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A pink cocktail in a short, clear glass with a single large ice cube. @equal_parts_cocktail

18 Essential Cocktail Bars in San Francisco

The best places to belly up for a strong drink

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These days most of San Francisco’s top bars have resumed shaking and stirring cocktails to rival any of the best watering holes in the country. And good news: the bar scene in this city is incredibly deep. There are more options than ever for low-proof drinks and aperitifs, while the city’s classic cocktail dens continue to execute on the highest levels. If you’re looking for something specific — say, a hot new cocktail option, a time-tested dive, or a rooftop on which to imbibe — there are plenty of choices across each category. But let this be your first stop, a guide to getting to know San Francisco’s best cocktail bars.

Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.

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The Interval at Long Now

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By far one of the most interesting cocktail bars in San Francisco, the Interval is part museum, part cafe, part (best part!) cocktail bar. The menu is extensive, but thoughtful and unique. While you’re picking up, wave hello to prototypes of the 10,000 Year Clock and the floor-to-ceiling library that houses thousands of books.

Red Window

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With a prime location on Columbus in North Beach, Red Window and its Spanish-inspired menu of cocktails can bring a little Iberian sunshine to even the foggiest of San Francisco days. There’s a tapas menu to pair with drinks like the Oops I Dropped the Coconut, an almost tropical cocktail served in an actual coconut. Also of note: the entire menu is low-ABV featuring cocktails built on aperitifs like vermouth and sherry instead of stronger spirits. 

Li Po Cocktail Lounge

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If you’re going to this classic Chinatown dive, then you’re probably ordering one thing and one thing only: the Chinese mai tai. We wish we could tell you exactly what’s in it, but that’s not possible because in 2013 the owner’s trademarked the name and aren’t sharing the secret of what makes this deceptively strong cocktail so easy to sip. Famously loved by Anthony Bourdain, this is an ideal bar for rowdy nights and old-school energy.

A man with a glass in his hand. Patricia Chang

Moongate Lounge

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Find the celestial and stylish Moongate Lounge, directly above the Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning restaurant Mister Jiu’s. The bar’s cocktails draw inspiration from the lunar calendar, such as the Deimos, made with bourbon and oolong topped with green walnut foam and brined black sesame honey.

The Snug

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Pac Heights got lucky when a team of industry pros opened this cozy neighborhood bar in 2017. It’s named after the little nooks and crannies in an Irish pub.

The House Of Shields

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House of Shields is a cocktail institution, more than a hundred years old, dating back to 1908. It’s lined with wood panels and brass hardware, including the original floors, chandeliers, and many other details. The cocktails are classic, the bartenders have worked there for years, and it’s a trip back to another era of San Francisco.

Scenes, House of Shields

Bar Iris is the sister bar to Nisei, located in the former La Folie lounge space. It’s both elegant with cool black walls and modern decor, and not-too-stuffy, favoring fun riffs on high balls and lots of Japanese whiskey and spirits. The cocktails demonstrate restraint and care in sourcing: for example, the Okinawa is made with hard-to-find purple Japanese yams, calamansi, and rum. Plus there’s a tight menu of small plates prepared next door including karaage chicken in inky Japanese curry and several varieties of handrolls. 

A yellow-colored cocktail in a tall glass with a dehydrated citrus wheel garnish. @equal_parts_cocktail

Kona's Street Market

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Head to this second bar from the Pacific Cocktail Haven team for a globe-trotting menu filled with intriguing ingredients like date molasses and ube-coconut cream. Inspired by street markets from around the world, at this dark cocktail den include a “Boracay old fashioned” with gin, vermouth, coconut water, calamansi, and makrut bitters, and “save me a piece of that corn!” with tequila, falernum, averna, atola de elote, and horchata.

A purple cocktail in a short glass topped with cream. Allison Webber

Tommy's Mexican Restaurant

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This Outer Richmond Mexican restaurant is an institution for two reasons: the best tequila selection in San Francisco and pitchers of Tommy’s margaritas. Still, as long as you’re ordering, get an enchilada and taco combination plate. You’ll need it if the margaritas do their job properly.

Exterior neon sign of Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant in the Richmond neighborhood

Smuggler's Cove

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Smuggler’s is a tiki bar that looks like the belly of a pirate ship, narrow but three stories tall, so drinkers can climb up into ropes hung with nautical gear, or descend down to a second bar filled with barrels. And it’s a rum authority, pouring hundreds of varieties, with a thick cocktail list. The indoor experience has been closed for months, but Smuggler’s has finally cracked open the door for takeout and delivery, serving zombies and painkillers to go, along with crushed ice by the bag and ceramic mugs. 

