Knockout

Rock and Roll is not dead in San Francisco! Came here for a local music show and head a great time. Cheap drinks, cool ambiance, live music (yay!), and a great crowd. I will be back often! Wednesday nights live rock and roll is the best night to come if you like live music.

This place was alright. Like a lot of the reviews said: it’s mostly hipsters that frequent this bar. The drinks were cheap, but the music wasn’t my cup of tea (Japanese hardcore music; different strokes for different folks).

Cheap drinks. Live music. On the smaller side but thats a positive for this bar. Recommend this spot to just kick back with a beer and dodge some yuppies.

Old school charm, not really into the screamo music scene… Just a heads up
But it seems like they’re good friends, and place for that local vibe

Best bar in town. Sean, DX, Christina and the rest of the gang are the greatest. Good music, stiff drinks, and sexy people. what else do you need? Oldies night with DJ Primo is highly recommended.

We really wanted to like this place, especially after all of the reviews, but honestly? We were disappointed. Maybe it’s because we have different «dive bar» standards, or maybe everything just felt kind of forced, but overall not a good experience.

The Knockout is an exemplary dive bar — a bastion of the dirty, raucous, no-​frills, subcultural nightlife that is fast disappearing from San Francisco. In my opinion, it is among the finest drinking establishments in town. The Knockout offers cheap drinks ($ 5 whiskey and beer special, $ 2 Hamm’s), awesome dance parties, and punk rock shows. Good ’til the last round!

Pros: — good vibe, nice crowd, upbeat music, not too crowded.
Cons: — Kinda sorta far out (location wise).

To me it seems weird to have a female DJ playing rap songs about fucking bitches. Maybe it’s supposed to be ironic? Since everyone in the bar is white, that seems offensive on a whole different level.

One of the great dive bars in SF! They have everything as far as music goes from punk shows to disco dj nights. There’s always cool 70’s and 80’s movies playing thanks to the VHS player on the big screens. Wanna get a picture of your visit? Hop in the photo booth! The typical drink special is a cheap beer (Bud, Hamms, PBR) and a shot of well whiskey for $ 5 or $ 6 and there’s restaurants on every side to help ya fill up! Décor is dark wood with some funky benches and couches, there’s also two booths.
I’ve been there a bunch, and I’ll be there a lot more!

This is one of my bernal heights faves. I“ve had some great photobooth moments here. I’ve had some drunken walks from other bars here. had some heartfelt moments here, I’ve seen bands play here that were excellent.
My friends band MC Meat hook and the vital organs played here and rocked.
They have a great happy hour here.
can’t really know what kinda ratio its gonna be like here this place gets pretty random.
The crowd is always great here, I love it.

Ok, I understand it was Sunday, but geeze this place was dead and a total sausagefest. I guess I’m the only female that likes funk?
Bartender was nice and drinks were cheap, but c’mon let’s get it together next time.

One of my favorite dive bars to go to, especially for Booty bassment nights (3^rd Wednesdays each month)!! Great drinks & good music. Parking is tough in that area, but there is a parking lot in the Bank of America lot for $ 12.

My girlfriends and I were stumbling down Mission after a night of heavy drinking. I’m not as much of a boozehound anymore, but I had been really putting away the cervezas. I even decided to stay and crash at my friend Michelle’s rather than take the last BART home.
On our way back to her digs, we were discussing whether or not we should grab a late night bite at a taqueria, but instead opted to have one last nightcap at Knockout.
The staff were all kindly folks, even though we busted in the doors at 1:30am.
Bathroom was a little grimy, but that’s pretty standard at SF dive bars. The dance floor looked crowded, but it wasn’t a complete zoo. Then again, it was almost 2, so perhaps they had gone home with a special someone. One guy had his shirt off, which was mildly amusing to me.

