With a little last minute planning, you stand to end 2014 on a high note. By no means comprehensive, this list is of stuff you can actually still get in to. Also, most of it won't leave you penniless to start 2015.
Maven
Kate Bolton's cocktail pairings are an added $40, but the prix fixe NYE meal here is $49 making it cheaper than most. Crab and duck for dinner and eggnog cheesecake for dessert? Happy New Year.
598 Haight Street at Steiner Street
Brava Theater New Year’s Comedy Festival
For $35 you can laugh your fill on NYE with comediennes like Marga Gomez and Betsy Salkind. BRAVA produces fantastic work to promote unheard voices, including those of women, people of color, youth, and LGBTQ people.
2781 24th Street between York and Hampshire Streets
Hog & Rocks
Chef Robin Song prepares a five-course, family-style meal at $65 per person, and you enjoy it. Oyster and quail, coming right up, plus drink pairings for $35 (their bruléed old fashioned comes with dessert).
3431 19th Street between Mission and Valencia Streets
Dirty Habit
Top notch food at Dirty Habit plus no cover for general admission makes this a great choice for NYE. And, starting New Year's Eve, Dirty Habit will be taking reservations for 2 to 8 people if you're trying to pin down a spot for a date or the like.
12 Fourth Street, on the fifth floor of the Hotel Palomar
Virgil’s Sea Room
This free party, Virgil's Soul Room, is probably going to be a great time, with 60s soul music from the Hard French folk and a free Fernet toast at midnight... because SF.
3152 Mission Street between Powers and Fair Avenues
Slide
The club with its own giant slide will do it up right for New Year’s, and while we can't make any promises as to the coolness of the crowd, we can verify confetti and pretty cheap admission at $35 to $55.
430 Mason Street between Geary and Post Streets
Gray Area’s Honey Sunset NYE with Honey Soundsystem DJs
It's in the Mission in the old Grand Theater and features some hot DJs, but best of all, with $30 advance tickets still available, it's a steal by most standards. Don't you want to start the year dancing? Grab a ticket here.
The European
Still trying to make a name for itself, this swanky new cocktail bar near Union Square is offering $11-$30 menu options for the general public, as well as fancier caviar and champagne packages, so set the tone for 2015 with style.
Gays Gone Wild at the Powerhouse
To quote the invite, "Cum to the Powerhouse New Year's Eve for the gayest, filthiest, sluttiest, New Years Eve bash." AND the "precum presale?" It's only $10!
1347 Folsom Street between 9th and 10th Streets
Trick Dog
Sure it’s expensive, but they’re doing prix fixe menus and you’ll get dinner with plenty of booze out of it, as well as a cool spot to hang out in, starting at $150. Check out tickets here to the event, which they're suggestively calling Friends with Benefits.
3010 20th Street between Alabama and Florida Streets
Vessel
If you’re looking for a house music party in the heart of downtown, Vessel is bringing in Australian house DJ Hook N Sling, and $25 advance tickets are still available here.
85 Campton Place at Stockton Street
Kink
"Poets and performers, aerialists and DJ's, burlesque dancers and live painters, acrobats and absinthe hawkers..." the copy for Kink's extravaganza on NYE reads like it was written by Bill Hader's Stefon, but come on, you can rent a creepy medical exam room in a basement if you wanna!
378-380 14th Street at Mission Street
East Bay:
Hog's Apothecary
Join the folks at the Hog's Apothecary for their first-annual New Year’s Eve Butcher’s Banquet and Beer Bonanza, with 3 courses and a beer pairing from Craftsman for $65 including a beer brewed in collaboration with Hogs' beer director.
375 40th Street between Opal Street and Shafter Avenue
Plank
At this this new arcade slash restaurant slash bar, they're doing a party that’s a slightly steep $60. But there’ll be a balloon drop, champagne, and you hopefully won’t be bored.
98 Broadway between Jack London Square and W. Embarcadero
Believe
For the dubsteppers out there, there’s a mini music festival on 14th Street in Oakland called Believe, with tickets still only $20. Let's hope the weather holds up!
Bonus:
The Oasis
Oasis' grand opening is a super hot ticket with only VIP options left starting at $125. Even though this is out of a lot of people’s price range, we feel obligated to note that they're still available, and that this may end up being the most fun party in town that night. If you need convincing, here's SFist's chat with Heklina about the new space.
