La Peña Cultural Center

I volunteered here briefly as a teenager in the late 70's. I'm so delighted that La Peña is still around. They host a variety of community events, mostly musical performances but political presentations, dance, poetry and more. They also host, art shows, classes, fundraisers and more. They have a chorus that since primarily South and other Latin American sings almost exclusively in Spanish. The chorus has performed widely including in Latin America and supports many causes. It's a no frills space - it can be chilly or hot, sometimes it's hard to see the stage or sometimes the sound quality leaves something to be desired but it is always a pleasure to be there for a heartfelt event with likeminded people.

What a cool place! I've been to La Pena a couple of times for a few community shows. Parking: it's located somewhat in a neighborhood so it's all street parking. We were able to easily find one just a couple of blocks down. Just be prepared to walk a little bit to the center.The theater/main space is intimate but can hold a crowd. There's no bad seats in the house though. I've sat in the back and in the front and have always had a great view. They're connected to Los Cilantros restaurant (or maybe it's their restaurant) that offers delicious Mexican food and drinks. We were able to take anything we ordered into the main/theater space as well so we could enjoy it during the show. Love their lineup of shows and support for local community efforts. Looking forward to supporting more and more shows here to come!

I went here for a crafts faire and it was cool. This place has changed so much since Paul Chinn was ED. And Cafe Valparaiso provided fantastic eats and my husband had his own chair with his crew and they'd chug beers and talk about politics on a weekly basis.The performance space is one that I used to visit monthly, but it's been years. Back then Conjunto Cespedes, Lila Downs, Aya DeLeon used to hold court and there was great music, poetry readings, and other performances. It was nice seeing the crafts people selling their wares for the holidays. I wasn't looking for anything. One woman was complaining that her table was in the back for the third year in a row. I didn't see a lot of people making purchases.It was a decent faire, but I don't know if I'd return again. They didn't have much of what I'd want or look for. The spark is gone.

Recently a friend who is so much into salsa dancing took me to La Pena cultural center and I had a blast, dancing like crazy all night (well, all night in here is barely until midnight or a little bit more). I liked the concept of popular venue with zero or very cheap cover and different musical expressions depending on the day of the week. I loved the live salsa music band and the vibe, event though as others have noticed, the chairs were not comfy. Well, who wants to go dancing and remain seated? Not me! You will find an eclectic crowd in there, from couples who have been dancing since forever and you pale in comparison, to meetup groups of salseros that try to catch up and learn, to singles in search of a soul mate with some swing. Perfect place for all that.

I came to La Peña for some Blues dance lesson and ended up having the best time dancing with some just awesome, warm people (they do social after the wed 8-9pm beginner class)! Thank you, Reeva, our teacher, for making everyone be "lead" and "follow," and your thoughtful insights. Thank you, Karen, for making a beginner feel like it's all good...

Love this place as it has a cozy room with a stage and seating for a concert and for dancing. Plus they have a nice restaurant where they have tasty and reasonable guacamole and chips as well as plantains. We were here for a show and they have beer on tap and wine available. However, the only negative side was that the restaurant closes at 9 and so if you want to get any refreshments, you have to buy them before the show.

La Peña is more than a venue/cultural center. It is a hub for political activism, free thought, queer expressionism, erratic dance moves, and all channeled through fantastic programming in their theater and lounge. In one week you can catch blues dancing on a Wednesday, Flamenco on Thursday, one woman musical theater performance Friday, and a trans folk trio's album release party on Sunday.La Peña = Love

La Peña was born out of the Chilean dictatorship, 1973-1990. It was a cultural hub to resist the human rights abuses of the Chilean state, and support Chilean exiles. These days it has lost its focus on Chile and instead works to be a cultural hub for Latin America and writ large. The 3 stars isn't because it doesn't do it's new job of promoting Latin American culture, it's because since the social unrest started in Chile (10/18/19) it hasn't done its job in supporting its conception: fighting for human decency in Chile. It has "lent" its space to Chilean activists, but it's merely renting a room. The leadership of the Peña itself is absent. So, as far as Chile goes, and thus its namesake, La Peña is dead. It's a Latin American Cultural space, no más.

So I went here to watch the TMI Storytelling with my girlfriend and the guy at the box office was extremely useless and unhelpful. Very off putting. He told him what we were here for and he couldn't find our name since we bought our tickets from Goldstar. He then asked for out receipt and we had it on the phone but insisted we step aside so he can help other people. We show him the confirmation and he's like (que stoner voice) ohhh Ya it's for the other event and we are like ok where do we go? And he just stares at us. Hello earth to guy in the ticket box and he's like Ya it's over there. Very very frustrating and not a good start to my night The rest of the night however made up for it so it did gain some stars back. Amazing performers.

Excellent time had with my mama, learning about Afro-Colombian música and the various regions each instrument was known for. They supplied conga drums and we loved the participation aspect. Beautiful time had.