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15 Places to Sip a Great Cocktail For $8 or Less

For when you want to keep it classy, on the cheap.

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Cocktail Week is winding down, and now that we've celebrated the great dives where you can indulge in a drink and a snack for a reasonable price, we turn our attention to fancy cocktail bars. These 15 spots serve some of the best drinks in the city, usually commanding a $10-12 price tag, but if you strategize correctly or have a little flexibility, you can enjoy their tasty mixed drinks for less than $8. If you want to feel fancy even when your wallet is thin, this list is for you.

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Third Rail

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At this newish Dogpatch bar, all cocktails are $2 off on weekdays from 3-6 pm, knocking the prices down to $8 for awesome cocktails like the Mt. Tam, Fireside Sour, and the signature Third Rail.

Bar Agricole

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Bar Agricole's happy hour, which runs 5-6 pm daily and all day long on Sundays, features a rotating $6 cocktail, plus $3 Stiegl $2 sausages if you're peckish. And you can enjoy it all on that lovely patio.

Every day from 5-6 pm, 1760's "Stirring Hour" features a trio of aperitif cocktails not normally on the menu, plus stirred standards like Negronis and Manhattans, for $6-7. They also have $3 beer, $7 wine by the glass, and $6 snacks like Brussels sprouts or shishito peppers.

Blackbird Bar

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Blackbird's happy hour goes a lot later than other bars' (5-8 pm on weekdays), and with well cocktails and sours for $4-5, you'll be able to take full advantage. Other deals: $2 macrobrews, $1-2 off draft beers, and $5-6 glasses of wine.

Holy Water

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Thanks to its setting in a family-oriented neighborhood, Holy Water has a late-night happy hour: the 11th Hour, which begins at 11 pm. Their bartenders use the time to experiment with new spirits and tinctures, and offer the results at a discount; if you don't like what they come up with, you don't have to pay. Or come in for the standard happy hour (2-7 pm daily), when all drinks are $8.

Smuggler's Cove

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For the first hour of business (5-6 pm) at the recently-crowned 16th-best bar in the world, all drinks are $2 off. With most clocking in the $8-11 range, that knocks the bill down to as low as $6 in some cases, for some of the best rum and tiki drinks you'll consume anywhere.

Comstock Saloon

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Comstock's happy hour features a rotating $6 cocktail (currently a Derby), along with three $6 shot-and-beer combos, like bourbon and Anchor Steam or genever and Trumer Pils. Drop in for a cheap drink on weekdays from 4-7 pm.

Bergerac

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Bergerac turns into an '80s cocktail party every weekday from 5-7 pm, when the rotating "black book" cocktail and all the well cocktails are $7, and munchies like pigs in a blanket, fried mac and cheese, and, we kid you not, Shake 'n Bake are $5. Also available: a $30 punch bowl for groups.

Churchill

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Pop into Churchill before 7 pm, and they'll make you any one of their house classics (Manhattans, Negronis, Sidecars, Margaritas and the like) for $7-8

Gaspar Brasserie

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Park it at Gaspar's bar from 4-6 pm on weekdays, and you can enjoy a $6 Champagne cocktail or Ma Cherie (a vodka-lemon-hibiscus tea concoction). Deviled eggs and oysters are $1 each, and fries are $3.

Locanda

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Locanda's just-launched "aperitivo hour" offers a rotating trio of three $8 cocktails from 5:30-6:30 pm, Sunday-Thursday. In classic Italian aperitivo fashion, they come with free snacks: marinated olives and cacio e pepe chips.

Two Sisters Bar & Books

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A rotating $5 cocktail (and plenty of tomes to keep you company) makes happy hour at this Hayes Valley charmer a great deal. Catch it Tuesday-Friday, 4-6 pm, and Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 pm.

With so many offices in the vicinity, a great happy hour is a must, and Pabu delivers with a $6.88 rotating cocktail on weekdays from 3-6 pm. Also available: sake, wine, and a tallboy of Sapporo, all for under $9, and $2-7 snacks like oysters, hand rolls, and chicken karaage.

Red Dog Restaurant & Bar

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This SOMA newbie has happy hour daily from 4-6 pm, with $7 rotating cocktails, $5 beer and wine, and snacks under $10.

