Nightlife in Oakland

With a sleek, retro-chic interior, Apartment 24 is part dance club and part sophisticated lounge. Sip on cocktails ($6–$10), toss back a beer ($4–$5), or splurge and use your Groupon toward bottle service (limit of one Groupon per table) at one of two VIP areas. Depending on the brand and type of liquor, bottles run from $200–$250. While sipping and socializing, sprawl out on curving, white leather couches tucked behind draped gold-chain curtains, providing camouflage for stealing dance moves and plotting the stealing of ketchup packets from fast-food restaurants.

Raised by a family of chefs in Belzoni–a town in the Mississippi Delta– chef Gaines Douglas Dobbins brings a distinctly authentic Southern flair to crafting dishes at the Zagat-rated Eureka Restaurant. Inside his kitchen, Dobbins prepares each dish to order, putting modern twists on Southern dishes such as pairing fried okra with yuzu aioli and smoking pork loin in-house to recreate home-cooked flavors that are as comforting as a grandma wearing a teddy-bear costume. Customers dine in three different areas, clinking glasses of wine or custom cocktails. The romantic main dining room glows with flickering votive candles on each table. Upstairs, just beyond the cocktail lounge, the dining room features windows overlooking the bustle of the Castro district and a fireplace. The garden room, just off the outdoor patio, looks out on the trees, flowers, and gnomes who water them each day.

Specialty cocktails crafted from top-shelf liquors dot the sleek wooden bar at Sugar Lounge, where sprigs of fresh mint and gleaming vases of flowers accent each snifter of alcoholic alchemy. Lacquered wood shelves of gourmet libations line the back of the galley, where soft lighting imbues bottles of Patron, St. Germain, champagne, and Skyy vodka with a gentle glow. Barkeeps shake, stir, and strain pomegranate, lemon, ginger, and other flavors into elegant glassware, which share cocktail-napkin space with an array of complimentary hors d’oeuvres during weekday happy hours. Sugar Lounge’s ambient mood lighting creates a sultry atmosphere punctuated by the flickering of televisions broadcasting major sporting events and State of the Union reruns.

Asian and American karaoke styles join forces at Pandora Karaoke & Bar, whose moodily lit space hosts both an open stage for crowd-friendly crooners and 15 private rooms for groups. In either setting, singers scroll through Super Master touch-screen karaoke systems to choose from more than 100,000 songs in languages including English, Mandarin Chinese, and Frank Sinatra’s native pig Latin. Wireless microphones then capture crooning voices as lyrics scroll across 50-inch plasma TVs, serenading spectators as they munch sushi and Asian-fusion fare from the menu. Inside private rooms, colorful cushioned banquettes host groups of up to 40 harmonizers beneath themed decorations such as brewery logos or a rebus representing the complete lyrics to “Eye of the Tiger.”

The White Horse Bar has entertained San Francisco's GLBT community with happy hours, college nights, and live music for more than 75 years, making it one of the oldest gay bars in the country. After serving as a central hub during the community's tumultuous 20th century, the bar now opens its glistening dance floor every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for relentless displays of rhythm fueled by beers, martinis, and well drinks. The White Horse Bar also energizes crowds with a smorgasbord of events including trivia contests, drag shows, karaoke, and '80s nights, where guests are encouraged to quietly yearn for portable replacements for their landline telephones.