Cocktailian happy hours in SF

[jaykayen]

My friend and I are from LA and will be spending 3 nights in your august city, so we'll need places to booze on the cheap, $5/6 a drink sounds good to me.

My friend likes 15 Romolo and Blackbird, I want to hit up maybe The Alembic and Smugglers Cove, so I'm looking for something similar to these, but for not too much money.

[sugartoof]

Both 15 Romolo and Blackbird do have Happy Hours.
Alembic has been listed around as having a Happy Hour, but I can't find details.

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15 Romolo
15 Romolo Pl, San Francisco, CA 94133

[jaykayen]

Back from my trip, and my friend and I happened upon Comstock Saloon's happy hour, which consists a shot and beer, and there were 3 pairs. One was Bols genever, another was Four Roses bourbon, and the third was a tequila.

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Comstock Saloon
155 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

[Nopa]

For cheap cocktails go to Little Shamrock. It's SF's second oldest bar. It's a dive, but has a lot of personality and is next to the panhandle and good restaurants.

[erinnaoko]

if you're talking 15 romolo and alembic, i'd say The Hideout - at the back of Dalva. a super chill, casual place behind a dive bar in the Mission, but their selection of spirits is one of a kind, and in my opinion, they make the best cocktails in town for sure. thursday nights are a favorite for me:)

and about pricing - you're not going to get $5/6 drink at any decent cocktail joint in SF.

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Dalva
3121 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

[pane]

Hide-Out is a nice place to hang out and the cocktails are good, but I don't think it stands up to San Francisco's top cocktail places in terms of spirit selection or cocktail quality. If the OP is visiting soon, it's of note that Dalva and Hide-Out are closed temporarily for renovation.

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Dalva
3121 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

[erinnaoko]

both hide-out and dalva should be reopening tonight, so no worries on that end.

and i beg to differ re: quality of cocktail @ hide-out (@ dalva - cocktails is not what it's aiming for). try them esp on thursday. you'll taste creations that aren't found anywhere else.

[jason carey]

The Nite Cap has excellent 3.50 gin and tonics and the Saloon has great ones for 4.25 including Bombay.

[Pei]

I like Farrallon. Very limited cocktail menu, but the three cocktails on the list are good and $6. Happy hour food includes $1 oysters, really amazing steamed clams, sliders, fries, and a few other items.

Otherwise, I agree, it's tough to get a cocktail for under $10 in this town. Burritt Room has a few choices that are hidden gems in terms of bang for buck, but you have to know which drinks are made for sharing

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Burritt Room
417 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94108

[openhelix]

$10 a drink is the starting point for quality cocktails in SF... Being a huge cocktail enthusiast and living around SF my whole life, I don't think you'll do much better than that. Alembic and Smuggler's cove are on the higher end of the $10-15/drink range.

if you just want cheap booze, plenty of places in the mission. Or, closer to downtown I'd recommend Hemlock. Maybe Zeitgeist?

[jaykayen]

I'll take suggestions for places in the Mission, I'm looking to kill some time there.

[pauliface]

These are not gourmet cocktail places but they have the atmosphere I like, somewhere between nostalgic, kitschy and divey...
in the mission, I like Doc's Clock.
There's also the 500 club, not quite mission central, but a good point from which to begin a bar crawl.

[scarmoza]

The margaritas at Latin American club are a Mission District institution. They're strong, pint sized, and $8.

Nihon Whisky Lounge has a fantastic happy hour that fills up rather quickly (so get there early). Cocktails and appetizers are 1/2 off the menu price.

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Nihon Whisky Lounge
1779 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

Latin American Club
3286 22nd St, San Francisco, CA

[Calvinist]

Hog and Rocks has quality old-school cocktails @ $8 with oysters and ham to boot.

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Hog and Rocks
3431 19th St, San Francisco, CA 94110