Powerhouse

Oh my god! Never again. Ugly crowd. Absolutely not worth going there. Really pitiful…

Great crowd, fun atmosphere and the feel of a real community.
Don’t let the other reviews deter you from going, you will have a great time!

I have been here a few times. I enjoy the porn playing on the monitors and the bar tenders are friendly enough. They have a back room that is essentially for smoking but there also was some fun activity going on at one time but the last couple of times I have been there, they turned up the lighting so bright back there that it killed that vibe. Even if I got an erection in this bar, it would quickly go flaccid because of gay guys that want to bring their straight girlfriends. There is nothing that ruins a good sleazy gay scene that a giggling gaggle of straight women! I don’t get why some gay men are so insecure that they have to take their straight bff everywhere? This would be a great «mens» bar if it wasn’t for these little twits. There is nothing that ruins a gay bar faster than gay men that insist on bringing their girlfriends to slum and ogle the gay men. If you want to hang out with your girl, there are a million places to do that! A gay bar isn’t a zoo. We are not there for your amusement. Personally, I think they should take the door off the one bathroom that women can use there to discourage slumming female spectators. They should also take out a couple of those light bulbs in the back. That would make it much more fun! I have been there for their «underwear» parties, too, but only a couple of people actually had on underwear. A LOT of looky-loo’s here. It has great potential and was better at one time. Music is pretty good, though.

One of the only remaining gay men’s bars on this once rustic street… Now that the googlers and twats have invaded this once artistic swatch of land it’s become vapid and lame. Shame on you!
I hope that this bar can remain a safe place from said twats.

This has been my favorite bar for ages. I think I probably know over half the bartenders by name, and their staff is always super friendly. They have the best parties between underwear night and any other number of great parties they put together. Scott, the manager can often be seen running around the bar making sure things run smoothly, and he’s a pretty cool guy. This bar has been around for years, and they’re such an awesome bar that I certainly hope they’ll be around for years to come. Thank you Scott for doing such an awesome job all these years keeping the Powerhouse running.

I stopped by Powerhouse at the tail end of a Saturday event I didn’t know about, thinking I wanted to do something festive for Dore Alley weekend. The crowd, despite my lack of appropriate attire, was super friendly, and willing to listen to me yammer on about nothing, and the bar staff was accommodating: I was nice and drunk before I knew it.
Quick details:
Crowd was mixed, younger, older, white, yellow, brown, etc., with expected the older white demographic being the most prevalent.
Almost everyone was in event-​appropriate attire, which was pretty cool.
Music was run-​of-​the-​mill house music and nobody really danced.
Cover was $ 5 and coat check was $ 1.
To my knowledge, nothing particularly dirty happened before 10:30.
Would return. The venue seemed promising and I’d be interested in seeing how it is on a regular night.

The three stars are for the people… staff was nice… customers were friendly and hot. I know Dore Alley is going on but living in San Francisco is expensive enough… I wouldn’t go back and pay $ 10 cover and the drinks in numerous Castro bars are stronger than here too

This bar would be fun if they weren’t always gouging you with a 5 to 10 dollar cover charge then trying to shove a bad drag show down your gullet. Why is it that these San Francisco gay bars think we go to their bar to see some (pretty disastrous looking) drag Queens? Because of Stonewall? Get a different Gay Icon!

i’m not particularly into leather, daddy, bdsm, etc. but situations always drew me to powerhouse. for example:
1) some rowdy girl friends want a «crazy» night out at a gay bar. you’re really sure? come to powerhouse with me. no! i’m not taking you to badlands to join the female regulars there. the girls looked pretty shocked even after 15 minutes and left for ruby skye. good bye girlfriends.
2) gay friends want to see real gay bars. at the end of the night, they seemed to deeply appreciate real gay bars that powerhouse is.
for me, i gained new experiences every time i came here. for example
1) $ 10 can buy you a raffle ticket for charity. you also get something more besides that. my jeans got a bit damp after.
2) …
i should stop giving these examples before real people real reviews get too real.

It’s Friday. Almost immediately on entering Powerhouse, I make eye contact with a svelte, scruffy guy wearing nothing but booty shorts and thigh-​high athletic socks. He turns around, bends over, and starts twerking his butt at me. Later, I tell him how much I like his socks, and ask him what he has stored in them. He shows me a small bottle of lube in one sock, and a small bottle of poppers in the other.
… I liked Powerhouse because it was fun to go alone. I felt comfortable checking out hotties without having to hide what I wanted. I wish, though, that the vibe wasn’t completely about sex. Aside from booty shorts guy, everyone who approached me went away when I told them I didn’t want their sex or drugs. One guy kept finding ways to sit next to me and rub up against me. Was «hello» not in his vocabulary?
The staff and management seem so friendly. No one stopped hot mess, fugger guys from dancing on stages if they wanted to, which was nice. (In another club, someone would have told them the space was reserved for go-​go boys or some other nonsense.) One staffer showed me where the two bathrooms were — which are cramped spaces with a urine trough and a door wedged open so everyone can see. I asked him «does the door close?» He came back later when the bathroom was empty and said I could close the door. So sweet.
It seems like the majority of people go here to use the smoking patio; it’s a long, narrow space that’s crowded with guys getting head and taking it up the butt. I guess I could have gotten into that, but the clientele is not what reviewers say. Sure, you have a handful of hot muscle leather daddies. Then you have younger, oh-​so-​cute scruffies, and a few muscle-​bound gym boy types. But for the most part, you have a lot of older men with beer guts wearing dad jeans. That kind of orgy is not my scene.

