SF Badlands

Buy one drink, get another for a dollar! Perfect way to go hard on a Thursday night :) friendly bartenders, great service, euro pop music– what more could you ask for?

The music in this place is fine but my iphone 6s was stolen within minutes after I placed it in the pocket. It is ridiculous how quickly it happened. This happened at 1.30 am when I was ready to leave after trying to reach my friend. They do hand out flyers at the door but are very callous about it when you report that your phone is stolen. I think they should do something more to crack down on the pick-​pocketing clientele. I will not be coming back here.

Music, terrible staff, terrible bartenders, terrible door attendance… only go here if you have no place else to go!

Drinks were good. Music was good. Staff sucked. Short Latin looking bar back was a PRICK, he thinks he is better than the customers and he is a rude asshole. Won’t go there again because of him. He needs to be fired

My iPhone was stolen here while it was in my purse and while my purse was on me! It´s the first time anyone has manage to steal from me as I live both in Europe and US and travel tons. The people at the door gave out notice and even with being well aware of it they still manage to do it. I´m giving two stars instead of one because of them giving out notice at the door, I hope they continue to do so.

Chalk another one up for the Pickpocket.
Not sure how it happened. Slow night, new phone was in the purse and whammo!
Aside from that minor problem, the music was pretty mainstream. Badlands no longer feels like the awesome gay bar it once was. Very sad to say we won’t be going back.

Ever have one of those nights where you’re bored out of your mind and hell-​bent on making some bad decisions? This is where you want to go.
My wife’s sister came to SF on a surprise visit and this is what we chose on a random Thursday. Yeah yeah, it’s a gay bar in the gay district of town. If you can’t get over that, then this isn’t the place for you. It’s cash only and the music was hit or miss, but here’s a few things this club had in spades:
— The bartenders at this place are on a mission to get you wasted, and I mean shitfaced (are we allowed to say that?). I ordered a vodka tonic and instead received a cup of vodka with 3 ice cubes, a splash of tonic and a tiny lime wedge. Shots are cheap. Dirt cheap. I think we had a few shots of whiskey and tequila, but I can’t be sure anymore.
— Since it’s primarily a gay bar, your woman is free to completely skank out without fear of creepers. On the other hand, be prepared for some wholly inappropriate looks, grabs, and other shenanigans especially once the booze has been flowing for a while… and I mean, for you, as the male.
— All in all it’s got a safe vibe and the Castro neighborhood is great for things to do afterwards, be it more drinks, food, or if you and your woman want to have some fun at home (there’s a sex shop around the corner).
My wife and I were literally rolling around in the street later that night and had to climb into our Über. Not sure when her sister got home but she apparently met a straight guy and got lucky. My wife and I woke up naked and we had trashed the bedroom.
I only remember fragments of that episode, but it must’ve been awesome.
Take your women to this place and experience it at least once. There’s something about how the guys stare at you like a piece of meat that drives women crazy. I basically got my clothes torn off the second we got home.

I will never be returning here. They have absolutely got to start cracking down on this theft problem. I came in with a small crossbody bag secured to my person and my BRAND NEW $ 700 iPhone 6s was stolen 10 SECONDS after I placed it in my bag and securely closed it. The place is too freaking crowded to even see who could’ve possibly been responsible for the theft. This is ridiculous.
The bathrooms are atrocious, the entire place smells awful, and it’s infamous for pickpocketing. 3 strikes– you’re out!
If anyone has any info on these pickpocketers– let me know. I’m interested in taking legal action.

Badlands is a fun spot that seems to garner a lot of popularity in The Castro. I would say it’s more popular among the younger crowed, as the drinks can be cheap, yet overly sweet or way heavy on the alcohol. Make sure to bring cash, as they don’t take plastic. The music is Top 40 gay hits (and remixes). I would say Badlands is a cool spot to start off with, but not to end a night at.

The music here was not for me. They play very mainstream, gay iconic songs from artists like Britney Spears, Madonna, and Cher.
What I also noticed were the empty glasses on tables and floors which were dangerous because people kept tripping and dropping glasses. There was a broken cup of glass that definitely could’ve ended the night badly for someone here.

Good place to go if you want to go dancing and dance like there’s no tomorrow lol. $ 3 cover charge on friday nights. Gets very crowded, loud and shoulder to shoulder by 11pm. The bar is cash only. So make sure you bring cash lol. Restroom is unisex which makes it a little uncomfortable for woman lol.

This place really depends on the crowd. The music is decent and the pours are quite good. They hand you a piece of paper when you walk in that tells you to watch out for thieves who are trying to steal your phone and wallet, which isn’t the best advertising.
Ultimately, if you want to dance, be surrounded by a mixed crowd of lots of tourists, and have some strong drinks, this is the place to be.

Every time I visit San Francisco, this is my NO.1 go to place. The music is always good and makes me wanna get on the dance floor! :)
The staff is always friendly as well, the only thing is sometimes it can get really really crowed, make it hard to move. Over all I would highly recommend this place to my friends to have a great dance night!

If you are a weekday dancer, here’s your spot. Great place to go out dancing on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! The weekends get a bit too crazy for me. They play top hits and have shot specials all night long. It’s in the heart of the Castro with Hot Cookie and Orphan Andy’s 24hr diner right around the corner for afterwords. Definitely expect to see a fair share of characters!

It’s a great bar.
Just need to bring awareness that there will be that one person, reaching into your pocket while you dance in the rowdy crowd, and steal your stuff. Pretty clever because it is too loud for you to even locate your phone, if stolen. Good Luck.
If you have no cash, then you. are. fucked.

