with a unique name: Like Thaddeus, or Horace, or Leslie, or Pilot Inspektor or some shit.
2. Not the most popular, not the most well known, but has enough substance to attract a unique and eclectic group people that I wholeheartedly like and enjoy being in the company of.
3. Encourages me to take dirty photos in a photo booth.
4. Takes my coat. I love those little hooks underneath the bar; keeping your coat safe in case some mother fucker with poo on his shoe, high on three shots of Jameson, uses it as a throw rug for his dirty ass shoes. (Sidenote to the mother fucker with poo on his shoe that used my jacket as a throw rug for your dirty ass shoes three weeks ago. I WILL FIND YOU. I've got your foot print and I will Hercule Poirot myself up and down this city to find your ass and kick it.)
5. Feeds me and feeds me well. This is self explanatory. This is, also, not a sexual reference.... unless you want it to be. If you want it to be a sexual reference you should, MOST DEFINITELY, call me cuz I like you already.
6. Introduces me to little known, yet highly entertaining, bands and enjoys the musical experience just as much as I do.
So, if your name is Thaddeus or Horace or Leslie or some shit and, like Thee Parkside, you possess these qualities... call me. Or don't. You're probably aware I'm a little fucked up in the head, after staring at bitches laughing at me in photos with their fugly children and their fugly knitted pink sweaters, so I can completely understand if you don't.
Thee Parkside is one of my favorite places in Potrero Hill. It's this cute red establishment on the corner of 17th Street and Wisconsin and they have a photobooth inside, because that's always a good time after a few drinks. A lot of bands play here too, and sometimes on Saturday afternoons you can get barbecue and a punk rock show! (For real!)
My band played here once or twice. The sound system probably needs to be upgraded (we had faulty mic cables last time we played), but other than that the staff at Thee Parkside is pretty helpful and accomodating. I've never had a bad experience here whether I was playing a show or watching one.
on sunny days the back patio rocks. They recently got a film photo booth (color) and it's a nice one. Of course, no douchebags are allowed as it plainly states on the booth so you gotta like that.
They have a good happy hour during the week too and eats as well so you have no reason to leave until they close!
Dirty, sexy, loud fun.
Cheap beer, rockin chicken fingers, and awesome music.
Happy hour is from 4-7. If there's music that night, 90% of all shows are under $10. You may not have the slightest clue who it is, but for eight bucks, you can risk it. Being the Gap-poster child that I am, I felt a little uneasy the first time I stopped by; but it takes you all of 5 minutes to realize that nobody cares. Thee Parkside is the epitome of all things San Francisco: a little cold, a little dirty, but freakin awesome and you'll always remember it.
[Bonus: the 22 Fillmore stops right outside.]
I wear high heels. I don't own checkered vans. I straighten my hair. I wear shimmery eyeshadow in the corners of my eyes to give me the "dewy" look. I enjoy a good tan and even like tan lines. My jewelry isn't made of plastic trinkets on fishing wire. My jeans aren't black or tapered or tucked into my socks. I'm a label whore. My hair isn't blonde and brown and black and purple and green all mixed together. My t-shirts rarely have holes or show my nipples and don't say "Suicide" or "Emo" on them. The only black hoodie I own is from Target. I have a positive outlook on life. I think smoking inside is disgusting. I quite obviously and generally judge a book by its cover...
Does it sound like I should be hanging out at Thee Parkside?
Yeah.
That's why I asked where the bathroom was, jumped in my Lexo and peaced the fuck out back to the Marina where they understand me.
I'm an anomaly.
Hi, my name is Rachel and I'm going to make everyone else sound stupid because I have insecurities about not fitting in with them.
Hi Rachel... I wanted to congratulate you on discovering a way to dress a way you feel comfortably. I also wanted to say that I will urinate on you Lexo for acting like a 12 year old and "peacing out" of a place because some people looked different. If you didn't like the music, or if the drinks were too inexpensive, or the food was too unexpectedly tasty (which it is)... that I can understand. But to put it on other people because of your own issues? Jesus woman. You were probably right to go back to your bubble where you can avoid any type of diversity in one of the most diverse cities on the planet.