Last Rites

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Escapism is alive and well at Last Rites, the goth-meets-tiki bar from the Horsefeather team. Opened in 2018 in Duboce Triangle, it remains an impressive cocktail destination designed to look and feel like the inside of an airplane that crashed on a lush and exceptionally rum-soaked island. The drinks are strong and almost universally tiki-like — think a Zombie Killer that blends rum, coconut, lime, and absinthe, or a large-format Kala Bowl, a flaming portion of rum, brandy, and pineapple-spiced 151. 

Albert Law

ABV owners Ryan Fitzgerald, Todd Smith, and Erik Reichborn-Kjennerd, are all longtime veterans of the San Francisco bar scene, so it only makes sense that the cocktails at their Mission bar are some of the best in the city. The menu is divided by spirit, a move that makes so much sense it’s a wonder more bars haven’t adopted it. You can’t go wrong with the Whiskey in Church and “the burger.”

Pimm’s at ABV ABV

Third Rail

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This bar from the team behind Range — former bar manager Jeff Lyon and owner-chef Phil West — has a subtle railway theme and cocktails that feature seasonal ingredients and hand-cut and hand-crushed ice. The cocktails are all affordable, and don’t miss the beer, shot, and bite of homemade jerky.

Beer, shot, jerky at Third Rail Third Rail

Casements Bar

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A trio of friends opened this modern cocktail bar, which defies American expectations for what an Irish bar should look and taste like. Drinkers can sample the collection of Irish whiskey and gin, get a smooth pint of draft Guinness, and chase it all down with fish and chips. Bonus: it’s home to one of the coolest back patios in the Mission, with graffiti-covered walls encasing a rowdy space with tables, heaters, and (oftentimes) live music.

Cocktail at Casements Patricia Chang

Trick Dog

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Trick Dog is a creative cocktail powerhouse, known for a menu that changes every sixth months. Past iterations include a record album, Zodiac wheel, and SF tourist map, as well as a children’s book called “Rhymes with Trick Dog.” It’s also the home of Quik Dog, a favorite for hot dogs and buttermilk brined chicken nuggets.

Trick Dog
Trick Dog

What do you get when you combine the skills of a handful of cocktail industry veterans with a familiar Mission space and a bevy of fried mortadella sandwiches? Buddy, the neighborhood bar powered by Alvaro Rojas (Elda), Nicolas Torres (True Laurel), Nora Furst (Uma Casa), and Claire Sprouse (Hunky Dory in Brooklyn). Step into the buttoned-up space for expertly-crafted cocktails, well above-average bar food, and a flood of natural wine.

Interior of the bar Albert Law

White Cap

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A cocktail pro and a surfer teamed up to open White Cap, which is succeeding in warming up the Outer Sunset, a neighborhood in need of more watering holes. Filled with driftwood and a fireplace, drinkers can get cozy with a strong drink after a beach walk.

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The Interval at Long Now

By far one of the most interesting cocktail bars in San Francisco, the Interval is part museum, part cafe, part (best part!) cocktail bar. The menu is extensive, but thoughtful and unique. While you’re picking up, wave hello to prototypes of the 10,000 Year Clock and the floor-to-ceiling library that houses thousands of books.

Red Window

With a prime location on Columbus in North Beach, Red Window and its Spanish-inspired menu of cocktails can bring a little Iberian sunshine to even the foggiest of San Francisco days. There’s a tapas menu to pair with drinks like the Oops I Dropped the Coconut, an almost tropical cocktail served in an actual coconut. Also of note: the entire menu is low-ABV featuring cocktails built on aperitifs like vermouth and sherry instead of stronger spirits. 

Li Po Cocktail Lounge

If you’re going to this classic Chinatown dive, then you’re probably ordering one thing and one thing only: the Chinese mai tai. We wish we could tell you exactly what’s in it, but that’s not possible because in 2013 the owner’s trademarked the name and aren’t sharing the secret of what makes this deceptively strong cocktail so easy to sip. Famously loved by Anthony Bourdain, this is an ideal bar for rowdy nights and old-school energy.

A man with a glass in his hand. Patricia Chang

Moongate Lounge

Find the celestial and stylish Moongate Lounge, directly above the Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning restaurant Mister Jiu’s. The bar’s cocktails draw inspiration from the lunar calendar, such as the Deimos, made with bourbon and oolong topped with green walnut foam and brined black sesame honey.

The Snug

Pac Heights got lucky when a team of industry pros opened this cozy neighborhood bar in 2017. It’s named after the little nooks and crannies in an Irish pub.

The House Of Shields

House of Shields is a cocktail institution, more than a hundred years old, dating back to 1908. It’s lined with wood panels and brass hardware, including the original floors, chandeliers, and many other details. The cocktails are classic, the bartenders have worked there for years, and it’s a trip back to another era of San Francisco.

