El Valenciano Restaurant & Bar

They got their liquor license back.
Good Wednesday night Salsa On-​2 beginner lesson with Gabriel Romero followed by social dancing until closing.

Downgraded to 2 star. It seems this place may go out of business soon. The bar no longer has a liquor license, and the floor seems to have gotten worse/​lack of Maintenace. Time to find another Wed Salsa venue.

El Valenciano is the Salon Canning of San Francisco for milongas. :)
This place is popular on Tuesdays, so if you want to get a table, you will need to get here earlier. There is no maitre d, who will find you a seat, so just grab an available table.
The dance floor is smallish for the occupancy, but it’s milonga so adjust to space you have. Women are careful embellishments.
Very friendly crowd, good dancers.

Best live Salsa & Cumbia Friday and Saturday nights! Also, the bartender makes the best drinks in the bay! seriously! She is the bomb!

Salsa dancing on Weds nights… never disappoints. Great spot, great ppl, friendly atmosphere

Some come to drink; others come to dance. Tuesday nights feature tango. Wednesday nights are for salsa (on 20. Thursdays are for bachata, kizomba, and forro. Friday and Saturday have live music and a Dj playing salsa, bachata, cumbia, merengue, chachacha, and more. You can probably find street parking somewhere nearby. The cover varies on the night, but expect to pay $ 10-​$ 12. The floor is wood, but the main central area is raised — which actually reduces the space available to those dancing close to it (or either side). The bathroom stalls don’t seem to close. I don’t know if it is true every night, but when I went, my impression was that this place attracts dancers with more experience than many other places — so I liked it (enough that I might go back on other nights to see what they are like as well)…

We want for salsa dancing on a Saturday night. The live band was great! The dance floor is too small for the amount of people that are there! Luckily some very nice locals let us sit by them!
The room is also too hot. Yuck sweaty people! Fix your AC and fans! Overall, it was a really fun night. Drinks were great.

Nice Latin club with the live music played by this awesome band. The band members always look so happy which makes me happy whenever I go there:)
Definitely will stop by when feeling like dancing:)

Well I went again last night to El Valenciano and I am hooked!1 I loved dancing with fabulous dancers! No beginners here! It was just perfect, not to crowded, and plenty of room on the dance floor to enjoy yourself with these fabulous dancers! The DJ was great and I love seeing these dancers dance on2. It seems they are following the beat of the music better than the ones that dance on1! I will definitely be going back for as long as i can! I just wish it was closer to home!

Went here with a few friends to dance salsa. Granted, I moved here from Miami and my rhythmic expectations may be high, I have never seen such lifeless dancing. When I sat back and watched it looked like everyone was regurgitating patterns learned in some class w/​o any emotion or internalization of the music. This is painful people and a total bastardization of grassroots salsa. It’s lifeless, passionless. Being «good» isn’t about who can turn 50 times in succession, toss their hair, or raise the painfully ballroom «style» hand highest. Uff, Celia and Fania would be dismayed.
Now, to say something good about the spot, the atmosphere is great. Beautiful wooden bar. The dance area in the back looks like an old dance hall. I saw a comment here where someone was complaining about the quality of the floor. Suck it up son! In the Carribean and the rest of Latin Americal people can dance on cement and uneven wooden floors. Also, the Brazilian guy who bartends is friendly and makes super strong drinks. Maybe too strong? But that is just subjective.

One of the best places to dance in the SF area. The floor isn’t that great, but the better dancers usually come out over here. If you’re a hardcore on2 dancer, then a place you should try when in the area.

