Best Happy Hour Around Financial District?

[shades]

One of my best friends from college will be coming into the city this upcoming weekend and we're planning to meet up Thursday for happy hour and drinks (maybe somewhere else after) and was looking for some good suggestions. He's staying at the Mandarin Oriental, so I'd prefer something within reasonable walking distance (I'll prob just park at the stockton/sutter garage and walk over to the hotel) Was thinking Hog Island or 15 Romolo, but am open to other suggestions.

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Barolo Restaurant
404 San Pedro Ave, Pacifica, CA 94044

[mariacarmen]

Taverna Aventine, at Montgomery and Washington. good food, good happy hour prices.

http://www.aventinesf.com/menu

happy hour from 3-7, check out the Bar Bites PDF file.

[Robert Lauriston]

Second on that. My new favorite on that side of the FiDi.

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Aventine
582 Washington St, San Francisco, CA

[scottca075]

Morton's actually has a great Happy Hour, Comstock Saloon, Grumpy's American Pub and although it isn't close, for future reference, McCormick & Kuleto's does too.

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Comstock Saloon
155 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

[chuckl]

Anchor and Hope has a very nice happy hour with some very tasty $5 fish tacos

[Nopa]

Try Rickhouse, Sutter Station (dive), Waterbar, Epic Roadhouse, Butterfly.

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Rickhouse Bar
246 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA

[Robert Lauriston]

No food at Rickhouse. I don't think they have a happy hour, either.

Waterbar has $1 oysters from 3-6 weekdays.

[Ruth Lafler]

The Waterfront and Marketbar also have $1 oysters for extended Happy Hour on a daily basis. It's kind of a trio: Waterfront + Marketbar = Waterbar.

[osho]

I've been to Waterbar twice for $1 oysters and the quality has been pretty close to abysmal. Absolutely no comparison to Hog Island.

[nocharge]

I go to Waterbar almost once a week and the quality of the $1 oysters is definitely uneven and never as good as the best full-price oysters they have on the menu. But at least they have a full bar and a much better beer selection than Hog Island. More comfortable seating, too.

[osho]

Best is subjective.

I would not recommend HH at Hog Island on Thursdays though - they have $1.50 oysters so that place will be a zoo by 5 pm.

If you provide some more parameters, we can help you narrow down options.

[shades]

just anywhere decent around the area...i was just going to meet him and his fiance after their dinner, but he said, he's not even sure if they are going to have a real dinner & suggested just to grab HH some place close and not too expensive. Haven't seen him in 10 years, so basically just going to have a few drinks and chill. So, pretty much open to anything within a ~10-15 walk of the hotel.

What time would you suggest lining up at Hog if we decide to go? If we went at 515 or something, the wait would be around 30mins?

[osho]

For Hog Island, get there at 4:45 and put your name on their list. The lesser the number of people in your group, the quicker you will get a table. You may even be able to stand at one of the counters initially and get your oyster and local beer fix.

I would personally recommend the following:

1. Burritt Room - here's a chow cocktail hour report - Don't bother with the food though - nothing to write home about.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/778129

2. Barbacco - on California St

They don't have any discounted drinks as far as I know - but they have an excellent wine and beer selection along with brilliant food

3. Another oddball choice - not very high on the Chow radar is Level III at the J W Marriott on Post and Mason - okay food (sliders and truffle fries) and lots of space to sit down and catch up.

Cheers

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Level III
500 Post St., San Francisco, CA 94102

Barbacco
230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Burritt Room
417 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94108

[nocharge]

Hog Island doesn't have a full bar and the beer selection is pretty limited. The only reason to go there is to have oysters. If you are just looking for a happy hour drink in the Financial District, there are plenty of places including this one.
http://royalexchange.com/food-drink/h...
If you want to stay late in that part of town, both Chaya and Palomino have happy hour menus all evening.

[shades]

Yeah, I was just thinking of a place to get a couple drinks/food first and maybe get a cocktails at Cantina or something later at night. If it's going to be their dinner, I'd rather take them somewhere with good food.

Thanks for the suggestions guys...

[JasmineG]

Prospect has a nice bar and some bar only snacks, if you get there early enough, you can get some of the comfortable seats. Also, RN74 has a good happy hour; again, get there early.

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RN74
301 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

[osho]

I really don't mean to be snarky, but in your experience, what exactly is good about the Happy Hour at RN74?

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RN74
301 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

[Ruth Lafler]

I'm curious, too. I walk by there every day and I was unaware that they even had a happy hour (as opposed to a bar with a bar menu). Plus I find the crowd there a real turn-off.

[Robert Lauriston]

I have yet to get a seat at RN74's damn bar, but the HH deal is M-F 3-6pm; 10pm-close, $5 each for red & white wine, well drinks, mushroom tempura, and chicken croquettes. Also, 10% off all bottles over $2000.

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RN74
301 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

[JasmineG]

They have good seats, good cheap happy hour drinks, and happy hour snacks. What else does one look for in a good happy hour?