Retox

I’m so glad this place is closed. The downstairs looked like it was decorated by a 40-​something year old pot dealer that lived in his parents’ garage: black lights, psychedelic posters, bad mushroom art, and a horrible techno DJ. The cover to listen to this horrible DJ was $ 10.

DAMN! THESE REVIEWS ARE OLD! That said, this place is a DIVE but one you’ll want to hang at when you’re around the area (if you don’t already there). I like it. Folks are friendly or not. Belly up to the bar it’s what it is and it’s okay in my books!

This bar sucks. We walked in after the unbelievable perfect game Matt Cain threw, expecting to find camaraderie and high-​five rage action. Instead we ran into a sad lineup of disaffected hipsters and an underwhelmed bar maid. Not recommended unless you’re looking to stare at the bottom of your mediocre beer glass while bitching about life.

I have thrown up, fucked on the couch, and gotten beaten up by a bartender in here. Not all in the same night. Place is awesome.

Retox and The Common Men made for an UNcommon Great Time!
SITREP
DIVE! DIVE! DIVE! [NO. That is not a command with the KLAXON HORN alert indicating that a SUB is SUBMERGING, but rather the heads-​up that we have entered the «DIVE BAR» ZONE!]
I drove down from Sacramento with my crew of buddies to this Potrero Hill enclave of secretly talented & eclectic musical geniuses. THE COMMON MEN were showcased tonight and we were treated to fantastic musicianship and avante garde talent in every category of musical performance!
THE SET-​UP
The RETOX itself is an exceptionally enigmatic venue in that half the downstairs room makes you feel like you are in the torn-​apart & crashed jet fuselage from the series SURVIVOR.
While sitting in airline seats, you can look out airline windows and catch views of (pretend) exotic locations! It really is a mind-f*ck, but such a kitschy treat!
THE STAGE
You are in a very intimate performance venue and there is no barrier between you and the band, so it feels like they are singing and playing JUST FOR YOU. I absolutely loved it.
And because of this group-​fan intimacy, this made the performance by THE COMMON MEN so much more intense and real for me. At times I felt like I was just standing in the midst of KIMBERLI (drums), JOSH (Bass), and KEVIN (Guitar & Lead Vocals).
This venue lends itself so very well for performances by talented artists with their enthusiastic followers.
THE STAFF
The Security and Bartenders at Retox were extremely courteous, pleasant and very exceptional at their jobs. Always friendly and engaging, I would be tempted to just go back and hang out, band or not that night, to enjoy a great quiet, chill scene.
THE LOWDOWN
The perfect chill hangout joint to being friends, listen to some tunes, or just have a drink.

I stopped in here on a random Monday night with a friend… def in the dive bar category but I like this place.
It’s exactly what you would expect of a dive. Dark. Minimal effort in terms of décor/​ambiance. Old school bar stools and random cushioned benches.
The bartender (Fawn) is super friendly though and made me feel like I had been to this bar a million times. She is awesome. Pretty chill local crowd. Good tunes. Great drinks.
I did not have the chance to venture downstairs, but I have a feeling I will be back on another random night.

My band played a show here in March with two great bands. Playing in the downstairs dungeon was fun, lots of people showed up, and the people from Retox were pretty friendly. All in all, a great place to play a show, but you gotta keep on top of everything yourself to make sure the show runs smoothly and on time.

I love dives but this place is bad. The band I went to see played 2 – 3 hours late due to bad management. There were people smoking cigarettes throughout the bar. The offenders were even chatting with the bartender while smoking without consequence. I think worst of all was the general character. Some smelly salty regular felt is was appropriate to say «smile c*nt» to my friend who had been waiting 4 hours to hear some music.
Seriously I hate giving such a terrible review but everyone even the chain smokers in my group hated this place.

OK, so I ended up here on Valentine Day night to meet a blind date. I drove past the place because the bar sign was off (obviously not expecting many customers). Parking was not problem and I don’t think it normally is, based on the reviews.
As I entered, I was greeted with the sight of Scott, one of the owners, and a patron playing chess at the bar. And that was it. Just us 3, as my date hadn’t arrived yet. Décor was simple, with plenty of seating. Didn’t get a chance to go downstairs and check out the airplane.
After my date arrived, we proceeded to imbibe many $ 2 PBRs (yeah, we’re classy. Deal.) while Scott was quick to chat us up when appropriate and let us be when appropriate. Fantastic barkeep!
Overall, this place is awesome. I will definitely be back. I can see this being a good jump off spot before a Giants game, because it’s location.
This review is for you, Scott!

hee hee.
After scoring a first-​class seat downstairs I felt strange urgings to partake in some mile high activities. I giddily rolled down the nearby airplane windows and straddled my companion… and then the band began to play.
On a completely different note, I like how they have a monitor over the bar (on the 1^st floor) so you can watch the band playing in the basement. You can’t hear them play but it’s still fun to watch them gyrate and wiggle about.

My friend just played here last weekend and I had a blast. Yes, the basement SERIOUSLY needs a fan or some windows opened PLEASE! it was super HOT in there!
overall, parking is easy, the place seems safe, and the prices are cheap. a good hangout spot that is not crowded on a saturday night.

Why the hell can’t I find my review for Retox? I’m sure I reviewed them years ago!
Retox is an awesome little watering hole in the dogpatch. My buddy, Mike Broadus bought it when it was the old Sub Lounge. That place was a dump. Broadus lovingly redid everything.
The drinks are strong and cheap. The music is great and often live. Parking is easy and it’s right by the T.
I’ve thrown parties there and they are very reasonable to work with!
What’s not to love?

