Must-see nightlife in San Francisco

  • Comstock Saloon

    North Beach & Chinatown

    During this 1907 saloon's heyday, patrons relieved themselves in the marble trough below the bar – now you'll have to tear yourself away from Comstock's…

  • Zeitgeist

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    You've got two seconds flat to order from tough-gal barkeeps used to putting macho bikers in their place – but with 48 beers on draft, you're spoiled for…

  • Trick Dog

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Drink adventurously with ingenious cocktails inspired by local obsessions: San Francisco muralists, Chinese diners or conspiracy theories. Every six…

  • Stookey's Club Moderne

    San Francisco

    Dangerous dames lure unsuspecting sailors into late-night schemes over potent hooch at this art-deco bar straight out of a Dashiell Hammett thriller…

  • Smuggler's Cove

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum…wait, make that a Dead Reckoning (Nicaraguan rum, port, pineapple, bitters), unless you'll split the flaming Scorpion Bowl?…

  • Li Po

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Beat a hasty retreat to red-vinyl booths where Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac debated the meaning of life under a golden Buddha. Enter the 1937 faux…

  • Specs

    North Beach & Chinatown

    The walls here are plastered with merchant-marine memorabilia, and you'll be plastered too if you try to keep up with the salty characters holding court…

  • Ungrafted

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    At this industrial-chic, champagne-focused Dogpatch wine bar, you can't launch a cork without hitting a sommelier. The married owners are both sommeliers…

  • Bon Voyage

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    So, imagine a 1950s traveler who sets out to experience Southeast Asia and Africa, picking up art and curios along the way. Now think about this traveler…

  • Jolene's

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    For those who identify as ladies and also like others who identify as ladies, there's a shiny new bar. A huge neon sign announces 'you are safe here',…

  • Interval Bar & Cafe

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    Designed to stimulate discussion of philosophy and art, the Interval is a favorite spot in the Marina for cocktails and conversation. It's inside the Long…

  • Twin Peaks Tavern

    San Francisco

    The vintage rainbow neon sign points the way to a local landmark – Twin Peaks was the world's first gay bar with windows open to the street. If you're not…

  • Violet's Tavern

    San Francisco

    Here's another neighborhood cocktail bar that doubles as a delectable brunch and dinner spot, but the drinks are really where it's at. Case in point, the…

  • Madrone Art Bar

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Drinking becomes an art form at this Victorian parlor crammed with graffiti installations and absinthe fountains. Motown Mondays feature the Ike Turner…

  • Andytown Coffee

    San Francisco

    Since 2014, Andytown Coffee has spread like afternoon fog, unstoppable thanks to its yummy drip coffee, Irish-inspired soda bread and one-of-a-kind 'snowy…

  • Devil's Acre

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Potent potions and lipsmacking quack cures are proudly served at this apothecary-style Barbary Coast saloon. Tartly quaffable Lachlan's Antiscorbutic …

  • Woods Outbound

    San Francisco

    On a chilly evening, squeeze into this narrow, cozy craft-beer bar and give some inventive brews a try. The brewmasters are known for throwing unusual…

  • Toronado

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Glory hallelujah, beer-lovers: your prayers are answered. Genuflect before the chalkboard altar that lists 40-plus beers on tap and hundreds more bottled,…

  • Aub Zam Zam

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Persian arches, One Thousand and One Nights murals, 1930s jazz on the jukebox and top-shelf cocktails at low-shelf prices have brought Bohemian bliss to…

  • Last Rites

    San Francisco

    An airplane crashed on a desert island, and out of the wreckage came this killer Castro tiki bar. Enter through the airplane door to discover a long-lost…

  • Noc Noc

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Who's there? Steampunk blacksmiths, anarchist hackers, trance DJs practicing for Burning Man, and other San Francisco characters straight out of an R…

  • Caffe Trieste

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Poetry on bathroom walls, opera on the jukebox, live accordion jams and Beat poetry on bathroom walls: Caffe Trieste remains North Beach at its best,…

  • Vesuvio

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Guy walks into a bar, roars and leaves. Without missing a beat, the bartender says to the next customer, 'Welcome to Vesuvio, honey – what can I get you?'…

  • El Rio

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Work it all out on the dance floor with SF's most down and funky crowd – the full rainbow spectrum of colorful characters is here to party. Highlights…

  • Tonga Room

    San Francisco

    Tonight's San Francisco weather: partly foggy, with 100% chance of typhoons every 20 minutes inside the Tonga Room. No need to duck for cover – rain only…

  • Buena Vista Cafe

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    Warm your cockles with a prim little goblet of bitter-creamy Irish coffee, introduced to America at this destination bar that once served sailors and…

  • 20 Spot

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Find your California mellow at this neighborhood wine lounge in an 1885 Victorian building. After decades as Force of Habit punk-record shop – note the…

  • Swirl

    San Francisco

    Come as you are – pinstripes or leather, gay, straight or whatever – to toast freedom with sublime bubbly after GLBT History Museum visits, or find liquid…

  • Elixir Saloon.

    Elixir

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Do the planet a favor and have another drink at SF's first certified green bar, in an actual 1858 Wild West saloon. Elixir blends farm-fresh seasonal…

  • Obispo

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    This is no tiki bar. The setting is austere and designed to keep patrons focused on the origin and quality of the small-batch rums that the owner…

  • Alembic

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    The Victorian tin ceilings are hammered, and you could be too unless you sip these potent concoctions slowly – all expertly crafted from 250 specialty…

  • Grand Hot Pot Lounge

    San Francisco

    For a night of exoticism, gluttony, intoxication and utter abandon, look no further than Grand Hot Pot Lounge, the Inner Richmond's gift to spicy-food…

  • %ABV

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    As kindred spirits will deduce from the name (the abbreviation for 'percent alcohol by volume'), this bar is backed by cocktail crafters who know their…

  • Atalena Vinoteca

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    There aren't many places around Fisherman's Wharf that can be described 'elegant.' Okay so there's only one...and it's this new wine bar. There's a lovely…

  • Gold Dust Lounge

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    The Gold Dust is so beloved by San Franciscans that when it lost its lease on the Union Sq building it had occupied since the 1930s, then reopened in 2013…

  • Sip Tea Room

    San Francisco

    After zipping around Golden Gate Park and touring a museum or two, relaxing with traditional English afternoon tea ($29 per person) is just the thing…

  • Dalva & Hideout

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    SF's best bars are distinguished not just by their drinks but by the conversations they inspire – by both measures Dalva is top-shelf. Over ice-cold mugs…

  • Blue Bottle Coffee Kiosk

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Don't mock SF's coffee geekery until you've tried the elixir emerging from this back-alley garage-door kiosk. The Bay Area's Blue Bottle built its…

  • Beaux

    San Francisco

    The candy store of Castro clubs, Beaux serves every gay flavor. Highlights include Club Papi Wednesdays, '90s–'00s Throwback Thursdays, go-go Manimal…

  • 15 Romolo

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Strap on your spurs: it's gonna be a wild Western night at this back-alley Basque saloon squeezed between burlesque joints. The strong slay the…

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