El Valenciano Restaurant Bar and Grill

About

Walk the length of El Valenciano's long, carved hardwood bar and you'll most likely see older Latino gentlemen wearing starched and ironed guayaberas, watching bits and snatches of Soccer highlights on the mounted TVs, smoking Cohibas and speaking Spanish in hushed tones. Walk a little further and it turns into a tapas restaurant like many in the neighborhood; keep going and you'll be smack in the middle of a lively salsa floor.

While the oldsters come for conversation and Mission hipsters drop in for a bite to eat, El Valenciano is most lively as a hot spot for the Bay Area's Latin dance scene. If you came to kick up your heels, settle into one of the candlelit cocktail tables in the back area and be transported into sexy, sultry salsa culture. The club has a great dance floor, tables that beg for romance, salsa lessons, Acoustic Son Montuno by live bands and other "ritmos latinos," with no shortage of diversity.