I went in and sporting my english accent that I so try to get rid of, I proceeded to drink shots with the owner and a good friend of his. At least I thought it was, I was pretty faded that night. I had a hell of a time. The second time that I went back, I sat on the stool at the bar to start off the soon to be crazy evening, turned towards the bar and a hang nail protruding from the bar ripped into my $ 150 pair of lucky brand jeans. Damn… So much for that…
NUFF SAID!!! I’M OUTIE!!!

I dug it.
The downstairs music venue is awesome and really loud. So make sure you like the shit kicked out of your eardrums before venturing down the steep stairs.
My drink of choice (7&7) was poured fantastically every time.
I only wish there had been more of a crowd for a Thursday evening.

I was looking for a place to host a joint birthday/​farewell party for me and shawn g. The place must be fun, not already crowded on a weekend night (since we were expecting like 50 people), not charge a cover, hopefully not require a ‘booking fee’, and in an area of town where parking is actually not an impossible Mission (ha). After emailing with Mike the owner, we decided to give it a try because it seemed to fulfill all our requirements.
We were not disappointed! All the couches in the place meant all our friends had plenty of places to gather and chat and snack on the cupcakes that someone brought. Mike even found me early on in the night and made sure I know where to find him if I run into any problems or if people are waiting too long for drinks. He also handed shawn and I some free drink tickets — Wee! All night long, the bartenders were super nice and very generous in their pours, making for a rowdier and rowdier party. I even remember a little impromptu capoeira session going on towards the end of the night. Hmm actually, now that I think about it, I hope we didn’t break anything in the bar. Some of my friends loved the place so much that they’ve been going back for non-​party drinking since.
Thanks, Retox for an awesome party! I can’t wait to host the next party there!

Retox is having a little bit of an identity crisis. Is it a dive bar or a lounge? No, it’s both. Is it an airplane-​crash inspired venue or someone’s basement party? Both.
It’s probably the first place I’ve been where the bar and the venue portions were so completely separate from each other. Call me blonde, but it took me a second to figure out where the venue portion of the room was, as they kept the door closed to the downstairs and the door man wasn’t manning his post yet.
Beer wise, they only had one thing on tap (I think it was Anchor?) and you could see the keg behind the bar, meaning that unless it was sitting on an ice block, it wasn’t cold. They have an ok bottle and can selection if that’s your thing.
You could practically take a nap in the bar/​lounge area, there are so many couches. Then again, they do blast AC/​DC and Poison, so don’t expect it to be a deep slumber.
The downstairs venue area, however, is not for the relaxation-​seekers. The flashing airport windows and vintage first class seating are creative, but the rest of the room reminds me of high school when my friends had shows in their basements. It’s small, kind of cramped, and the smal «stage» area is not suitable for a band with a brass section, that’s for sure. If you’re in a band with more than 3 people and you like to move around when you play, you probably shouldn’t book a show here. There’s also a beam smack dab in the middle of the room, which, while obviously important to the structure, doesn’t do much good in a venue.
If I lived in the neighborhood, I’d probably welcome a place like this, given the rest of what the neighborhood offers, but it doesn’t really make sense to travel to a place like this without a purpose (like seeing a friend’s band). It would also be a great place to take someone who’s in a wheelchair if you want to see them cry (I’m pretty sure there’s no secret elevator to the downstairs area, after all).

From time to time, I can be a very naughty girl. The past weekend was no exception. I used to get up to no good here when it was Sublounge and honestly, neither the space nor myself has changed much (except for my alcohol tolerance and their name). We ended up here after Decompression, so I’m a little fuzzy on the specifics. But I do know my drinks were strong, the music was good, and the bathroom lines were not unmanageable.
Note to reader: Should you see me coming toward you in nothing but American Apparel hot pants over fishnet stockings and 4″ heeled knee boots, run screaming in the opposite direction. Those things give me superpowers. Most notably stupidity.
Overall, not a bad place to shake your ass, get tanked, and/​or hurt the ones you love. Note to self: Too much vodka=bad Autumn. What can I say? I’ll try harder next time :)

Kind of a weird place.
Went to see a show on a week night. Saw tons of people in their business attire. No signs or any way of knowing where the band was. I felt like I had missed a memo or something. I asked the bartender, who referred me to a guy standing nearby, who told me I had to go downstairs for the bands. Oh.
I felt like I was in a sewer tunnel or something. A completely different room than upstairs. Dark, musty, shadows, whatever. There was no cover? Not that I’m complaining. The airplane décor was cool. It felt very Lost-​esque. Other than that, not a place I’d be dying to go to again anytime soon.

Upstairs: Dive bar, didn’t spend much time here.
Downstairs: This is where the band was I was going to see. You have to go through a door that says «Employees Only.» It is small and it really seems like someone’s basement, even with the airplane seats.
Drinks were not as expensive as Unilocalers lead me to believe, but there is no bar downstairs.
Plenty of parking around, but you never know how safe things are in dogpatch.

Retox is a great place to get super fader, walk back to the downtown area, and laugh at everyone who waited 15+ mins in a sweety nasty bar packed with people. You know those «bars» that have 50 Cent on Repeat and charge $ 20 for air plane styled drinks!
It is the GEM which is lost in the mist of the Dog Patch and has me returning every month. I like being able to walk into a place and get a drink with no problem and not hear 50 cent blaring. You can do that here and do it well.
Not to mention good music and not super packed crowds. Just a small bar in the middle of the patch serving up good drinks and music. It’s a great place for a group of friend to get together and get smashed.