Berkeley Underground Salsa
Overview:
UPDATE: The Berkeley Underground is closed until further notice.
A legendary, beloved salsa venue (Shattuck Downlow) gets fresh life as the newly renovated Salsa Underground! Dance lessons, new faces, the hottest live concerts and dance party until 2:00am make this perfect spot to go dancing on Wednesday nights. In the heart of downtown Berkeley, with plenty of free street parking and BART access, you can’t go wrong on Wednesday nights at the Salsa Underground.
Details:
| Event: | Salsa Lesson, Salsa Social, Live Music |
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| Date: | Every Wednesday | |
| Time: | 7:30pm - 2:00am | |
| Cost: | $10 | |
| Instructors: | Corey Raynor & Guests | |
| Address: | Berkeley Underground
2284 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94704 Get Directions via Google Maps  |
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| Contact: | (415) 328-0127 DanceSanFrancisco@gmail.com Visit Website |
Important: Event times are subject to change. Always double check with the event organizer before making plans.
User Reviews:
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1 person found this review helpful
Went here last night for salsa and I gotta say that I really loved it. The venue is in a nice neighborhood in Berkeley by some movie theatres and there’s free street parking after 6pm, so I felt very comfortable walking from my car and not nervous at all, like some of the other places I’ve been to.
Anyways, the dance floor/club area is actually located downstairs, underground, so the ceilings are kind of low and it gets really hot and stuffy after a while. The lighting is really cool, and it is kind of dark, which is good since everyone is all hot and sweaty. There’s a lot of seating and tables along the side, which I really liked. There’s a bar there, but I didn’t get any drinks so I don’t know how good that part of the club is. The ladies room is pretty big and decently maintained, which is a big plus.
There was a live band playing that was really good, and when they went on break, the DJ played some music which was good too. It was my first time there and I felt very welcomed and it wasn’t all snooty and pretentious like some other places are. The people are all really nice. It’s mostly younger people, in their 20’s and 30’s, and some in their 40’s, but not really anyone in their 50’s or 60’s+ like at other places. Lot of good looking guys too! The ratio of men to women seemed fairly balanced, which was also good.
The dance floor is kind of small, and it got really crowded and we were all bumping into one another because there’s no room. The dance floor was clean and easy to dance on though (I was wearing my latin shoes). I think it’s made of some kind of laminate, it was black and shiny looking. Around the floor is carpeting, which some people were dancing on but I wouldn’t recommend it since it’s bad for your knees.
Overall, I definitely liked this place and will be sure to go back again next week. I’d give this place 5-stars if it was for the heat and crowding downstairs, but otherwise super good. I’d recommend coming at the start of the evening, like at 10 o’clock if you’re just there for social dancing like I am, so this way you get to enjoy a full hour of the band playing in a relatively comfortable atmosphere, because after 11 o’clock it gets really hot!
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1 person found this review helpful
This place definitely improved with the new promoter. The floor is wood. It is about the same size as Valenciano, but there are things on it that are not good for dancers. Floor lights flash in your eyes (unless they fixed them), and there are some other things – dividers? – I don’t remember. The music was good with the new promoter, and the bands are good too. The male crowd is more thuggish than I like, and the space did get too hot – like a sweat box. The followers – ladies were pretty nice/friendly. That’s always nice.
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