Scenes, House of Shields

Iris

Bar Iris is the sister bar to Nisei, located in the former La Folie lounge space. It’s both elegant with cool black walls and modern decor, and not-too-stuffy, favoring fun riffs on high balls and lots of Japanese whiskey and spirits. The cocktails demonstrate restraint and care in sourcing: for example, the Okinawa is made with hard-to-find purple Japanese yams, calamansi, and rum. Plus there’s a tight menu of small plates prepared next door including karaage chicken in inky Japanese curry and several varieties of handrolls. 

A yellow-colored cocktail in a tall glass with a dehydrated citrus wheel garnish. @equal_parts_cocktail

Kona's Street Market

Head to this second bar from the Pacific Cocktail Haven team for a globe-trotting menu filled with intriguing ingredients like date molasses and ube-coconut cream. Inspired by street markets from around the world, at this dark cocktail den include a “Boracay old fashioned” with gin, vermouth, coconut water, calamansi, and makrut bitters, and “save me a piece of that corn!” with tequila, falernum, averna, atola de elote, and horchata.

A purple cocktail in a short glass topped with cream. Allison Webber

Tommy's Mexican Restaurant

This Outer Richmond Mexican restaurant is an institution for two reasons: the best tequila selection in San Francisco and pitchers of Tommy’s margaritas. Still, as long as you’re ordering, get an enchilada and taco combination plate. You’ll need it if the margaritas do their job properly.

Exterior neon sign of Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant in the Richmond neighborhood

Smuggler's Cove

Smuggler’s is a tiki bar that looks like the belly of a pirate ship, narrow but three stories tall, so drinkers can climb up into ropes hung with nautical gear, or descend down to a second bar filled with barrels. And it’s a rum authority, pouring hundreds of varieties, with a thick cocktail list. The indoor experience has been closed for months, but Smuggler’s has finally cracked open the door for takeout and delivery, serving zombies and painkillers to go, along with crushed ice by the bag and ceramic mugs. 

Last Rites

Escapism is alive and well at Last Rites, the goth-meets-tiki bar from the Horsefeather team. Opened in 2018 in Duboce Triangle, it remains an impressive cocktail destination designed to look and feel like the inside of an airplane that crashed on a lush and exceptionally rum-soaked island. The drinks are strong and almost universally tiki-like — think a Zombie Killer that blends rum, coconut, lime, and absinthe, or a large-format Kala Bowl, a flaming portion of rum, brandy, and pineapple-spiced 151. 

Albert Law

ABV

ABV owners Ryan Fitzgerald, Todd Smith, and Erik Reichborn-Kjennerd, are all longtime veterans of the San Francisco bar scene, so it only makes sense that the cocktails at their Mission bar are some of the best in the city. The menu is divided by spirit, a move that makes so much sense it’s a wonder more bars haven’t adopted it. You can’t go wrong with the Whiskey in Church and “the burger.”

Pimm’s at ABV ABV

Third Rail

This bar from the team behind Range — former bar manager Jeff Lyon and owner-chef Phil West — has a subtle railway theme and cocktails that feature seasonal ingredients and hand-cut and hand-crushed ice. The cocktails are all affordable, and don’t miss the beer, shot, and bite of homemade jerky.

Beer, shot, jerky at Third Rail Third Rail

Casements Bar

A trio of friends opened this modern cocktail bar, which defies American expectations for what an Irish bar should look and taste like. Drinkers can sample the collection of Irish whiskey and gin, get a smooth pint of draft Guinness, and chase it all down with fish and chips. Bonus: it’s home to one of the coolest back patios in the Mission, with graffiti-covered walls encasing a rowdy space with tables, heaters, and (oftentimes) live music.

Cocktail at Casements Patricia Chang

Trick Dog

Trick Dog is a creative cocktail powerhouse, known for a menu that changes every sixth months. Past iterations include a record album, Zodiac wheel, and SF tourist map, as well as a children’s book called “Rhymes with Trick Dog.” It’s also the home of Quik Dog, a favorite for hot dogs and buttermilk brined chicken nuggets.

Trick Dog
Trick Dog

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buddy

What do you get when you combine the skills of a handful of cocktail industry veterans with a familiar Mission space and a bevy of fried mortadella sandwiches? Buddy, the neighborhood bar powered by Alvaro Rojas (Elda), Nicolas Torres (True Laurel), Nora Furst (Uma Casa), and Claire Sprouse (Hunky Dory in Brooklyn). Step into the buttoned-up space for expertly-crafted cocktails, well above-average bar food, and a flood of natural wine.

Interior of the bar Albert Law

White Cap

A cocktail pro and a surfer teamed up to open White Cap, which is succeeding in warming up the Outer Sunset, a neighborhood in need of more watering holes. Filled with driftwood and a fireplace, drinkers can get cozy with a strong drink after a beach walk.

Related Maps