Outside the box

Five clubs you may have missed.

By Giselle Velazquez

A NIGHT OUT can follow a familiar pattern. You head out to club-hop, dance to some hip-hop, and end your night at the IHOP. Again. Sure, we in the Bay Area are blessed with a cornucopia of hot parties featuring all the latest musical subgenres – but sometimes you just want to club outside the box and head somewhere new. Here is a selection of faves from the past year. For those of you about to party with the unknown – and those of you who already did in 2005 – we salute you.

Lido's Nightclub This San Jose joint gets seriously multicultural on its multiple levels. On the bottom floor the club's an authentic Mexican dance hall, with bands blasting ranchero music while couples hustle around the crowded floor and pound down Coronas. Upstairs you can still get a Corona – but you'll drink it while grooving to live Vietnamese dance pop amid seizure-inducing disco lights. Note: The two floors have separate admission prices, and the cover steepens with the elevation. 30 S. First St., San Jose (408) 298-4318.

Mediterranean Nights Want to know what all the coolest kids in Tehran and Cairo are getting down to? This venue-hopping club features pulsing Persian and Arabic beats and other obligatory Middle Eastern touches. A few hits on their ever-popular hookah and you may be able to muster the courage to pick up one of the roving belly dancers – but we doubt it. Rotating venues. (415) 260-9920, www.aykutevents.com.

Quiet Party You hear some strange things out at the clubs, and some even stranger things afterward – like that ringing, humming reverberation in your eardrums after too much decibel-dipping. For a change of pace, try the Quiet Party, where the patrons manage to mingle without uttering a word, thanks to lots of note-passing – and a little bit of booze. Offshoots in NYC, DC, Houston, and Beijing suggest a global phenomenon on the rise. Rotating venues. www.quietparty.com.

Queer Ballroom Dance Party Head out for a night of same-sex social dancing. Arrive early enough and you can bone up on your foxtrot and waltz, then seduce helpless passersby with your torrid tango until midnight. QBDP is changing its schedule and location; check the Web site for details. www.queerballroom.com.

Rodeo Club You probably wouldn't expect to see a traditional, down-home Texas honky-tonk in the Bay Area – and you definitely won't find it at the Rodeo, where on any given night you might find the DJs or a band blaring country and western, or you might be treated to traditional Mexican music or even some hip-hop grooves. Call or check the Web site calendar for details. 610 Coleman, San Jose. (408) 279-8515, www.therodeoclub.com.