Le Duplex

Old building in a boring area with an unexciting mix of people (I like when a club is diverse — this place was… eclectic). It felt like Les Duplex was trying to achieve some 1960s-​1970s charm but instead it just felt old and tired.
On the way out, some guy turned around and asked me how I would like it if he stabbed me. At least he cared about my feelings?
Won’t return.

Great place to take a few friends. Great that there was no cover on this night. They have intimate booths with a view of the bar to grab drinks and chill. The dance floor is kind of hard so be careful of wearing high heels. the stripper poll is a nice touch.
All in all, the atmosphere is best for small parties. There is an upstairs but they sometimes don’t allow anyone up on a slow night.

for my fellow yuppie scum, here’s a handy pocket guide to determine whether or not you’ll fit in at el duplex:
Is your new era 59fifty…
A. straight-​brimmed, stickers on?
B. brim is broken in
C. WTF is 59fifty?
If you’re a B or C you might not feel quite at home at the duplex.

This is the new, only, fun place for Thursday nights in SF. I went to see local DJ Fatima Jones. Placed in that part of town where Mission street gets all koinkidink I had trouble finding the place. After a walk through some shady part of town as the sun was going down (Never fun!), Finding the place, I entered the door with the crazy CDs on the door. Turned out that was actually a dance recital. That’s Le Duplex, but the only part of the the building of Le Duplex, not the actual Le Duplex. It turns out the bar is at the normal door, not the crazy door.
Great atmosphere once I actually made it in there. It’s much of a prohibition styled place with much in the vestige of mirrors and candle light. It was slow, but I was there only early. The DJs were amazing! A six dollar beer is never cool. Obviously just starting out, it could become the place! Make it here often. Make it awesome!

Disclaimer: I wasn’t here for very long so I don’t know how useful my review will be.
I stopped in for a friend of a friend’s birthday. While the birthday girl and everyone I met that night were cool, the place was empty for a while. On a Saturday night. Still, I was able to sit in a booth while I sipped on my drink and if I’m not dancing, I like sitting. The club was not LA, per se, but I felt the need to wear my sunglasses (not stunna) at night. What of it?
As mentioned by others, there is a stripper pole on the dancefloor. Nobody was on it when I was there. I never went upstairs so never saw the beds. I did see a guy in the women’s restroom though. Luckily or not, he was part of our group and was coming out when I was going in. It got more crowded right before we left and I heard later it got packed.
The end.

I was here for a friend’s birthday last night … so I’m mainly going to say that before I got trashed out of my mind, the following is what I thought of the place:
— It was small, especially the upstairs VIP area where I was at. Heard the drinks were cheaper downstairs, so I booked it down there with some people. It has a loft kind of décor, candles, etc. I guess it was lounge-​sexy, something or other.
— Dance floor in the back looks pretty big, but it was only because nobody was there. Stripper pole alert! (I tried it, but I think I fell because my leg hurts right now).
— DJ was great … played some old school hip hop, new school, and even snuck in some Britney. Gimme more!
— I saw some people who didn’t «Dress to impress» and that just made me even more mad because I was wearing heels. Boo!
— Bartender was cool and friendly, and hot. (As they all should be)
All in all, I had a great time. This place is cool, but I’d really like to go on another night maybe. Or actually not in a dress code cause I’m not a fan these days.

This place is great. Ok… so its not about the crowd or the drinks (because I didn’t actually have any). The DJ was off the hook. I was upset that others didn’t get to enjoy the music that night, because it was fantastic, no song was bad. The place has tons of parking around the clud and with the right crowd it can be crackin’. Its almost like a bring your own people kind of place. Next time I have a lot of people together I will definitely suggest this place.

