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Where to Drink in San Francisco Right Now, Spring 2013

by Allie Pape Apr 22, 2013, 8:30am PDT

8 comments / new

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by Allie Pape Apr 22, 2013, 8:30am PDT

8 comments / new

It's been a while since we updated the Eater Cocktail Heatmap, and so here we are, bringing you the very best of new bars and restaurant bar programs that have debuted in the winter and early spring, mixed in with the mixology standard-bearers that continue to ring our bells. Consider it your back-pocket guide to the new and old essential bars of San Francisco. As always, state your proposed additions and subtractions in the comments, or send us a good old-fashioned e-mail.

Additions and Subtractions:
· April 22, 2013: added The Alchemist, Trick Dog, Tribune Tavern, Hard Water, Coqueta, Kronnerburger
· September 12, 2012: added Tradition, Mission Bowling Club, Big, Jasper's Corner Tap
· April 20, 2012: added Raven, Local Edition

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process. If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

Local Edition

The Bourbon & Branch people are getting away from the reservation-only stigma with Local Edition, a subterranean bar that marries sexy to vintage typewriters in the Hearst Building with a stage for live music. The team's usual serious cocktails are also available with a noticeable lean towards mod era classics.

691 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94105

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Comstock Saloon

Comstock's address has housed a bar of some description since 1907, and it feels like it. Think classic cocktails, abundant antiques, maybe some live jazz, and the dress code is, blessedly, Fedora optional.

155 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

Visit Website

Also featured in:

The Alembic

The Alembic is one of those bars where the drinks take time to make, but they're also hands-down the best in the hood, perhaps in the city. The kitchen's spiced duck hearts are a great foil for something boozy.

1725 Haight St., San Francisco, CA 94117

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Jasper's Corner Tap & Kitchen

Kevin Diedrich is widely regarded as one of the best bartenders in town, and when you throw in one of the city's only cocktail on tap programs and a rare Perlini carbonated cocktail maker, you get a must hit in the SF bar circuit. Menus change seasonally, but the Wiessen Sour bourbon-beer cocktail is a fail-safe choice.

401 Taylor St., San Francisco, CA 94102

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Tradition

From the barmen behind Bourbon & Branch/Rickhouse guys (again), comes the revamped Mr. Lew's, complete with its own proprietary bottled, aged spirits, and a lengthy drinks bible divided into various genres of drinking: tiki, Irish pub, speakeasy, dive bar, etc.

Open in Google Maps

441 Jones St., San Francisco, CA 94102

Visit Website

Churchill

The back bar is whiskey-centric here, but the bartenders are open-minded enough to mix up anything you want. The designer did a solid job, making the bar feel like the belly of a WWII war ship.

198 Church St., San Francisco, CA 94114

Visit Website

Smuggler’s Cove

Bet you never thought a crazy kitschy den of all things tiki could actually serve high-fructose-corn-syrup-free, all-natural drinks. This one can, and the cocktails hold up to the best in town.

650 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Elixir

Elixir looks like your average, unassuming "saloon," but just take a look at the cocktail list and you'll understand the wizardry that goes on behind the stick.

Open in Google Maps

3200 16th St., San Francisco, CA 94103

Visit Website

Big

With no sign, no menus, and not even a phone number, this tiny Tenderloin speakeasy-like spot lives up to its name with big flavors. Drinks are made to your specifications with housemade bitters, tinctures and more.

Open in Google Maps

761 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Visit Website

Rye

The godfather of the market-fresh cocktail movement in San Francisco, situated in an unexpected nook of the TenderNob, with a pool table, a smoking patio and some flattering soft lighting, to boot.

688 Geary St., San Francisco, CA 94102

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Blackbird Bar

An easy breezy Castro-bordering spot to rely on for a solid, sometimes rather inventive, cocktail. Blackbird has super-nice bartenders, and a fun-loving mixed crowd that rarely gets out of control.