I have been known to come into the Parkside with a collared shirt or a bright blue polo, tight jeans that make my ass look great, all white k swiss shoes that i bought because that awesome radio commercial they have. And you know what I found... no one gives a shit about me or what I wear.
I still don't know why you decided to come onto a website and trash a bar without anything negative to say about the bar itself. You are a child and I hope you learn that no one appreciates your opinion. I just wonder why you gave it 2 stars instead of none? Maybe it is because no one mugged you, stole your purse, or keyed your Lexo like you were expecting. Enjoy the 5 block radius of the city you feel comfortable. Why do you even live in this city?
The one sentence that killed me was when you were generalizing everyone at the bar and you mentioned that you had a "positive outlook on life". As to say people who don't wear pastel colors hate everything and spit blood on old women. You should be ashamed of yourself... Rachel. Rachel G with the positive outlook...
Good Talk.
TRY THEIR CHILI FRIES! ALL MADE FROM SCRATCH! Best appetizer I've ever tried at a bar. Plus, the back patio makes has a great atmosphere. Strong drinks too!
Parkside, you were my first love in San Francisco, and i still love you.....always......PLUS you gave me a HUSBAND...thank you!!!!
Ok I don't know how often people are out in Portrero Hill unless you live there but this bar I would drive out for. Any bar with a ping pong table and photobooth gets my vote. They also have BBQ during the day which was delicious with my beer.
I will say I've never come down on a Saturday evening and hung out at the Thee Parkside but its great for a Saturday/Sunday afternoon when the weather is nice. Thee Parkside also doubles as a punk/rock-a-billy/hard rock independent club. You should check who is playing before you head down. I did come on a Thursday evening once and there was a frog and a fly getting down in the middle of the room, I hesitate to call it a dancefloor. After more research I learned they were mascots for a local softball tourney. My point, its a dive bar, with a local flair. If that's not your style, you may want to go else where.
Divey indeed. I love it!
Thee Parkside is a really cool bar in Potrero Hill. I would have never, ever step foot in here if it wasn't fo checking out a really cool band called, The Wayside State (Sara and Erin rock!), last night. Sunday starting at 4pm, free admission with awesome tunes!
Beers on tap (Blue Moon, baby!) and other alcoholic beverages, food (burgers and fries) and a great crowd. Outdoor patio with picnic tables in the back and there's also a photo-booth inside.
According to their website, Raw Power Happy Hour is 4-7pm Every Day, but when we got to the bar, the bartender informed us that Happy hour is only Monday-Friday, $3 beers and well drinks. What are "well" drinks?
Good times... now who wants to take a shot of FERNET with me?
Yay, I love this shithole!!
Now normally, calling a place a shithole might be taken as an insult. I mean, let's face it, if someone came into my house and said, "Jeez Stephy, you live in a real shithole," well I would kick a mo fo in the neck and be done with them.
But in this case, it is a HUGE compliment, because Thee Parkside comes complete with a disgusting wet floor bathroom complete with band fliers that stick to your shoe afterwards, a punk rock and hipster crowd that is there to enjoy some true music and guzzle down cheap drinks and the true sign of a real shit hole; the back patio lighting looks more like a police helicopter spotlight or an interrogation room than a place to mix and mingle with people. Ahhh, shitholes :)
As for the band's playing that night, well, yikes, they were pretty bad, but one band kinda sounded like a more punk Bi-Polar Bear and the chick singer was wearing a tie and had bangs that completely covered her face and that was at least cute to look at.
I'm glad I got the text to come meet someone here on Friday, cuz this place was good times and I will definitely be going back. I may even get a bit more ballsy and try their food. Rumor has it, it's actually quite good.
Sweet Juke Box selection. Great patio space. Live music.
As a musician, this place is the best. You can hear anything here.
El Zeitgeist Nuevo.
Now if they'd only blast "Ace of Spades" once every twenty minutes, the circle would be complete.
Thee Parkside is a Mostly All-Ages Club Venue that caters to all sorts of music enthusiasts. I happened to take my out of town friend Nick to witness The Casualties show in June. This show rocked to the fullest!
The venue is safe and comfortable. There is plenty of room for merchandise, as well as an outdoor lounge and bar with good drinkage including bottled coronas and tap beers. The attendees are really cool and everyone was rather open-minded at this punk show. The security is pretty tight so be sure to leave your drama at home. Note: you will need to present ID to receive a wristband to purchase and consume alcohol.