On my one night out in the Castro, my friends and I hit up The Café first, but it was pretty dead since it was early so we ended up coming to the Badlands. Luckily we got in free before they started charging cover. Cool beans.
It’s a tiny place and soo crowded! Like very very crowded! The dance floor area was pretty neato with the spacey looking walls and music videos playing.
Now I do like gay guys. I really wish I have like a gay best friend that I can hang with, but unfortunately I don’t have super close gay guy friends. With that being said, at every angle I turn, I keep on seeing sooo many dudes making out with each other. Too much PDA!
Also upon entry, they kept on handing out the flyer about keeping your personal items in check cause apparently things get stolen quite often up in there. =/

They didnt have juicy limes but at least i could breathe unlike q bar. Also didnt get my ass grabbed so thats chillin

I was there today and the music was good. The group is a mixture of so many types of boys. Some could be nasty, but I guess it is the fun of the Castro in general.
The one star rating is for the service I got tonight. Toward the end of the night, I was waiting for my friend at the front side of the bar, so that he could finish his drink. I nicely asked for some water at the bar. I needed to sober up and get home. If you guys want me to pay, I would have been ok with it. However, the bus boys or bartenders there were not only making fun of me for no reason (I try to not think it has something to do with me being Asian and they are both White or anything), but also they said that «it’s not really their problem that people are drunk and could not get home». I know we have a drought in California and your bar is not obligatory to give people water or anything, but that was quite unkind. Just FYI.

One star for the okay choices of songs to dance to and cheap drinks and cover ($ 3).
Other than that, the place is super dirty. The floor is so sticky, the place is so smelly, and the bathroom is super DISGUSTING (let’s not go into details of what my friends and I saw in there on the floor… /)_– simply horrifying. Then as we were about to exit the bathroom, a big drunk guy came in and started stomping full force onto the bathroom stall multiple times almost breaking the bathroom stall door/​wall, meanwhile the girls outside the stall were fighting back at the drunk guy and he then splashed beer onto one of the girls. Where are the security guards?!
Never ever again am I coming back here. But then again why would a girl like me hang around this area anyways. Cheap drinks anyone?

If I UnilocalED this place then I probably would not have given it a chance. The reviews are horrific! If there are multiple claims then it must be true. I guess I was lucky this particular night.
Badlands was recommended by my best bud, a SF local. I had so much fun and spent very little money! The website says the happy hour runs from 3 – 8 pm but I swear it went until 8:45 pm. 2 – 1 drinks, need I say more? Yes I do! The drinks are only $ 5.50! 4 drinks for $ 11 bucks!
The dance floor was pretty empty when we arrived at 5 pm. I guess people weren’t liquored up enough. After 4 cocktails I was feeling the beat, a beat I never feel sober! I danced the night away to top 40’s, music from the 90’s and from early the 2000’s. Oh, and when I say ‘dance the night away,’ I mean dance until 10 pm because I was already hammered and I got the dancing fever out of my system.
How great?! I get liquored up, dance ‘all night’, and make it home by 10:30 pm for a full night’s rest.

De passage quelques jours à San Francisco, on se devait de découvrir le Castro. Je né savais pas vraiment à quoi m’attendre, mais un petit peu déçu de voir que l’essentiel des lieux de sortie né se concentrent pour l’essentiel que sur deux rues. En même temps c’est pratique pour faire ton choix, changer si tu t’ennuie, etc.
Après un tour et quelques essais, on a opté pour passer deux de nos soirées ici. Dans la mesure où je suis soit pilier de comptoir soit très très techno, je commence à me faire à ce genre de boîte-​bar. L’espace, même si par moment est blindé, est plutôt agréable et plutôt bien organisé: le passage avec sur la droite un long bar qui nous amèné vers la piste de danse, à gauche un premier lieu pour se poser avec quelques a les hautes et des bancs muraux pour se poser, vient ensuite un autre espace avec des tables hautes sans pouvoir s’assoir, toujours sur la gauche un couloir qui mèné aux vestiaires (2 $, franchement utile parce que les nuits de SF sont parfois fraîches) et trois toilettes smashant que l’un d’entre eux donne directement sur la salle de danse par une porte dans porte (seul point de lumière du lieu par ailleurs, c’est… particulier ! Mais rien de bien méchant dans ce qui s’y passé. Enfin perso on m’ennuie rarement dans ce genre de situation pour d’autres c’est à voir et/​ou à éviter). Enfin au fond, la pote de danse très (sur-)fréquentée et avec une bonne ambiance. Il y a bien un ou deux mecs compléments morts qui mouvent, ceux qui se frottent, quelques verres renversés… Mais dans l’ensemble c’est plutôt très sympa avec une dominante tout de même de passifs en manqué d’attention. La clientèle hormis cette caractéristique est très variée notamment du point de vue de l’âge ou des milieux sociaux, avec toutefois beaucoup d’asiatiques.
Musicalement ce sont les morceaux du moment avec quelques bons vieux classiques qui déficèlent chaque soir, avec quelques variations tout de même. Le son est en parallèle avec la diffusion du clip officiel sur l’ensemble des murs qui parcours le bar. Ça donne au moins une excuse aux gens pour s’occuper quand ils dansent ou qu’ils veulent éviter mater (just kidding).
Hormis le fait que je suis difficile à aborder en général et pour un non-​francophone en particulier, j’ai plutôt passé de bons moments dans ce lieu.
P. S.: prévoir du cash dans ce quartier on né paye qu’en liquide !