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Heat-beating drinks and where to find them right now
San Francisco’s typically belated summer has arrived — with variable but recently sweltering temperatures. When a cold beer or chilled glass of wine won’t do, here are 18 icy alcoholic beverages, blended and crushed for maximum refreshment.
Warning: Consumption of frozen beverages may lead to brain freeze.
Read MorePalm House has been relaxing with a taste of the tropics since before sister restaurant the Dorian, and it started the party with its Palm House slushies. They come in rotating flavors like prickly pear, guava, and strawberry, and — for an added kick — an optional dash of rum on top.
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Sail away on a sea of tropical cocktails at this nautically-themed Polk Street bar. The menu pulls inspiration from classic tiki drinks using flavors like pineapple, passion fruit, and guava across a tight cocktail list. But if escaping the heat is your goal, the move is the order one of the seasonally rotating frozen slushies.
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For timeless kitsch in San Francisco, is there really any comparison to the Tonga Room? Cool off in the historic tiki bar at the Fairmont Hotel with revamped classic drinks like the Fog Cutter and more contemporary cocktails like the Adult Swim, advertised as “more refreshing than a dip in our pool.” Please opt for the drink, rather than the dip: There is no lifeguard on duty.
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One might not expect this classy den in the Financial District to serve a rotating slushy, but therein lies the fun. The current one is a blend of Ketel One vodka, watermelon, Aperol, manzanilla sherry, Chareau, and lemon.
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Summer is slushie season at the Snug, that popular bar perched on the corner of Clay and Fillmore streets in Pac Heights. The cosmo makes a light option, featuring frozen blood orange and lime with icy cold vodka, but if you’re craving something less Sex in the City-on-summer-vacation opt for the Paloma slushie made with tequila, mezcal, grapefruit, and lime.
The team behind Rickhouse built this tiki temple and it’s further evidence that the form isn’t going anywhere. Frozen drinks like the mai tai float, Bird of Paradise, or pina colada put the bar’s blenders to use, and there are bowls aplenty for sharing.
Pina colada lovers, rise up. But also, maybe sit back down before you attempt to slurp down one of these cocktails at downtown pizzeria Pie Punks. Along with a menu of crispy-edged Detroit-style pies, order a Hennessy-loaded pina colada — dubbed the Henny Colada — garnished with a thick wedge of pineapple. It’s a drink so enormous it comes with a sidecar of extra coconut-y goodness.
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Another tiki hideaway, this one in the Tenderloin and also from the Bourbon & Branch/Pagan Idol team, Zombie Village serves lots of cooling cocktails to temper imagined tropical winds. Don’t miss the coco pandan — but how could you, when it’s the one with a lychee and coconut popsicle sticking out?
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A Hayes Valley hideaway of national acclaim, Smuggler’s Cove has a treasure trove of rums and a massive menu that doubles as a history of Polynesian pop and historic tiki bars. For a smooth, fully blended frozen refreshment, the Smuggler's Rum Barrel is a popular option.
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This neighborhood bar with dual personalities, one with a sports focus and the other with an emphasis on cocktails, features a rotating line of boozy slushies.
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This friendly neighborhood dive separates itself from the rest with its solid food like burgers and San Diego style California burritos, plus frozen drink machines sloshing around strawberry margaritas and the rum-laden Painkiller. Get one, or both with a swirl.
Paper-hat wearing “soda jerks” scoop ice cream and, for the 21+ crowd, mix boozy shakes at this retro Cole Valley establishment. Try the Dublin Honey (Guinness stout, caramelized honey ice cream, Valrhona chocolate syrup, and a float of Graham’s 10-year tawny port), or for something lighter and more refreshing, the Sunday Morning (seasonal fruit sorbet, Chandon Brut sparkling wine).
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Climb up to the roof and slide back into Bar Nonnina, the sexy hidden lounge tucked atop Fiorella’s Inner Sunset outpost. You’ll want to make a reservation, but once you find your way inside you’ll be glad for the dark decor and this boozy slushie made with Bordiga gin, amara d’arancia rosso, Lambrusco, strawberry, pomegranate, and a heaping pile of hand-shaved ice.
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Chezchez, the newest bar from the Trick Dog team, has never been afraid to break from tradition: case in point is the bar’s commitment to serving a whole slew of bloody mary’s from morning to night. And the same holds true for the bar’s negroni slushie, a frozen blend of gin, Campari, and vermouth served in a frosty glass with an orange peel garnish.
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The Morris, from sommelier and mad genius Paul Einbund, is a tribute to wine and dishes like smoked duck. It’s also the home of the Chartreuse slushy, an herbaceous, refreshing adaptation of a fun-time frozen drink but made with a particularly esoteric and delicious liqueur produced by monks.
It only follows that a fun, whimsical restaurant like Chome has just-as-whimsical drinks, such as this melon-flavored drink dubbed Green Yoshi. It is an over-the-top slushie made of a green melon yogurt drink and soju, that comes dressed with a Melona popsicle, a frozen round cut of cantaloupe, and frozen grapes on a skewer — perfect for rounding out a meal on a hot day.
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Foreign Cinema’s sister bar Laszlo, located next door, has been known to sling a frozen cocktail or two, including more spirit-forward options than are typical like a frozen negroni. The menu is freshened up frequently, so stop in to check for the latest frozen concoction.
