3225 22nd street
San Francisco, CA, 94110

Once you leave the streets of the Mission and enter through an unadorned door, sticking out of a plain brown wall, you will have entered Make-Out Room. From the doorway, you’ll see the makings of a classy bar, but take just a few more steps and you will see the dance floor, the seating area, the ceilings, and the walls, all decorated as if multiple corny and over the top dreams came together and exploded, splattering the walls in the most amazing way. A werewolf skin hangs on the wall, or a bearskin with a platypus head, it’s hard to tell. If you’re looking for a creative atmosphere, this place literally has imagination leaking from the ceiling.

One Saturday a month, Make-Out Room holds an event called Writers with drinks. The Make-Out Room crowd, consisting of novelists, poets, journalists, and fans of all things written, pack the venue wall to wall. The host, published author and comedian, Charlie Jane Anders. Charlie is famous for her outrageous, and mostly made up, introductions of each guest speaker. The speakers are typically novelists, poets, or journalists themselves, and perform pretty much whatever they want, whether it’s previously published work or something new. One performer may make you laugh, and moments later the next may make you cry, a third performer may do both.

There’s a chance you might laugh and cry before the performers begin. If you down the $9 Make-Out margarita fast enough, it’s pretty big, and unless you’re a heavy drinker, you probably won’t want more than one. The entrance fee is pay what you can, typically $5-$10, and all proceeds go to local non-profit organizations. This is a great way to spend a Saturday night in San Francisco, have an unforgettable experience, and spend under $20. Of course, because this event takes place at a bar, it’s 21 and over.