Having a cheeky pint or a full-blown night on the town are a common and seemingly integral part of being a young person living in the city; especially when you’re a single man in your mid-twenties. So in the past year or so, I’ve experienced my fair share of nightlife in San Francisco and want to highlight a few of my favorite spots.
I would like to preface this with a few disclaimers: First, I do not have an extensive knowledge of SF nightlife, despite what my credit card statements may say, and am therefore not an expert on the scene. Second, I personally hate nightclubs, horrible music played at such a volume that I can’t hear myself think let alone hear the voice screaming in my ear, a distinct lack of any drink for $6 or less, and places crowded with sweaty, robotic people. Last, I will limit myself to places I have been to multiple times, or at least remember going to multiple times, and will therefore be biased by my geographic location in the city; I am sure there are plenty more tremendous places to tie one off.
DANNY COYLE’S - Lower Haight
Being my local pub, I am rather biased in this pick. Not only am I friends-of-friends with the family that owns the place, and have a solid chance of seeing familiar faces when I go, but I also live about a block away. Having said that, this is a great Irish Pub regardless. There’s usually some drunk antics to observe, the current ball game on TV, and you might run into their unofficial mascot, Molly, looking for some good ol’ head scratches. The lads, good drinks, cheap pool, free darts, and dogs (ya like dags?); what more could one ask for?
TORONADO - Lower Haight
A bit of a rough and tough beer bar, this spot makes the list for two reasons: the music and the bartenders. I’m a sucker for just about any place that can pair a German light beer with heavy music that borders on sonically uncomfortable; I mean what’s better than a cold pilsner and “Big News” by Clutch? Vodka and EDM can pack it up and scoot. Further, to fit the ambiance, the bartenders are notoriously mean. Any question about their drink selection is met by a point to the beer list on the wall and pretty much any slight misstep is met by a dirty look and sharp words. This is also where I had my first, and probably last, shooter of Underberg, a horrendous 44% alcohol digestif that tastes like a 19th century medicine (because it is). To sum it up, just last weekend I was headbanging while drinking my delicious beer, saw a woman stumble out after falling off her stool, and witnessed the bartender get in an argument about the TV channel, in which he said, “We’re friends but you can f——— off!” to a patron; bloody tremendous.
THE LITTLE SHAMROCK - Inner Sunset
If my memory serves me right, which it probably doesn’t, I’ve only patronized this bar maybe three times. Despite my lack of pints bought there, I find it necessary to include in my list as it is the second-oldest bar in the city. Established in 1893 to serve visitors and workers of the “California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894” in Golden Gate Park and later surviving Prohibition by illegally serving alcohol in its backroom, this is a great, tight, old, cozy pub. It’s also conveniently located in the 9th & Irving neighborhood if you want to stumble to the next bar and the next and the next and…
VESUVIO CAFE - North Beach
This might be my hands-down favorite bar to sit, drink, and think, and is unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon. The haunt of beatniks like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Neal Cassady, the walls emanate a palpable energy. There’s something about sitting in there for a drink that makes me want to be an oddball artistic weirdo, devote myself to the aesthetic life of a creative, and write more but shower less. An absolutely great place to start a night, especially when you can find a spot upstairs, post up with a couple buddies, play some cards, and enjoy the people watching below. (Pro tip: the men’s bathroom is downstairs. Turns out that upstairs bathroom I might've been using is the women’s room; it’s one toilet in its own room behind a door that bolt-locks…how was I to know? Read the sign blatantly next to the door?)
THE SALOON - North Beach
If Vesuvio is my favorite spot to sit, drink, and think, then this is my favorite spot to stand, drink, and not think. Considered the oldest bar in SF, established in 1861, this place has never failed to be a real hoot n’a holler. Just to name a few examples: I’ve seen a ginormous man in a suit accost a youth that was robbing the liquor store across the street, met “The Pride of the Sunset”, an elderly ex-boxer that lives above the bar, and danced with a few more old ladies than I’d like to admit. While the crowd varies in age from (assumingly) 21 to about 94, the wide range adds a certain element of “Let loose and live like nobody is judging you, because nobody is”; and the consistent live blues jams quite literally inject energy into the patrons. I mean, last weekend I spent a few hours there with my friends, danced all night, got flipped off by the elderly bartender to the amusement of those around me, met a WWII veteran and shared the dancefloor with him, and once again discovered that the single-toilet-behind-a-lockable-door bathroom I always used is also labeled “WOMEN”; what a night!
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
ZEITGEIST - Mint Hill
RIPTIDE - Sunset
MOLOTOV’S - Lower Haight
SMUGGLER’S COVE - Civic Center
MY APARTMENT - Duboce Park
If you disagree or have any suggestions, feel free to let me know. I never claimed to be an expert (on anything really) but I’m always looking for an excuse to stroll somewhere new, grab a pint, and see what happens.
Sounds like you would enjoy Homestead and Benders in the mission