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You can feel good about the decision to down one of these frozen drinks at Shuggie’s Trash Pie in the Mission; the stone fruit frozé slushie is a frothy concoction featuring upcycled fruit, as in fruits that were blemished or dubbed surplus from some reason or another. The splashy restaurant combines the fruit with wine and ice to make something along the lines of a wine cooler’s, well, cooler summertime sister.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71331323/IMG_7887.0.jpg)
Palm House has been relaxing with a taste of the tropics since before sister restaurant the Dorian, and it started the party with its Palm House slushies. They come in rotating flavors like prickly pear, guava, and strawberry, and — for an added kick — an optional dash of rum on top.
Sail away on a sea of tropical cocktails at this nautically-themed Polk Street bar. The menu pulls inspiration from classic tiki drinks using flavors like pineapple, passion fruit, and guava across a tight cocktail list. But if escaping the heat is your goal, the move is the order one of the seasonally rotating frozen slushies.
For timeless kitsch in San Francisco, is there really any comparison to the Tonga Room? Cool off in the historic tiki bar at the Fairmont Hotel with revamped classic drinks like the Fog Cutter and more contemporary cocktails like the Adult Swim, advertised as “more refreshing than a dip in our pool.” Please opt for the drink, rather than the dip: There is no lifeguard on duty.
One might not expect this classy den in the Financial District to serve a rotating slushy, but therein lies the fun. The current one is a blend of Ketel One vodka, watermelon, Aperol, manzanilla sherry, Chareau, and lemon.
Summer is slushie season at the Snug, that popular bar perched on the corner of Clay and Fillmore streets in Pac Heights. The cosmo makes a light option, featuring frozen blood orange and lime with icy cold vodka, but if you’re craving something less Sex in the City-on-summer-vacation opt for the Paloma slushie made with tequila, mezcal, grapefruit, and lime.
The team behind Rickhouse built this tiki temple and it’s further evidence that the form isn’t going anywhere. Frozen drinks like the mai tai float, Bird of Paradise, or pina colada put the bar’s blenders to use, and there are bowls aplenty for sharing.
Pina colada lovers, rise up. But also, maybe sit back down before you attempt to slurp down one of these cocktails at downtown pizzeria Pie Punks. Along with a menu of crispy-edged Detroit-style pies, order a Hennessy-loaded pina colada — dubbed the Henny Colada — garnished with a thick wedge of pineapple. It’s a drink so enormous it comes with a sidecar of extra coconut-y goodness.
Another tiki hideaway, this one in the Tenderloin and also from the Bourbon & Branch/Pagan Idol team, Zombie Village serves lots of cooling cocktails to temper imagined tropical winds. Don’t miss the coco pandan — but how could you, when it’s the one with a lychee and coconut popsicle sticking out?
A Hayes Valley hideaway of national acclaim, Smuggler’s Cove has a treasure trove of rums and a massive menu that doubles as a history of Polynesian pop and historic tiki bars. For a smooth, fully blended frozen refreshment, the Smuggler's Rum Barrel is a popular option.
This neighborhood bar with dual personalities, one with a sports focus and the other with an emphasis on cocktails, features a rotating line of boozy slushies.
This friendly neighborhood dive separates itself from the rest with its solid food like burgers and San Diego style California burritos, plus frozen drink machines sloshing around strawberry margaritas and the rum-laden Painkiller. Get one, or both with a swirl.
Paper-hat wearing “soda jerks” scoop ice cream and, for the 21+ crowd, mix boozy shakes at this retro Cole Valley establishment. Try the Dublin Honey (Guinness stout, caramelized honey ice cream, Valrhona chocolate syrup, and a float of Graham’s 10-year tawny port), or for something lighter and more refreshing, the Sunday Morning (seasonal fruit sorbet, Chandon Brut sparkling wine).
Climb up to the roof and slide back into Bar Nonnina, the sexy hidden lounge tucked atop Fiorella’s Inner Sunset outpost. You’ll want to make a reservation, but once you find your way inside you’ll be glad for the dark decor and this boozy slushie made with Bordiga gin, amara d’arancia rosso, Lambrusco, strawberry, pomegranate, and a heaping pile of hand-shaved ice.
Chezchez, the newest bar from the Trick Dog team, has never been afraid to break from tradition: case in point is the bar’s commitment to serving a whole slew of bloody mary’s from morning to night. And the same holds true for the bar’s negroni slushie, a frozen blend of gin, Campari, and vermouth served in a frosty glass with an orange peel garnish.
The Morris, from sommelier and mad genius Paul Einbund, is a tribute to wine and dishes like smoked duck. It’s also the home of the Chartreuse slushy, an herbaceous, refreshing adaptation of a fun-time frozen drink but made with a particularly esoteric and delicious liqueur produced by monks.
It only follows that a fun, whimsical restaurant like Chome has just-as-whimsical drinks, such as this melon-flavored drink dubbed Green Yoshi. It is an over-the-top slushie made of a green melon yogurt drink and soju, that comes dressed with a Melona popsicle, a frozen round cut of cantaloupe, and frozen grapes on a skewer — perfect for rounding out a meal on a hot day.
Foreign Cinema’s sister bar Laszlo, located next door, has been known to sling a frozen cocktail or two, including more spirit-forward options than are typical like a frozen negroni. The menu is freshened up frequently, so stop in to check for the latest frozen concoction.
You can feel good about the decision to down one of these frozen drinks at Shuggie’s Trash Pie in the Mission; the stone fruit frozé slushie is a frothy concoction featuring upcycled fruit, as in fruits that were blemished or dubbed surplus from some reason or another. The splashy restaurant combines the fruit with wine and ice to make something along the lines of a wine cooler’s, well, cooler summertime sister.
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