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Tosca's Cafe Brulot.
Tosca's Cafe Brulot.
Noelle Chun

10 Flaming Cocktails to Set Your Night on Fire

Where to mix your alcoholism and your pyromania.

by Allie Pape
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Tosca's Cafe Brulot.
| Noelle Chun
by Allie Pape

It is a simple fact that people love stuff that's on fire, whether it's as small as a cigarette or as massive as a fire pit. It is also a simple fact that people love booze. But only a small, hardened group of expert bartenders has the stamina to combine the two. For Cocktail Week, here now are 10 San Francisco bars that serve cocktails lit on fire, whether they're to enhance the flavor (as in a classic New Orleans-style Cafe Brulot) or enhance the party (hello, volcano bowls). Light it up.

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Smuggler's Cove

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The grandaddy of flaming cocktail emporiums, this tiki-inspired bar is best known for the Volcano, which blends private reserve rum, pineapple, lime, passion fruit, and maraschino in a bowl anchored by four tiki heads, each of which are set aflame. It serves four drinkers.

650 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 869-1900
(415) 869-1900

Also featured in:

Bamboo Hut

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A lot less classy than Smuggler's Cove's bowl (though equally fun), the Bamboo Hut volcano bowl is a frozen drink in banana, strawberry, or coconut for $20 (or $12 at happy hour), with a flaming shot of 151 in the middle. It serves 2-3, though the occasional intrepid boozehound tackles it solo.

479 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 989-8555
(415) 989-8555

The Nags Head

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This rowdy dive bar has a sideline in flaming shots like the Lamborghini, which is set on fire and sipped by the drinker while two more shots are added to quench the flame. Flaming Dr. Pepper shots are another house specialty. It's filled with the kind of beginner drinkers who love this stuff, so be warned.

5346 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 387-9510
(415) 387-9510

HECHO

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Hecho's Guns a Blazin', a combo of gin, green Chartreuse, pineapple, lime, and cardamom bitters, arrives with a hollowed-out lime, en fuego, on top. Order with the fajitas for the full effect.

2200 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 926-5630
(415) 926-5630

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Gaspar Brasserie

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The Cafe Brulot, a New Orleans after-dinner favorite, is prepared tableside at Gaspar, with cognac, orange liqueur, sugar cubes, cinnamon, and cloves. It's set aflame, then extinguished with coffee. For $28, it serves two people.

185 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 576-8800
(415) 576-8800

Also featured in:

Tosca Cafe

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Tosca Cafe also offers a cafe brulot, in a slightly less dramatic fashion than Gaspar. Here, the brandy and spices are assembled in a glass, with coffee poured over from a French press; the bartender then sets the orange peel inside alight.

242 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 986-9651
(415) 986-9651

Also featured in:

Dirty Habit

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Brian Means makes his Pink Elephant by setting a glass of absinthe on fire, then pouring over a shaken mix of gin, pineapple syrup, lemon, and vermouth to create an after-dinner powerhouse that's still refreshing.

12 4th St, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 348-1555
(415) 348-1555

Also featured in:

Colibrí Mexican Bistro

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Not for the faint of heart, Colibri's Macho Margarita is made by setting an entire jalapeño aflame, then muddling it into a margarita. It's hot in more ways than one.

438 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 440-2737
(415) 440-2737

Bergerac

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They can't always accommodate it, especially at busy hours, but every once in a while, Bergerac will create a domino effect of their Fireball Inside Her drop shots, balancing them on the rim of a glass of cider. A fire-breathing bartender will set them all aflame, then knock them into the glasses in a row. It's an impressive show, and the resulting drink is a chuggable dose of apple-cinnamon goodness.

316 11th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 255-9440
(415) 255-9440

Also featured in:

Topsy's Fun House

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Befitting a clown-themed bar, the Old Flame at Topsy's is a Basil Hayden's Old Fashioned with a twist: a pour of absinthe on top that the bartender sets on fire.

260 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA
(415) 757-0290
(415) 757-0290

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Smuggler's Cove

650 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102

The grandaddy of flaming cocktail emporiums, this tiki-inspired bar is best known for the Volcano, which blends private reserve rum, pineapple, lime, passion fruit, and maraschino in a bowl anchored by four tiki heads, each of which are set aflame. It serves four drinkers.

650 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 869-1900
(415) 869-1900

Bamboo Hut

479 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133

A lot less classy than Smuggler's Cove's bowl (though equally fun), the Bamboo Hut volcano bowl is a frozen drink in banana, strawberry, or coconut for $20 (or $12 at happy hour), with a flaming shot of 151 in the middle. It serves 2-3, though the occasional intrepid boozehound tackles it solo.

479 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 989-8555
(415) 989-8555

The Nags Head

5346 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121

This rowdy dive bar has a sideline in flaming shots like the Lamborghini, which is set on fire and sipped by the drinker while two more shots are added to quench the flame. Flaming Dr. Pepper shots are another house specialty. It's filled with the kind of beginner drinkers who love this stuff, so be warned.

5346 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 387-9510
(415) 387-9510

HECHO

2200 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94114

Hecho's Guns a Blazin', a combo of gin, green Chartreuse, pineapple, lime, and cardamom bitters, arrives with a hollowed-out lime, en fuego, on top. Order with the fajitas for the full effect.

2200 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 926-5630
(415) 926-5630

Gaspar Brasserie

185 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94104

The Cafe Brulot, a New Orleans after-dinner favorite, is prepared tableside at Gaspar, with cognac, orange liqueur, sugar cubes, cinnamon, and cloves. It's set aflame, then extinguished with coffee. For $28, it serves two people.

185 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 576-8800
(415) 576-8800

Tosca Cafe

242 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

Tosca Cafe also offers a cafe brulot, in a slightly less dramatic fashion than Gaspar. Here, the brandy and spices are assembled in a glass, with coffee poured over from a French press; the bartender then sets the orange peel inside alight.

242 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 986-9651
(415) 986-9651

Dirty Habit

12 4th St, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103

Brian Means makes his Pink Elephant by setting a glass of absinthe on fire, then pouring over a shaken mix of gin, pineapple syrup, lemon, and vermouth to create an after-dinner powerhouse that's still refreshing.

12 4th St, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 348-1555
(415) 348-1555

Colibrí Mexican Bistro

438 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Not for the faint of heart, Colibri's Macho Margarita is made by setting an entire jalapeño aflame, then muddling it into a margarita. It's hot in more ways than one.

438 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 440-2737
(415) 440-2737

Bergerac

316 11th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

They can't always accommodate it, especially at busy hours, but every once in a while, Bergerac will create a domino effect of their Fireball Inside Her drop shots, balancing them on the rim of a glass of cider. A fire-breathing bartender will set them all aflame, then knock them into the glasses in a row. It's an impressive show, and the resulting drink is a chuggable dose of apple-cinnamon goodness.

316 11th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 255-9440
(415) 255-9440

Topsy's Fun House

260 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA

Befitting a clown-themed bar, the Old Flame at Topsy's is a Basil Hayden's Old Fashioned with a twist: a pour of absinthe on top that the bartender sets on fire.

260 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA
(415) 757-0290
(415) 757-0290

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