I am over this place. There is no reason for blasting music at such deafening levela. I downloaded an app now to test decibel levela. For comparison, ot is a respectable 84 decibels at 440, so that’s where I plan to hang out.

My favorite bar in SF
I’ve covered the world’s waterfronts in my decades of having Social Disease, I know a world class black wall painted gay cruise bar when I’m in it… COLD BEER, good drinks, great shots… great theme parties, one of the once a month parties is a SUPERB night-​BEATPIG-​always always a great night out…
You can just hang alone and listen to music or pick up some thing that makes you know the difference between love and lust just looking at him…
Always raising money for community organizations with suggested donations at the door,
I like it when the music is nonstop and hate it-​l always leave-​when some «MC» gets a weapon of destruction-​a live mike-​in their hands and starts talking and exhorting. gurl, shut the fuck up and stand by the door with a bucket and a bell, clubs have music in them, take your pedestal elsewhere. i realize there’s a lotta talent packed in this town that carries their own stages on their backs for a chance to sing out, louise but there are many more that want to drink and cruise unmolested by the terrors of gerbil cervical cancer and what we can do to stop it and just have a drink and a chat up
Worth a stop!

This place is the worst place in the world! They discriminate against straight individuals and women! It’s San Francisco, it a very tolerant city. They told my straight girl friend that she was «intruding» and they made her feel uncomfortable. We paid to get in! I didn’t pay to get harassed! It smells like a law suit for discrimination!

Bartenders does not know any basic math. I gave $ 20 for a $ 4.75 drink. I got $ 5 back. I had to correct him that he was supposed to give me back $ 15.25. He gave me a hard time then realized his mistake.
Lay off alcohol when at work. THANKS.

Maybe I am too young and inexperienced but this place blows my mind, disturbs me, and excites me all at the same time.
Strong Drinks and Strong Men.

Sleazy (my favorite!). Good music. Good charity events. Best gay bar in the city. Go now before it gets taken over by the tech boom and they paint birds all over it and call it something like Crow or Bluebird.

This place is beyond disgusting. There’s a big difference between musty-​manly man-​smell and unsanitary. This place is unsanitary. Im surprised the health department has not paid a visit to this place.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for sweaty manly men dancing to Donna Summer, but this place? I don’t know where to start.
:vomits:

The very best of the BEST in the soma district. I went on a week night so it was more like a dive bar, but I know on the weekends they have themed nights… GREAT BARTENDERS! And eye candy everywhere

I have always liked this bar for many reasons. It has its flaws but I have to defend some of the negative comments that seem to be coming from tourist and bay area suburbanites who do not know the true meaning of a gay SOMA bar. Jose, Travis and Rick are the best and most friendly bartenders. Scott is sweet as pie and loves his patrons.
The Powerhouse has some of the most amazing bartenders in SOMA. It is laid back, no pressure, fun and you can go and let your hair down without any apologies. People go and hang out in SOMA instead of the Castro because the Castro is not very welcoming to people 35 or older. People who do not fit the phony image of stuck up, shallow, back stabbing queens who wear clothes that are too tight for them hate the Castro. SOMA welcomes people who do not fall into stereotypical boxes of what a gay man is suppose to look like. Men are just normal guys who are more fun to talk to and become friends with.
If you are looking for men of a certain false image then stay ur stuck up ass in the Castro or the burbs (Grant S. of Sunnyvale). SOMA scene is opposite of Castro and before you judge too harsly about who you think is nasty and old and ugly, remember you too will get older with each year passing and who knows what you may look like. So let’s not judge too harsly.

My first thought when I walked in on a quiet Monday evening:
«It smells like Folsom Street in here!»
No, Folsom Street doesn’t smell like this everywhere or every day, but the essence of Folsom at its peak of Folsomness was very prominent here. The collaboration of urine, old sweat, leather-​smothered-​and-​extracted sweat, liquor, and faded cologne may not be pleasant for most, but it is one to be appreciated if you’re familiar with all there is to love about Folsom and its reputation, even if you’re not into the scene.
It was a quiet Monday so I didn’t get to experience this place at its peak, but I can imagine it would be a good time! Great energy, great drinks, great bartenders! Happy Hour was till 8pm so I chugged a few cheap ones before heading out. Travis was the one who took care of us that evening… and how cute is he!!! My group had a few sessions in the photo booth and Travis joined me in one at the end. He collects the pics! Does this mean I might make it on the walls or the bar?! One can only hope!