**For Tuesday night tango**
I have never ordered food or gotten a drink here.
The entrance is $ 10, and I rarely arrive before 10:30. The music is usually decent, and this is probably the highest level of dancing you can get in the bay area when there aren’t any special events.
The downside is the floor. It’s often way too sticky, and parts of the floor are hardwood (great!) and other parts are tile (NOT so great). The heels often get stuck in the tiles.
I would definitely go back, but if a high level of dancing occurs somewhere else that’s close to public transportation (**with a better floor**), I’ll be happy to go there instead. This place is not beginner friendly and is probably known as the «snobby» milonga, but if you bring non-​tango friends, they can get free if they purchase a drink. Tango people are much friendlier to non-​dancers than beginning dancers, because there’s no expectation to dance.
All in all, the level of dancing is what makes this a good milonga. Definitely not the floor.
**For Wednesday night salsa**
I was here for the class, and then the social a couple of times. The class is really beginner, although they claim that it’s «all-​levels.»
Salsa here is on-​2, and seems to boast a rather high level of dancing. As a beginner and infrequent salsa-​goer, I got many dances, but there are definitely a few creepy dudes in the scene. This might have to do with me being a beginner in the scene. There are way less creepy dudes in tango. Really.
I’d come back, but I recall the entrance to be a little pricier; $ 15, I think.

Excellent version of the Bandeja Paisa. I once came in here on a whim and saw the meal on the menu. It reminded me of my travels to Medellin. I have to say the meal was almost perfect, can’t fault any part of it. Some may find it to be a bit heavy on the fat side but that’s just authentic Colombian food. I can’t comment on the other menu choices because I keep getting the same thing. Delicious food, service is good too

Went in here with a friend on a ‘rainy’ Thursday evening and it was not the happening night that are usual here — however, they still had some great music playing and a couple (maybe practicing) on the huge dance floor.
The bar is long and beautiful wood with real onyx then behind the bar was sharp with a huge wooden case that holds the Top Shelf liquor and they have something for everyone. Excellent selection of Tequilas, Scotch, Bourbons, Vodkas, and even Rums.
Ricardo — The super cool bartender was entertaining and very interesting — he knows his tequila and we definitely agree — Patron is for Americans that don’t really appreciate good Tequila — so if you read this and think Patron is good, go out and try another 100% Agave Tequila and you will love it. They carry Don Julio, Cazadores, Milagro and many others that are smooooooth and tasty.
Oh — and it’s a great pour for a reasonable price — can’t beat that.

Can’t speak to the dancing, but boy do these guys pour drinks with a heavy hand. Strong drinks, good prices, friendly staff.

Note — this is not a dance review, just a drink review. Stopped by here to meet old friends I haven’t seen high school and college — so it was imperative we be able to hear each other.
At first, this cavernous venue was pretty empty, and we were seated in the back where a fan was blasting right at us and we wondered when the music would stop us from enjoying our reunion. The fan situation was amended pretty easily by asking someone for assistance — but then the music came on and the dancers began. I would imagine this place is good fun for salsa lovers.
But no worries — we were able to move away from all that dance action and head towards the front part of the bar where it was better for talking. Ultimately not the best place for a drink/​chat, but it did what it needed to.

As a tango dancer I completely resent that this is the place where the highest-​quality tango dancing* typically happens (*visitors take note – yes, this is one of your stops to get the best of the Bay – for dancers only, not for the bar or atmosphere or anything else).
Why?
1. In the coldest of winter, 30 degrees outside, they leave the front door WIDE open ALL NIGHT. Even *dancing* some people wear sweaters and jackets. And in summer? Same in reverse: No AC, and they may or may not turn on a fan, usually not.
2. They can’t mix a drink, and the wine is terrible. Everything is overpriced for what it is. It’s a bar lacking in class.
3. There’s a TV over the bar.
4. Bad feng shui, uncomfortable space.
5. Tiny and unpredictable (sticky to too slippery depending on night) dance floor.
The people who run this place seem the opposite of service oriented. For the level of dancing it’d be nice to have a classier environment with a decent cocktail program and/​or decent wine. And friendlier barkeep. I can’t think of a worse area environment for tango.