The indoor bar is fully stocked with alcoholic goodies. There is even a CAMEL cigarette machine on supply over the bar. I think I saw someone carrying a vodka and Red Bull. Free ice cold water for everyone. Like Megan D. mentioned in her review, the place is defintely like a mini-Zeitgeist... yet the yelling and angst punks make up for change of environment.
The stage is pretty cool. Although I was bothered with the whole RED LIGHTING (made it a bit difficult to see anything), the sound was tight and loud and encompassing.
The only problem I had with the place was that the bathroom was so close to the stage, it was very hard to stand in line when I was getting thrown aside due to the furious mosh pit. I guess punk shows will do that to you. Otherwise, the bathroom lines moved rather quickly and accordingly. Also, the venue created two lines, one for the pre-purchased ticket holders and the non-ticket holders had to stand against the red wall. This movement caused a deal of confusion to some of the attendees who waited patiently. However, once that was situated, everyone got in pretty quickly.
You will enjoy your punk shows when you visit Thee Parkside!
** I posted some pics in the picture section.
Pros:
-Easy and free parking, both street and lot.
-Many shows have no cover charge.
Cons:
-Food menu is limited and typical unhealthy bar crap: burgers, fries, and that's about it. Not an ideal place to have dinner.
-I know it's a bar, but the only non-alcoholic beverage they have is soda. No lemonade or iced tea???!!
-The set-up for the bands is weird.....the entrance to the bar from the street is right next to the stage, so when people wander in after a band has started, they walk right into the crowd. Every time the door opens (especially when it's light outside and dark inside and noticeable), most people turn and look at who walked in the door out of instinct. It's random and distracting. The stage should be at the opposite end so that when patrons walk in, they walk into the BACK of the crowd.
-The girls' bathroom is fucking disgusting! Graffiti everywhere you look, mainly because after the first scrawling of "I love Jason" or "Girl Power!" I think the management just gave up and decided it would be better to just let it go and not have to paint and repaint every time (which I do understand). The bathroom is TINY and is one stall. The tank lid to the toilet is missing! Again, I know it's a bar, but it's really nasty.
I have been here a gazillion times to see a bunch of my friend's bands play. Usually, I get sidetracked sitting outside and forget that I should go inside to see friend's bands play. Oops. I'm a sucker for outdoor patios and seating.
I have yet to try the food here (except for the occasional hot dog, which needs bacon wrapped around it), but I hear the burgers are really good.
Bartenders are awesome and pour nice, heavily boozed drinks.
The inside area is small and they are only two tables and a few chairs inside, aside from the bar.
BIG PLUS......Recently bought a photobooth.
Scatterbrain Jamboree was rad. 12 year old looking lead singer (dude) in band with sequin panties and milky white thighs, not the look, but oh so very entertaining.
Thee Parkside is a cool bar! I loved the outdoor patio area. The drinks were reasonable, the bartenders were cool enough, the jukebox selection is probably the best I've seen in ages. I saw a band called Buddy that kicked ass.
The reason I'm only giving Thee Parkside 3 stars? THE BATHROOM!!!
OMG! First of all, I didn't realize I was in the men's bathroom. It's a tiny room that smelled as if someone had painted it with urine, set it with a heat lamp and then painted it with even more urine. It was SO foul, that I stood there in horror for 30 seconds then left without going pee. I was actually willing to risk rupturing my bladder to wait until I could leave and find a decent sidewalk to pee on. WOW!
Discount
Neighborhood: SOMA
$32.95 three course prix fix…
Neighborhood: SOMA
Neighborhood: Potrero Hill
Category: Art Galleries
Neighborhood: Potrero Hill
Category: Music Venues
Neighborhood: Potrero Hill
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Potrero Hill
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: Dogpatch
Category: Dive Bars
San Francisco's astronomical rents have forced out…
I know how to drink. I know when to drink. I…
See the people. Watch the people. Laugh at the…
Music fuels my native soul so this is where you…
My favorite places to see small indie rock…
Jane said I should start a list of dive bars as I…
And here's where you can find some hot young boys.…
There's not that many reviews for places like…