I had a great time at Knockout. We went for a soul night, and there was much dancing to be had. Not sure if it was the music or the general nature of the crowd, but people were super into it, and there weren’t annoying lady bros/​bros getting it on on the dance floor. For this reason, I am a big fan.
I got my dance on, and didn’t drink, so I can’t speak to the quality. But I had a blast, and I would definitely go back.
The good: great place to put on your dancing shoes without fear of some rando grinding on you.
The bad: kind of far away, but eh.

Went for the «Oldies“soul night promoted as being soul music from the 60s-​70s. Looked up the DJ, Primo, and apparently in some circles he’s respected for his oldies soul dj skills. What these circles are? I have no idea. Whatever circles they may be they don’t no jack about soul music. Here’s why:
1) No James Brown — he’s the king of soul for a reason DJ Primo.
2) No Otis Redding
3) No Sam Cooke
4) No Marvin Gay
5) No Temptations
6) No Aretha Franklin
7) No Al Green
8) No Jr. Walker and the Allstars
8) Not even a Jackson 5 song
Ok I can go on here but what’s the purpose?
Synoposis of Knockout Oldies Night with DJ Primo: Bunch of Square white people who can’t dance and don’t know soul music for jack who feel like they are hip for dancing to black music in the mission district.
Disclaimer: This review is from a 32 year old middle class white man.
My search for decent music in SF continues.

Oooo nice little dive bar with good acoustics. It would be 5 stars if they had a patio! But I know that’s easier said than done. Came for the benefit concert fo the tamale lady. Damn, those are good tamales…
10 – 15 minute walk from the 24^th St. & Mission BART stop

Such a fitting name for such a kick-​ass bar!
Not only do they have scheduled live music nights, they host bingo tournaments on Thursdays. It’s a bit of a way out in Bernal Heights but if you’re willing to make the trek, you’re bound to have a good time.
It’s also right next to Dell’uva! (See review here:
)

And I might not be around that much
doesn’t mean i didn’t try.
I can say
hi and bye.
Its all the same,
some other time. And
I think…
I got a few lines left.
A few lines left.
To try and say
that you were a sparkle to my eyes.
I say your name in my head
during the drinking times
and hear your voice
at the end of those dark nights
So i got a few lines left to say.
That I live my life
Solitary and confined most nights.
Drinking away thoughts
and wondering why
Desolate
Yet still trying to hold onto pride
You were a sparkle to my eyes. And will always hold a piece of me despite my tries.
You are
a sparkle to my eye.

It was very difficult to find a good bar in San Fran on our last night there. Most of the ones we drove by were closed (it was Christmas) or they only served beer. In fact, I think we had to Unilocal bars and Knockout was on the list of the ones nearby!
Outside, it looked a little sketchy. Dark. I was honestly scared someone was going to stab me if I walked in, but you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.
At first, it looked really crowded. A bit loud from all the chatter, but what bar isn’t, right? There was a guy going around just taking pictures of everyone even though some didn’t want their pictures taken. Luckily, he left us alone and left soon after we got in so it was a smooth ride from there.
The bartender was good and he reminded some of us a little of our business law professor back home. Almost same face and pony tail. Anyway, he was really efficient about walking the counter and taking our drink orders in a timely manner. When we ran out of ideas what to drink, we asked and he suggested «Hot Apple Pie» which was actually a pretty good one (no shame in ordering a sweet drink). We ordered another round and he comped our drinks PLUS he found the time to take a shot with us. Very laid back. We appreciated the fact that he’d take some time to chill with the SF bar hopping noobies. We figured since the service was so good, we could probably take a couple more drinks before we left so jäger bombs all around. Left a nice tip and bailed out!
I don’t drink very often. Personally, I don’t like the bar atmosphere but our experience here wasn’t based on how the place looked, rather, how it operated. I was impressed and very satisfied with our time at Knockout. When we got home, I made a recommendation for a few friends to stop by there when they decide to go and they did! They had the same bartender and had a GREAT time.