2124 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94114

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Alchemist Bar & Lounge

This sultry SOMA lounge from a Gitane alum will satisfy drinking needs both straightforward (their Room with a Vieux adds tequila to the classic Vieux Carre) and obscure (a mezcal-cherry Heering fizz with IPA—believe it). Bar snacks from the Thai spot downstairs and a 12-foot shuffleboard table add to the pleasure.

679 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Trick Dog

Everything at the Bon Vivants' long-awaited home base is meticulously thought out, from the Pantone color scheme and menus to the innovative drinks (beet juice! banana cordial! Moxie highballs!) to the inventive bar food. The result? Crowds like you would not believe. Plan on grabbing a bottled beverage (we like the buttermilk punch) or dining at prime time so you can snag a table.

3010 20th St., San Francisco, CA 94110

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Tribune Tavern

Paul Christensen's cocktail program at this new Oakland spot has its own kitchen, and the drinks are appropriately ambitious; you'll see ingredients like black lime tincture, kumquat bitters, almond-milk foam, and bourbon sous-vide with satsuma mandarins and angelica root on the menu.

401 13th Street, Oakland, CA

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Hard Water

Whiskey aficionados could die happy delving into Erik Adkins' deep selection of American brown spirits at this waterfront bar. (That $100 flight of different Pappy van Winkles may lighten your pockets, but it'll also light up your life.) The cocktail selection is small, New Orleans-influenced, and on point, and the raw bar and Cajun plates are tasty.

Pier 3, San Francisco, CA 94105

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Coqueta

Barman Joe Cleveland, who logged time with Jose Andres, may take home the prize for most ambitious cocktail menu of 2013 so far: he's got separate sections for gin and tonics, sherry drinks, porrones, SF-inspired tipples, molecular-gastronomy creations like liquid-nitrogen sangria and frozen gin meringue...we could go on. Getting a seat on the tiny bar patio is a tough ticket right now, but these drinks merit the attention.

Pier 5 - The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Kronnerburger

What Gabe Lowe's menu lacks in breadth, it more than makes up for in depth. The scotcholate milk is a revelation, and the "carbonated motherfucking margarita" may be worthy of the expletive. And considering that the matching bar bite is the city's most buzzed-about burger in years, you'd be hard-pressed to go wrong here.

Open in Google Maps

2379 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

Visit Website

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Local Edition

691 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94105

The Bourbon & Branch people are getting away from the reservation-only stigma with Local Edition, a subterranean bar that marries sexy to vintage typewriters in the Hearst Building with a stage for live music. The team's usual serious cocktails are also available with a noticeable lean towards mod era classics.

691 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94105

Visit Website

Comstock Saloon

155 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

Comstock's address has housed a bar of some description since 1907, and it feels like it. Think classic cocktails, abundant antiques, maybe some live jazz, and the dress code is, blessedly, Fedora optional.

155 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

Visit Website

The Alembic

1725 Haight St., San Francisco, CA 94117

The Alembic is one of those bars where the drinks take time to make, but they're also hands-down the best in the hood, perhaps in the city. The kitchen's spiced duck hearts are a great foil for something boozy.

1725 Haight St., San Francisco, CA 94117

Visit Website

Jasper's Corner Tap & Kitchen

401 Taylor St., San Francisco, CA 94102

Kevin Diedrich is widely regarded as one of the best bartenders in town, and when you throw in one of the city's only cocktail on tap programs and a rare Perlini carbonated cocktail maker, you get a must hit in the SF bar circuit. Menus change seasonally, but the Wiessen Sour bourbon-beer cocktail is a fail-safe choice.

401 Taylor St., San Francisco, CA 94102

Visit Website

Tradition

441 Jones St., San Francisco, CA 94102

From the barmen behind Bourbon & Branch/Rickhouse guys (again), comes the revamped Mr. Lew's, complete with its own proprietary bottled, aged spirits, and a lengthy drinks bible divided into various genres of drinking: tiki, Irish pub, speakeasy, dive bar, etc.

Open in Google Maps

441 Jones St., San Francisco, CA 94102

Visit Website

Churchill

198 Church St., San Francisco, CA 94114

The back bar is whiskey-centric here, but the bartenders are open-minded enough to mix up anything you want. The designer did a solid job, making the bar feel like the belly of a WWII war ship.

