Casual group / open house type meeting spot

[annamoc]

My BF and I are coming to San Fran for the long weekend and are looking for suggestions for a place to meet up with local friends on Saturday night. We both have a lot of friends in the area that have different schedules and obligations for the weekend. So, what we're looking for is a place where we can just tell people we'll be and our friends can come and get food and/or drink whenever convenient for them, but not feel required to order a full meal. Also, a place where we can show up at 6pm and hang out until 10 or later and not feel like we've taken over a place. Essentially, we're looking for somewhere we can have an open house type of deal. Neighborhood-wise, the Castro, Mission, or Downtown would be ideal.

[Robert Lauriston]

Schroeder's might work.

http://www.schroederssf.com/

[goldangl95]

Your request is like the holy grail - this post asked a similar question and got some good suggestions: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/851682

[sparky403]

the Beer Garden in hayes valley would be good for that - its can be a bit on the expensive side.. but it's a nice place

http://www.yelp.com/biz/biergarten-san-francisco-2#query:bier%20garden

Also zeitgeist if you're feeling a bit more bohemeian.

www.yelp.com/biz/zeitgeist-san-francisco

[escargot3]

especially if there's sun it's nice to sit in the patio at Zeitgeist.

[Robert Lauriston]

SF weather forecast is low 60s, cloudy, and breezy tomorrow evening, so outdoors might not be too nice unless you were under a heater.