Best Cocktail Bars

[Dapuma]

What are the best "do not miss" cocktail bars in SF

I am looking for Tiki Drinks or pre prohibition type classic cocktails like speakeasy type of place

I have heard Slanted Door is good in that respects and Tonga Room on Travel Channel looked interesting but wanted the info from the CH perspective

Thanks

[Beach Chick]

Tonga room at the Fairmont
Lefty O' Doul's is a fave across from the St. Francis...its been around since the speakeasy days.
I can't believe I haven't been to Smugglers Cove..love me my tiki drinks.
Have fun Dapuma!

[Dapuma]

Reviving this thread because my SF trip is back on (1 year late but better late than never)

I am going to do Bourbon and Branch for sure (Wilson and Wilson), and then on Tuesday it looks like Smugglers Cove has a Tiki special going on with Tiki Central, so that should be interesting

If i can fit one other in there...Absinthe for food and drinks seems to be a winner from CH previously, is that still good info, same chef etc?

Also I will be there Sat Sun Mon Tues...what restrictions does that put on dining, i know a lot of places wont have their A game on a Monday or Tuesday -

If I can only fit one more in there (we will see how many places Mrs D is willing to go to...Rickhouse / Slanted Door / or Heaven's Dog ?

Will be staying near Union Square

[calumin]

If you can only fit one more and quality of cocktails is your primary consideration, I would pick Alembic. The cocktails there & at Bourbon & Branch are really top notch. Plus it would give you a chance to go to the Haight District.

[Robert Lauriston]

Do not miss Smugglers Cove if you're into tiki drinks.

[Robert Lauriston]

15 Romolo, Comstock Saloon, Absinthe, Bar Agricole, Slanted Door, Heaven's Dog, and Rickhouse all have serious cocktail programs with exceptional ingredients.

The Tonga Room and many other local favorites such as Tosca, Vesuvio's, Specs, Li Po Lounge, and Mr. Bing's are more about atmosphere and tradition than exceptional drinks.

Hotel Utah and Cafe du Nord seem to me primarily music venues where the bar is an afterthought and the food mandated by the liquor license.

[bbulkow]

100% on the food and bar at Utah and CdN. I was thinking of places that have actual prohibition-era physical bars with unique features. I bet house of shield's bar is old, too.

[Robert Lauriston]

Sofa, the new basement bar below Bossa Nova, used to be a speakeasy and the physical bar reportedly comes from the same era.

[bbulkow]

Two speakeasy-age physical bars are at the Hotel Utah and Cafe Du Nord.

Both have music, both will (sometimes) let you in without the cover if you say you want to see the bar and drink. The Utah has a bullet hole from when someone took a shot at Joe DiMaggio (so the story goes), and the Du Nord has an actual speak-easy speaking tube.

The Utah has decent beer but "cocktails" are an afterthought. The Du Nord does OK at the classics but isn't in the same league as the true specialists.

One of my best cocktails in 2010 was at Serpentine. I also very much like Heaven's Dog (although the food there is only OK). Both of these are off the beaten path, and are more modern. Gitane is more central, more of a spanish feel than speakeasy.

Absinthe, previously noted, is excellent, central, has a speakeasy feel, and the food is *highly* underrated, with great price performance.

[farmersdaughter]

Has anyone been to Tosca lately? I have not, but it might have the old fashioned vibe that the OP wants.

[rubadubgdub]

I haven't either, but it does seem to be a place that one goes to for the old school ambiance rather than for the drinks.

[escargot3]

I enjoyed a few green apple martinis at Tosca last fall...
fabulous.

[rubadubgdub]

Comstock Saloon, Absinthe, Alembic, Bar Agricole, Burritt Room all have great cocktail programs with the classics, although I wouldn't say the interior look is speakeasy. Bourbon and Branch is the only one I know of that really attempts that. Tonga Room is worth a visit for the throwback interior alone. Slanted Door is not a cocktail bar but rather a restaurant with a cocktail list.