198 Church St., San Francisco, CA 94114

Visit Website

Smuggler’s Cove

650 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Bet you never thought a crazy kitschy den of all things tiki could actually serve high-fructose-corn-syrup-free, all-natural drinks. This one can, and the cocktails hold up to the best in town.

650 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Visit Website

Elixir

3200 16th St., San Francisco, CA 94103

Elixir looks like your average, unassuming "saloon," but just take a look at the cocktail list and you'll understand the wizardry that goes on behind the stick.

Open in Google Maps

3200 16th St., San Francisco, CA 94103

Visit Website

Big

761 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94102

With no sign, no menus, and not even a phone number, this tiny Tenderloin speakeasy-like spot lives up to its name with big flavors. Drinks are made to your specifications with housemade bitters, tinctures and more.

Open in Google Maps

761 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Visit Website

Rye

688 Geary St., San Francisco, CA 94102

The godfather of the market-fresh cocktail movement in San Francisco, situated in an unexpected nook of the TenderNob, with a pool table, a smoking patio and some flattering soft lighting, to boot.

688 Geary St., San Francisco, CA 94102

Visit Website

Blackbird Bar

2124 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94114

An easy breezy Castro-bordering spot to rely on for a solid, sometimes rather inventive, cocktail. Blackbird has super-nice bartenders, and a fun-loving mixed crowd that rarely gets out of control.

2124 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94114

Visit Website

Alchemist Bar & Lounge

679 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

This sultry SOMA lounge from a Gitane alum will satisfy drinking needs both straightforward (their Room with a Vieux adds tequila to the classic Vieux Carre) and obscure (a mezcal-cherry Heering fizz with IPA—believe it). Bar snacks from the Thai spot downstairs and a 12-foot shuffleboard table add to the pleasure.

679 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

Visit Website

Trick Dog

3010 20th St., San Francisco, CA 94110

Everything at the Bon Vivants' long-awaited home base is meticulously thought out, from the Pantone color scheme and menus to the innovative drinks (beet juice! banana cordial! Moxie highballs!) to the inventive bar food. The result? Crowds like you would not believe. Plan on grabbing a bottled beverage (we like the buttermilk punch) or dining at prime time so you can snag a table.

3010 20th St., San Francisco, CA 94110

Visit Website

Tribune Tavern

401 13th Street, Oakland, CA

Paul Christensen's cocktail program at this new Oakland spot has its own kitchen, and the drinks are appropriately ambitious; you'll see ingredients like black lime tincture, kumquat bitters, almond-milk foam, and bourbon sous-vide with satsuma mandarins and angelica root on the menu.

401 13th Street, Oakland, CA

Visit Website

Hard Water

Pier 3, San Francisco, CA 94105

Whiskey aficionados could die happy delving into Erik Adkins' deep selection of American brown spirits at this waterfront bar. (That $100 flight of different Pappy van Winkles may lighten your pockets, but it'll also light up your life.) The cocktail selection is small, New Orleans-influenced, and on point, and the raw bar and Cajun plates are tasty.

Pier 3, San Francisco, CA 94105

Visit Website

Related Maps

Coqueta

Pier 5 - The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA

Barman Joe Cleveland, who logged time with Jose Andres, may take home the prize for most ambitious cocktail menu of 2013 so far: he's got separate sections for gin and tonics, sherry drinks, porrones, SF-inspired tipples, molecular-gastronomy creations like liquid-nitrogen sangria and frozen gin meringue...we could go on. Getting a seat on the tiny bar patio is a tough ticket right now, but these drinks merit the attention.

Pier 5 - The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA

Visit Website

Kronnerburger

2379 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

What Gabe Lowe's menu lacks in breadth, it more than makes up for in depth. The scotcholate milk is a revelation, and the "carbonated motherfucking margarita" may be worthy of the expletive. And considering that the matching bar bite is the city's most buzzed-about burger in years, you'd be hard-pressed to go wrong here.

Open in Google Maps

2379 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

Visit Website

Related Maps