birthday plans

So, Amanda Dos (as in #2, not her last name...I was born first, so I'm #1, she's #2), being the wonderful best friend that she is, has offered to organize and plan my birthday celebration. My actual birthday is on the 20th of this month, but we're having a night out on the town in honor of my birthday on the 27th. The original plan was to get a party bus of some sort to pick us all up in SJ and take us to a few clubs in SF. After looking into it a bit further, we realized how freakin' expensive that would be (nearly $1500 for four hours, and that includes the travel time to the city and back)! Since my main desires for my birthday are (1) to spend the evening with my friends and (2) to shake my bonbon on a dance floor somewhere, we decided that a party bus is not a necessary component to "get 'er done" on my birthday. Now we're thinking something more local: downtown SJ, PA, or LG, for example. The problem is that, since Judd and I don't really get out for local nightlife very often (something about having a 8-month-old severely limits your going-out desires and capabilities), I have no idea what clubs are good. I just want someplace with a good dance floor (i.e. spacious, so all of us can shake it together without being too crowded), good music (i.e. hip-hop, pop, funk, stuff that's fun to dance to...no electronica please!), and possibly an opportunity to be on the guest list (so we don't have to wait in line or pay a ton to get in). Which local clubs will fulfill all my birthday-dancing-with-friends desires? Does anyone have suggestions?