sf rec: beauty bar
Living in the Bay Area, there’s so much to do on a Friday night yet me and my friends seem to resort to the same few places we’ve been going since before we were even twenty-one. One of those places is Beauty Bar. Beauty Bar is located in the Mission District of SF and has long been my go-to place for dancing. The drinks are fair priced and the music is just too good especially if you’re into rap and hip hop from the early 2000s to present. I have so many good memories at this place. Me and my best friend Jessie both went to USF together and we would go to this place all the time. I’d meet her there after she got off of work at Bucca di Beppo and we’d get our drinks and go to “our” corner of the dance floor and Jessie would always stash her book bag and leather jacket behind the trash can in the corner. Tip: there’s no coat check here, there’s barely a bathroom. Anyways, sure enough her jacket and bag would always be there right around 2a when we’d be heading home. I still have no idea how that was possible.
Beauty Bar is a small place and a lot of people don’t like how cramped it can get but that’s exactly why I love it. I love going to clubs that are total dives, way too small and probably haven’t passed their health inspection but there’s something about the grime and the dirtiness to it that I live for. If you’re into that sort of atmosphere then Beauty Bar could be your spot. When I was in college, you could always assume I would be there with Jessie, or my other best friend Dylan. Now, recently, I went there with my youngest sister Chloe and our other friend Iman and it was so crazy watching them get up on the small, makeshift stage and dance literally just how I did when I was her exact age. If you get to Beauty Bar, the cover is usually $10 and on some nights they’ll even have a manicurist in the actual club doing manicures, hence the name “Beauty Bar.” It’s a true SF gem and everyone is there to have a good time, just mind your business and don’t check behind the trashcan in the back.
As with every time I go out, I really go all out with an outfit. On this night I wore some thrifted pinstripe pants I found at the Salvation Army that morning, and a Savage Fenty lace bra layered underneath an embellished swim top. Of course I wore my trusted Steve Madden Cypress Boots which I can literally dance all night in and my feet will not be sore in the least. Oh, and the cowboy hat was borrowed from an actual cowboy that wandered into the club and who had to let Dylan know that he was, “definitely not gay, but not homophobic.” Well, that’s just great.
xx Kailyn