Nihon Whisky Lounge

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Nihon's entire cocktail menu, much of which extends beyond whisk(e)y, is yours for half-off at happy hour, which runs from 5:30-7. Most drinks are in the $5-7 range, as are a selection of snacks.

Third Rail

At this newish Dogpatch bar, all cocktails are $2 off on weekdays from 3-6 pm, knocking the prices down to $8 for awesome cocktails like the Mt. Tam, Fireside Sour, and the signature Third Rail.

Bar Agricole

Bar Agricole's happy hour, which runs 5-6 pm daily and all day long on Sundays, features a rotating $6 cocktail, plus $3 Stiegl $2 sausages if you're peckish. And you can enjoy it all on that lovely patio.

1760

Every day from 5-6 pm, 1760's "Stirring Hour" features a trio of aperitif cocktails not normally on the menu, plus stirred standards like Negronis and Manhattans, for $6-7. They also have $3 beer, $7 wine by the glass, and $6 snacks like Brussels sprouts or shishito peppers.

Blackbird Bar

Blackbird's happy hour goes a lot later than other bars' (5-8 pm on weekdays), and with well cocktails and sours for $4-5, you'll be able to take full advantage. Other deals: $2 macrobrews, $1-2 off draft beers, and $5-6 glasses of wine.

Holy Water

Thanks to its setting in a family-oriented neighborhood, Holy Water has a late-night happy hour: the 11th Hour, which begins at 11 pm. Their bartenders use the time to experiment with new spirits and tinctures, and offer the results at a discount; if you don't like what they come up with, you don't have to pay. Or come in for the standard happy hour (2-7 pm daily), when all drinks are $8.

Smuggler's Cove

For the first hour of business (5-6 pm) at the recently-crowned 16th-best bar in the world, all drinks are $2 off. With most clocking in the $8-11 range, that knocks the bill down to as low as $6 in some cases, for some of the best rum and tiki drinks you'll consume anywhere.

Comstock Saloon

Comstock's happy hour features a rotating $6 cocktail (currently a Derby), along with three $6 shot-and-beer combos, like bourbon and Anchor Steam or genever and Trumer Pils. Drop in for a cheap drink on weekdays from 4-7 pm.

Bergerac

Bergerac turns into an '80s cocktail party every weekday from 5-7 pm, when the rotating "black book" cocktail and all the well cocktails are $7, and munchies like pigs in a blanket, fried mac and cheese, and, we kid you not, Shake 'n Bake are $5. Also available: a $30 punch bowl for groups.

Churchill

Pop into Churchill before 7 pm, and they'll make you any one of their house classics (Manhattans, Negronis, Sidecars, Margaritas and the like) for $7-8

Gaspar Brasserie

Park it at Gaspar's bar from 4-6 pm on weekdays, and you can enjoy a $6 Champagne cocktail or Ma Cherie (a vodka-lemon-hibiscus tea concoction). Deviled eggs and oysters are $1 each, and fries are $3.

Locanda

Locanda's just-launched "aperitivo hour" offers a rotating trio of three $8 cocktails from 5:30-6:30 pm, Sunday-Thursday. In classic Italian aperitivo fashion, they come with free snacks: marinated olives and cacio e pepe chips.

Two Sisters Bar & Books

A rotating $5 cocktail (and plenty of tomes to keep you company) makes happy hour at this Hayes Valley charmer a great deal. Catch it Tuesday-Friday, 4-6 pm, and Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 pm.

PABU

With so many offices in the vicinity, a great happy hour is a must, and Pabu delivers with a $6.88 rotating cocktail on weekdays from 3-6 pm. Also available: sake, wine, and a tallboy of Sapporo, all for under $9, and $2-7 snacks like oysters, hand rolls, and chicken karaage.

Red Dog Restaurant & Bar

This SOMA newbie has happy hour daily from 4-6 pm, with $7 rotating cocktails, $5 beer and wine, and snacks under $10.

Nihon Whisky Lounge

Nihon's entire cocktail menu, much of which extends beyond whisk(e)y, is yours for half-off at happy hour, which runs from 5:30-7. Most drinks are in the $5-7 range, as are a selection of snacks.

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