A Dark New Hotel Bar Emerges from the Dr. Teeth and Tonic Team

The latest in a frenzy of San Francisco hotel bar openings might not match the literal heights of the Proper Hotel’s swanky rooftop bar, but it’s still got the fun bar firepower behind hits like Teeth SF (née Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem), Tonic, Bullitt, and Soda Popinski’s. That would be The Tonic Nightlife Group, whose latest is a consulting project at the Hotel Epik (708 Polk Street) and they’re leaning into the sometimes spooky, all-night character of the neighborhood with the name Nokturnal (get it, with a k, like the hotel).

Chilling cocktails, all $12, include “Lecter’s Leisure” (a Boulevardier spinoff with Gran Classico, High West Rye and Lo-Fi Sweet Vermouth) and the Eye of Sauron (Bourbon, Sloe Gin, Blended Scotch, and Fernet, and for a garnish, a bourbon cherry speared into an orange wedge as its all-seeing eye). Take a look at the whole list below.

The proprietors promise the bar won’t be too scary by day. But by night, all bets are off. Even the bar itself will appear to come alive with the help of an interactive bar top designed by a technology company called TouchMagix: There, patrons are promised trippy graphics and a large format version of Space Invaders, among other effects — no hallucination-inducing absinthe necessary.

Beware that Nokturnal opens on February 23rd, with hours from 3 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday to Wednesday and 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday.