The Bar on Church

This review is for monday! Dangerous!!! 80 cent cosmos? very good

Dont get me wrong. I had a FANTASTIC time at BOC! I had never gone out to the Castro at night. I went with my gay loves. we had planned to go to different venues that night but ended up staying til close at BOC. The moment we entered the bar, I swear all my friends knew maybe half the people in the bar. The music was popping. the drinks were good, but what really made the night was the company, and not so much the bar.
Like any bar/​club, at some poijnt it just became sooo stuffy and hot inside. The drinks are expensive. i had to flirt with a bartender or have my friend flirt with a bartender to get a discount. There is also a $ 5 cover. And of course parking is absolutely horrible anywhere in this area.

During the 2010 World Series, I saw an ad for BOC’s $ 1 beers during the game — so I went one night to check it out… not only was the game SUPER choppy and delayed, the cheapest beers were $ 2 and it wasn’t the beer that had been advertised. Tonight I went back to BOC because a sign on their front door says «free wifi» and I needed to get some work done… after I ordered a drink, the bartender told me they haven’t had wifi in months, so I was stuck with a drink, my computer, and my work binder, in a place where I didn’t want to stay.
I’ve only been disappointed by BOC and the bartenders never care to make it up to you.

The BOC is a lot of fun. I went on a week night with a group of friends and we had a blast. Good and really strong drinks served by cute bartenders (also really nice!).
The poles are a plus too if you want to brave the audience and try out some moves.
The place is small but overall it makes for a good time.

Overall rating would be three stars, the extra star is for the ridiculous amount of fun Saturday nights are here at the BOC. Although a ways away from the Castro, it is worth the little extra walk … or drive to Safeway across the street. The BOC offers an open dance floor, long, accessible bar, great, friendly, and speedy service, and an overall good vibe. Music is always great on Saturdays, thanks to DJ Drewbad. Reasonable priced drinks accompany everything that was previously mentioned. A bit crowded and sweaty at times, you seem to forget how hot and cramped it is because of the amount of fun everyone is having.
Bravo BOC … now give us more dance space!

I can’t really say one good thing about this place, anymore. The BOC used to be on Castro and it was great. When the BOC first moved to the new location, it was still fun. Unfortunately, it took over the Transfer, my favorite bar at the time, leaving me eternally bitter (hence the review). I guess it really deserves 2 stars and here’s why.
Location: This is the reason that it deserves 2 stars… it’s in a great place. Right on Church and Market so that when you realize how lame this place has become, you can run away to places more deserving of your money. Tons to do around with a plethora of bars and dancing in the Castro and Upper Market area.
Ambience: Most of the time it’s either dead or lame. I used to come here for Manic Monday all the time, since BOC was on Castro. Unfortunately, this place got overrun by faghags and their boyfriends and as such got turned into Karaōke Mondays. Weekdays are pretty dead and weekends are a strange crowd. I think they have hip hop nights on Saturdays which might be the only worthwhile thing to look into.
Space: Lame. LA meets Tijuana with a struggle for glam. There used to be palm tress inside! WTF?! The lights are weird, the dancing space is narrow and award. There’s not dimension to the place, it just looks like a dive bar done up… but with a cover charge some times and with the pressure to dance. There are also ropes that people swing from atop the booths… awkward.
Service: The bartenders have always been pretty nice and try to make good drinks.
Drink: Meh… nothing special at all.
Overall: After months of coming here on Mondays, I don’t think I’ll be back. Q Bar is only a couple blocks up the street.

I learned three things while I was at the BOC:
1) There’s pretty much a party every night in the Castro. Even on a Monday.
2) Gay guys can’t always tell if other guys are gay.
3) Contrary to popular belief, some gay guys can’t dance very well.
My neighbor J and I headed to the BOC one weekday night for some drinks. There, we met up with one of his friends, who decided that he wanted to find me a boyfriend. Sorry, baby, but we’re kind of in the wrong place for that.
While trying to figure out my ideal «type» of guy, I decided that it would be easier if I just pointed someone out instead of trying to describe it. So, I pointed to one of the pole dancers, who was awkwardly dancing around the pole.
«Honey, that guy is straight!»
«No he’s not. He’s dancing on a pole in the Castro. Impossible.»
«That boy is straight. He doesn’t love the pole.»
«He’s gay.»
«I’m going to go ask him.»
A few minutes later.
«You were right. He’s gay.»
The place is small (compared to a place like Trigger or Boy Bar) but clean, and it’s definitely a great place to dance dance dance a Wednesday night away!