My 21^st birthday landed on a Saturday, and had no plans to do anything. Why? I’ve never gone to any club, gone out drinking, or gone out to any place late because of the strictness of living with latin parents. I’ve grown to accept their strictness, so I didn’t think another day would make a difference.
So the night of my 21^st birthday, my family and I go to dinner. My parents ask me if I’m going to start drinking. I said no. To which they responded, «why don’t we take you with us to El Valenciano?» Sure! I have no plans anyways.
We show up at approximately 8PM because according to my mom, they start charging entry at 9PM? Not sure about that, Latino parents say the craziest things sometimes. Anyways, there were about 5ish people at the bar in their own little group, no one is on the dance floor (which is somewhat small compared to the chairs/​tables around it, probably could seat up to 70~100 people), all chairs are empty, there is no DJ, but their laptop was set up and playing a specific playlist on repeat.
My parents order a margarita (for mom), a beer (for dad), and a bottle of water for me. When we get our drinks, my mom told me to sip some of hers.
Because the music was too slow, we decide to wait for a faster one. We ended up sitting for about 15 minutes until the DJ got there and my dad requested some merengue. More people began showing up, but stayed as wallflowers, on their phones and staring at the empty dance floor.
A couple minutes later, he plays merengue, and my dad and I started dancing. My merengue was rusty, because its been months since I’ve danced. My dad started re-​teaching me, and giving me advice on how to dance. After a couple songs, I sat down, and he danced with my mom, then I danced with my mom, then later on the three of us danced together. The DJ played a variety of latino music, and even played some motown!
As we danced, I kept on getting flashbacks of the home videos where we recorded my parents first teaching me how to dance when about 3 – 4 years old. The DJ played a lot of the music I grew up with and learned how to dance to, which was awesome.
I loved the experience I had at El Valenciano! EXCEPT Parking that day SUCKED!
But thats really it.
I’ll most def be back to party with mom and dad

Hrm, after a few weeks coming here, I have to say it’s consistent: this is THE BEST SOCIAL SALSA SCENE for advanced-​ish dancers.
Yes you’ll need to know On2 to appreciate it.
Yes you’ll sweat like a mofo, even after they fix their AC. (They haven’t.)
Yes you’ll pay $ 12. Those are some of the best $ 12 I’ve spent recently.
Yes you’ll have to stay up late on a Wednesday night since it starts around 10ish (lessons 9 – 10), even if you’re not a bum and have work meetings early next morning. :(But it’ll be because you can’t get enough of this place.
I know the CONS are aplenty and if I was consistent in my grading with other salsa venues this place would get a 3.5÷5. But ya know what, this 5-​star review isn’t for the average social dancer. This is for those crazy people who want to salsa every day of the week, fly all over the US/​World going to congresses, and automatically start shimmying when they hear a good bongo/​drum roll. You seriously don’t give a shit about terrible conditions and nonideal times AS LONG AS THE MUSIC IS AWESOME AND THE DANCERS ARE GREAT!
The music is absolutely WONDERFUL, a delightful mix of latin jazz and mambo, with some cha-​cha and bachata thrown in for good measure.
It’s crowded, but due to the population of good dancers there, people respect the slot pretty well. And that just means you get more intimate moves and close leads, which is fine in my book.
TL;DR — If you love salsa enough to not care about anything enough, you need to come here.

On Saturday night, desperate to get my groove on, I was dismayed when my go to dance sport was far too crowded for any movement whatsoever, let alone dancing. However, my coworker and dance partner told me that he friend was DJ’ing at El Valenciano and we should check it out. Try something different. Live a little. I, of course, agreed.
This place is straight up Mexico. As in I was the only white person here. Period. That being said, I was asked to date 6 (count em bitches) 6 times here. I was like Cindy Crawford at El Valenciano, probably because I was the tallest and whitest person there.
But, I digress. I had a lot of fun. I salsa’ed. I got low to Pitbull. I got complimented. A lot. I gave my number to some Guatemalan dude that I may, or may never return his calls. Either way, it was a great boost for my ego. THANK YOU EL VALENCIANO. I needed that.
The only reason it’s not 5 stars is because the bartender tried to overcharge this gringa, and there’s a $ 10 cover fee. Le. lame.