[calumin]

these are all great places

[foodeye]

Lots of good cocktails around town these days, but definitely Smuggler's Cove for tiki. For the current spot of the original tiki bar, you can go to Trader Vic's in Emeryville.

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Smuggler's Cove
650 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102

[Robert Lauriston]

Smuggler's Cove is in a class by itself for rum cocktails.

[Dapuma]

I have heard of Smuggler's Cove, so that one is a must - we had (closed) a TV's in Scottsdale and I have been to the one in Beverly Hills so looking for some new Tiki Bar's to explore, although i do love their Navy Grog

Heaven's Dog looks promising as well - Cap Haitian Rum & Honey...you had me at 15y barbancourt heh

Is that one of the cocktail bar's where they Small Hands Food creator works (worked)?

Bourbon and Branch looks promising as well - What is the difference between going into their "main room" with a reservation and the "library"

Recent tries were: Prohibition in San Diego was disappointing, Purl in London (UK) was awesome

Thanks for all these great ideas everyone

absinthe looks like a nice place for dinner and cocktails -do they have a wide range of absinthe / make their own?

[rubadubgdub]

Absinthe is a restaurant with half of the space devoted to the cocktail bar. It's like two spaces in one. I'm sure they have a few absinthes (in truth, I think it was a bit of a gimmick because when they opened, it wasn't legal to serve absinthe in the U.S., so they just had a bottle in a display case) but what you're really after is the cocktail book that lands with a thud. There are at least 10 pages of cocktails based on classic recipes. And they continue to invent their own. I loved a Bengali Gimlet there, spicy with a whiff of curry, which I've never had anywhere else.

I don't believe it's legal to serve your homemade absinthe in a bar. In fact there was a big brouhaha not too long about about bars that served infused booze like lychee vodka, also not legal, but I think they updated that law.

At B&B if you reserve I think there is a time limit for your stay. I was there for a NYE party once and we wandered from room to room, and I can't say one is way better than the other. But perhaps the library is the side room/bar and a little smaller. You'll be served the same cocktail menu regardless.

[Dapuma]

ahh nice - do they serve the full menu in the bar area? the bar area sounds like the place to be

[Keesey]

The main room that requires reservation allows you to sit and enjoy your drinks in a more private setting. You get your own booth or table and even a cocktail waitress to take your orders. I found the library to be crowded, loud, and you can only get your drinks at the bar on one end of the room. And generally it is 3 people deep!

I'd also recommend B&B's bar within a bar called Wilson & Wilson. Another speakeasy, reservation type of place. Even more quiet than B&B's main room and they serve a prix fix menu of drinks. Ala carte drinks can be ordered too of course! I'd say they serve the same menu as B&B and likely a few more unique drinks too.

[rubadubgdub]

At Absinthe? Yes. I always sit in the bar area. There are small tables, a few booths but also a long counter with seats, great if you're going solo. Just try to avoid symphony/opera/herbst theater nights or go at 8p when the shows have started.

[dunstable]

Since this thread has popped up again...

Yes, the Library is the side room of Bourbon and Branch. No resy needed, and the same great cocktails. However, there aren't many places to sit. There are a few chairs scattered around wooden barrels, but that's about it.

One thing that should be noted about the Library is that it can get very uncomfortable in there if it's warm out. There's no AC and no windows, so it can get quite stuffy in there. Not sure what's going on with that, but if it's a nice warm day, avoid the Library.

[honkman]

You should have tried Noble Experiment in San Diego

[Dapuma]

thanks will try it next time i am there

[Keesey]

Totally recommend Smuggler's Cove as well. It is unassuming from the outside. It's not really a speakeasy, but the exterior has large blacked out windows with a red light in the entrance. When you enter, you really do get transformed into a pirate ship.

Drinks are unique and carefully blended! It made me a rum converter that's for sure.

[vulber]

bourbon and branch