Ive always been here on a Fri or Sat night. The bartenders are friendly and funny but every drink I order has been the worst thing ever.
Margarita was straight up tequilla I’m sure. Which in some ways can be a good thing. But I was expected a deliciously refreshing drink of tequila lime juice and maybe some tripple sec. Nope. just ice watered down tequila. So I go for a basic vodka and redbull. Except I’m sure that wasn’t what I got because I could not down the drinks.
I guess for future trips to BOC I need to drink before hand and everything will be ok.

Haha, this place is awesome. I start out with a «haha» because I always have so much fun there. Just thinking about it makes me laugh. I go with my best friends and we always have a blast. If you want to go to a club to dance to Top 40 music, but don’t want to deal with stuck up girls and sleazy dudes grabbing your boobs or bouncers being mean to you, go to the BOC! No matter what your sexual orientation is, as long as you have an open mind and just wanna dance and have a good time, you’ll have fun here.
Danny the bartender is a sweetheart (: He pours a strong drink! The door guys aren’t mean! Great staff. The crowd is friendly. It isn’t super fancy inside, but whatever. I come to socialize and dance, not write an article for Better Homes and Gardens. Oh, and if you build up some liquid courage, they have poles there (;

My wife and I headed over here to go dancing, but unfortunately their DJ didn’t come that night. A gentleman who worked there though, named Terry, suggested that if we wanted to go dancing that we could head over to Trigger instead.
This was great, friendly advice. We took it, and had a great time. I know that this isn’t really a review of BOC, but when we get people at one place friendly enough to point us to another that will give us what we’re looking for, that’s the kind of service that will get us to give this place another try sometime. Thanks guys.

$ 0.50 beers from 4:00 — 8:00pm on Saturdays… need I say more?
I mean, we’re not talking 20-​ounce mugs of Pliny the Elder or anything, but for two quarters, you can sip on a cornucopia of inexpensive brews like PBR, Red Oval and Simpler Times. Everyone expects PBR to be dirt cheap, but I’ve never never even heard of the other two beers in my life. To my surprise, they weren’t completely terrible. I’d even go as far as saying that it’s just as good, if not better, than Pabst.
For folks on a shoestring budget who still wanna party, you can’t get cheaper than BOC on Saturdays. For $ 2 or $ 3, you’re rollin’ out of that joint with a tasty buzz and a tummy full of peanuts. Score!

I love the BOC. Great service, cheap drinks and a great crowd made my Friday night a wonderful night.
Cheap drinks will get you
The courage to get up and
Pole dance in public
Bartenders are nice
Their service is quite superb
They deserve more tips
The music here is
Fun to dance to. The DJ
Dances with the crowd
Come here on Friday
And watch the best of the best
Swing on the black ropes
I would be a repeat offender if I lived any closer to this bar. I’ve also heard that on Monday nights, they play 80s music and serve even cheaper drinks, so definitely stop by there if you’ve just had a case of the «manic monday» and feel the need to unwind to some snazzy 80s tunes!

Cheap Drinks & Good Times…
I’ve been here a couple times now. I appreciate the cheap and strong drinks, good music and flat screens that show music videos or odd movies. They even have stripper poles, if you feel inclined to dance.
The well drinks were $ 3.00 and the very friendly bartender offered us snacks. It’s an easy spot to get to and good for organizing the troops before dinner.

I have experienced BOC on two separate occasions: a Monday night for «Manic Mondays» aka, 80’s Night, and a Tuesday night which was basically hip hop night. Manic Mondays is pretty fun. They have $ 1.80 Cosmos… which is pretty great, and they play fun 80’s videos. Nice crowd, started getting busier around 9-​ish.
Hip hop night on the Tuesday that I went was pretty mellow and not so happenin. The DJ was great, but the crowd was a little random. I guess that’s what happens when you go to a bar on a week night… we had a fun encounter with a man who kept yelling «BETSY ROSS!» and an older gentleman who decided to sit right next to me and wanted to borrow my cell phone. He proceeded to chat with me about his favorite television show: Desperate Housewives.
I’m sure I’ll be back at BOC. The drinks are cheap and the music is good. Works for me!