Not sure if Le Duplex is still open but, here are my two cents,…
Le Duplex is a small-​ish club, two levels. The upper level is, I believe, for lounging and seating. No dress code. I don’t think I’ve paid cover before but, it’s something like $ 5 – 10.
Old school hip-​hop nights = KICK-@$$ music. Naughty By Nature, Pharcyde, Tribe Called Quest, etc. — good ol’ ‘90s hip-​hop. Reminds me of the days when overalls, oversized shirts, wearing clothes backwards, dark eyeliner and even darker lipstick were cool.
The problem is… Le Duplex smells like one ginormous ganja greenhouse. I swear everybody in there is «rollin’ up a fat one and passin’ it around» (let’s see if any of y’all can name the reference to that ‘90s tune). It’s NASTY. Better bring your gas mask — but you can leave your contacts and glasses at home, ain’t no eye candy. Yet another establishment where there are: a) too many guys; b) too many guys at eye level (and I am a mere 5’5″ with heels); c) too many guys at eye level who are bald.
Too bad. Le Duplex would be a pretty dope joint if it, well,.didn’t smell like a joint. =(

I came here for my birthday on Saturday night (¹¹⁄₁₇). There wasn’t really a dress code. I liked the décor, the DJ wasn’t too bad, played a lot of old school hip hop, no mash-​ups! The dance floor wasn’t that big but accomodating and yes I put that stripper pole to good use. I can never resist one when I see it.
I suggest getting a table so that you have somewhere to sit down with your friends. It’s a good spot for birthdays, as long as your group isn’t too big. There’s a pimp upstairs VIP seating area, which is really nice, if you can front the money. I was able to enjoy it for a good twenty minutes because friends of mine bought a bottle but turns out some other folks had paid for it already. The management kind of fucked up there. Luckily the folks who already paid were cool about it and good thing I’m so damn love-​able.
It’s cool that it’s open past 2am but if you’re planning to stay that late, put your bulletproof vest on before you walk outside. When I left with my friends that night around 2am, someone got shot, a drive-​by.

Need better music and DJ… not enough about this place to make it a destination.
The good/​hot clubs do 70% of the business I’ve heard. To be average is to be out of business in 3-​years.

This place is hit or miss really. Come here on a Wednesday night and I swear its the most crackin event in the city. Come here any other night and its either long lines down the street or the place shut early due to no business.
A few months ago I threw a party here for my birthday, it was cool at first, the place was crackin! Happened to step outside with the ladies for a blunt and when we went back in it was like ghost town. Id like to say they left because they thought I did, but I doubt thats true.
The venue is narrow and long, not Milk narrow and long, narrower and about the same length. Left side bar, right side booths… great great lighting, very romantic! The back area is a dance floor, corner DJ booth, a couple tables and a stripper pole. How classy! The restrooms are weird, you walk through a curtain to the mens sink, down a little hall into the womens restrooms, which has a curtain instead of a door. Not too cool.
Theres an upstairs to this place if its ever open, theres a stairway up front by the bar or in the back by the dance floor that leads to a semi VIP room and an open hallway to stand and spit on people below. Or of course, socialize. At the event I threw we had Remi Martin upstairs with a private bar and the rest of the room was used for VIP, until the VIP himself San Quinn left… then they shut it all down!
After he performed it was over… they promised to keep the club open until 3am for the after party but since they werent making any money off of drinks they didnt want us making any money either. Boo
Cool spot. Just not that hot.

I had my 21^st birthday party here and had an AWESOME time…2^nd saturday of the month. which was old school to new school or something. and the music was cool too.
The dance floor is way too small and two big fans does not supply ample air… the upstairs vip area was cool and there was plenty of lounging area. This is a little smaller than your average club/​bar and the crowd. well i wouldn’t really know since pretty much EVERYONE who was there that night was on my guestlist… so I had a great time bc it was like a private party…
if i remember correctly, the drinks were cool but the cash bar isnt… and everyone loves a stripper pole. even if no one wants to dance with it. someone’s always caught in a candid picture with it!

The first time I went to Duplex, it was one of the funnest nights I’ve ever had. It was me and my close girl friends and we were dancing up a storm with any and everyone.
The second time I went to Duplex, it was still good music, but I was with a mix of boys and girls and it was unmemorable.
The third, and most recent, time I went to Duplex, there was probably a total of 15 people in the entire place (its a small place), and of the 15, only about 5 were women. Hm.
Duplex is a backup spot — the music has never let me down and the drinks are decently priced, but whether its a good night or not is a toss-​up. It depends heavily on the day of the week, the feel of the crowd, and of course. the company. I’ll probably end up at Duplex again, but probably more by chance than by choice.

I visited this mediocre establishment for a private party that I was paid to photograph. The interior décor was nice – large separated seating booths with mirrors above them for the vain clientele that I assume usually goes there. In each seating area up front, there is a ‘booze list’ which you can purchase full bottles from & the booth for the evening. It’s SOMA for godsakes, not Las Vegas!
If you enter the dance area in the back, there is sufficient amount of space for about 40 people & a stripper pole. While I have to admit that strippers & them dancing on poles is wonderful, this one at Le Duplex should be removed & taken back to North Beach where it belongs.
There is an upstairs portion of the bar with Miami-​style beds, and a couple of barstools. Let’s not forget the bartender, either. While she let me keep my personal belongings in the office while I was photographing, she was more interested in talking to her boyfriend than serving drinks. Bah.
This bar/​club/​lounge was not my choice of cocktail, probably the reason why it hosts private parties & is not open to the public day in & day out.

I really liked this place! Went on a Saturday night, fairly late, and we all had a great time.
The dance floor was great, DJ spun a great mix with mostly older hip-​hop that was super fun to dance to. the dance floor wasn’t packed, so you had room to move around, but there were plenty of people. No one made use of the stripper pole (such a waste!)

happy hour~…happy hen hour~…$ 3 beers (sierra, stella and guiness on tap last night)…$ 5 well drinks~!~…woooooooooo~…dj wasn’t even spinnin’ yet… but party already began in my head… friendly spiffy bartender… seating is welcoming… all seating facing outwards towards the bar… gulp gulp gulp…
oh.a dancefloor… a stage… a pole… how can i resist… it was fun times in the neighborhood at le duplex… seems like a good place to throw private party…

I had been wondering: is there some kind of algorithm that can be followed to make a club crappy? If you’re interested in learning more, Le Duplex is an excellent case study.
It’s hard to say exactly what made the spot unappealing. I was surrounded by tons of good friends and fun people. Even though the décor is pretty — exposed brick wall behind the bar — we all felt uncomfortable and couldn’t wait to book it out of there.
It didn’t help that a drink with Hangar One vodka was $ 10. If I’m paying $ 10 per drink, the venue better be pretty amazing. The bar was understaffed and the bartender was snippy when I didn’t hear the price of my drink correctly. I thought he said it was $ 8, so I hand him $ 9. He starts to walk away and comes back. Bartender: ummm… it’s TEN dollars, Jill K.: oh sorry i misunderstood. I quickly dug out another $ 2 and he silently counted the money and walked away without so much as a thank you or smile, or at least one that I could detect!
Je suis desole, Le Duplex, but I shall not be returning.

Le Duplex should be named Le Dumplex. We ordered a drink and it tasted really bad so I politely asked the bartender to change it out for a beer. He changed it out but gave me attitude and said that «you’re lucky I’m in a good mood today». What a jerk. The dance floor was hot and sticky and the music was the typical club trance BS stuff. I was scared to lay on the couches because I thought I’d get bitten with bugs. The people also were real fake. We actually had to pay to get in which was the bummer out of it all. Check out my pics ;)

JUNE 15TH, THURSDAY!!!
BEATS & RHYMES
HIP-​HOP ALL DAMN NIGHT!
@ DUPLEX
~special guest~
BLACK LOTUS & DJ ABSTRAKT
sponsored by:
MOVIN’ ON UP
ZEL-​RYDR PRODUCTION
email:

Oh it’s on baby.
This is a great spot if you are like me and love to party with the Euro’s…so much flavor and GREAT house. Nice little bungalow’s to chat the night away… if you can stop dancing that is.
Who wouldn’t love a nice accent, great drinks, and good beats to complete the week? Plus, a tip for the ladies — if you take a few sips and then go back and politely discuss the weakness of the drink — the next shot is free! haha… well — it worked for me.