I met up with a friend’s roaming birthday party here on a Tuesday night and was immediately won over by one of the BEST RnB/HipHop/Ol’School mixes I’ve heard in a long time!
Walking in, I was a little taken aback (and then mischieviously smirkingly amused) by the mirrored walls, high backed (privacy) booths, brass [stripper] poles and velvet gymnast ropes hanging from the ceiling. Awww, yeah!
Drinks were cheap/​affordable (at $ 4/​$ 4.50 a pint and $ 6 for a Bacardi/​coke) and the service fast and friendly. I threw back three pints in short order; its easy when everytime you turn around, the bartender is there smiling «another?» and the jumble of $ 1 bills in your pocket cover the drink and tip.
The long stretch of bar runs the width of the room providing a perfect stage (on which there are two? brass poles for your «drop-​it-​like-​its-​hawt» bartop dancing spectacles). Otherwise, there is a dance area in front of the elevated DJ booth, although friendly dance-​offs were apt to breakout anywhere in the room given the enthusiasm of the crowd and the music being spun!
Look around, you can immediately tell, the room is rich with hip-​hop/​dance heads!!!
For that and the music, I’d go again…
What a good time! And on a Tuesday, too, of all nights!
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By the birthday girl’s request, *someone* did a shy little dance on a stripper pole. Aw, *someone* *hearts* their friends… a lot.

In retrospect, the Bar on Church — made a smart move. Only because, when they had to feat with such heavy competition in the Castro… they now have really made themselves — the place to be in the Upper Market where a lot of OK bars reside. I really love it that they are by a church, I would hope maybe they’d try a Bad Friday party on Good Friday.
But religious innuendos aside.
They really managed to transform the Transfer into something else. The sleek interiors of what was the Bar on Castro is still there. They managed to even put on a train track (I mean catwalk for trainwrecks) laced by the window. And then the wall behind the bar makes me think that Lady GaGa had her way with her disco stick («Let’s have some fun, this beat is sick… I want to take a ride on your disco stick»).
We happened to go on a Tuesday, as to avoid the bridge and tunnel folk (even though we are up 101 folk) and it was Ladies’ Night. It was a cool, fun groove (best part of the night was probably dancing to «Genie in a Bottle» — um, GENIUS) and it reminded me of parties of the past (like Brownies for my Bitches at Harvey’s). One of the key points that BOC has always had, is that the beats drop and they are always good.
I had a good time last night, I can’t wait for more good times to come. I just hope I don’t crash if I ever make it onto that train track. I wouldn’t want someone to sell me out like LiLo!

Probably the best bar in this neighborhood, with friendly staff and safe security guards who welcome everyone (even straight guys like me)…
I can always count on a good night with 80 cent cosmo mondays, ladies night tuesdays (girls drink for half off!!! crazinss), hip hop thursdays and sundays, electro mashup top 40s fridays and saturdays, fame wednesdays, and a pretty darn cheap happy hour everyday.
All of the DJs, from Nuxx to Zax to Mark Andrus Jorge Terez is just bangin… keep up the great work, guys!!!

I have the flu and am in that halfway purgatory where my mind is jello, but not enough to be amused by Judge Judy or Ellen. Thus, this review will not be funny, useful, or cool — just enough to keep idle hands busy until my cold medicine kicks in and I pass out.
Anyways, BOC has happy hour until 9, which all SF bars should take the lead on – there’s a recession bitches — and free snacks. I’d never been there when it was the Transfer, but according to peeps, its morphed from a moth to a butterfly — pretty swank — or at least clean enough to not fear their bathrooms. I liked the house music, but it was on too early and harshed on our mellow — we ended up leaving for somewhere we could hear ourselves talk. Yeah, we’re old that way.

Who the hell knows what this place is gonna be like 2 or 3 months from now, but let me say, that, right now it’s pretty bad ass.
Clean, big (relative to the old space) and the best music of all the gay clubs in the Castro area (seriously). And although this place isn’t ON Castro anymore, Church street ain’t even that far away. Stop wearing heels to the club and you’ll be fine. It’s like a 2 block walk.
Oh and they still have Manic Mondays with their 80 cent drinks. Get gone for less than ten dollars. Recession people!

I enjoy the BOC. They do need to take care of the ventilation issues. I like it for a chill after work drink, or a late night dance. Free drink tokens were given to me there once, which was fun.