Best Cocktail Bars in San Francisco, CA
As the best bars in San Francisco constantly underscore, while the much-loved travel destination and storied California city is admired for a lot of things, nightlife often ranks near the top of the list. Naturally, despite an abundance of dive bars, breweries, and wine bars, cocktail lounges represent some of the most promising venues in town at which to spend an evening. In addition to having drinks, some even formulate entire dining menus around the experience. Other spots, like Bourbon & Branch, play up atmospherics with an exclusive, reservation-only approach. The following list – which features many of the best bars in San Francisco – provides everything you need to plan a night out, and begin your adventure. Also, if you’re looking for great eats and dive bars, don’t forget to check out guides to the city’s best from The House of Prime Rib to Vesuvio Cafe as well.
3407, 1275 Minnesota St
While Besharam is also a modern California-style restaurant, its Indian influence is immediately noticeable when you taste the bold spices and flavors in every cocktail, like the Chaat Up and Drive (made with gin, rhubarb, and chaat masala) or the Chhupa Rustam (made with Wray and Nephew and curry leaf). While you’re here, you also shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to try the venue’s food either. Its menu features small plates like blue cheese naan, pani puri, and pudas for you to munch on while you drink. Though it opened recently, the destination, boomed in popularity, so if you visit on a weekend night, be prepared to wait for a table.
398 Hayes St
This absinthe bar has been serving creative cocktails before they even became a staple on the San Francisco scene. It’s a French and Italian inspired spot that also serves food like rigatoni pasta or an actual absinthe burger. The cocktails, which are the main star of the show, are separated between regular liquor and absinthe. Try the Green Beast, which is served tall with Absinthe, lime, sugar, and cucumber, or the Mother Lode (made with bourbon, Fermet, lemon juice, and honey). Even if you’re not hungry enough to eat a full meal with your drinks, they have both affordable cheese plates and fresh oysters on offer here as well.
501 Jones St
Reservations are required just to get into this super exclusive and unmarked bar, but once you’ve made them and have the password, it merely requires you to ring the intercom to bring you one step closer to top-notch cocktails. Walls open up into secret rooms behind bookcases and taking pictures is strictly forbidden, which adds to the air of mystery about this place. In true speakeasy fashion, the cocktail menu is also kept secret up until you get there, but features pages and pages of options like inventive mixed drinks or straight pours of bourbon, whiskey, or scotch that might make ordering difficult for the indecisive. Don’t be shy to ask the bartender for suggestions, as even simple changes (like a Cucumber Gimlet with vodka instead of gin) will end up pleasantly surprising you.
600 Polk St
Liking gin is a requirement when you come to Whitechapel, because it offers more than 100 cocktails made with the spirit and 400 different kinds of gin on the menu in general. The space is lively and modeled after a Victorian-era underground London tube station, and serves up authentic food like fish and chips or croquettes. If you come during happy hour, which runs from 5-7PM every day, you can get cocktails like the Lion Heart (made with gin, Branca Menta, Cappelletti, and bitters) for $10. If you’re not exactly sure where to start, we suggest taking a look at the original cocktail menu: Perhaps a Mission Creep (made with Botanist, calvados, egg white, and bitters) or the Narc Angel with Broker’s gin, maraschino, orange curacao, and campari are both solid options.
1725 Haight St
The Alembic has been serving up quality cocktails since it opened 10 years ago and since then, both the menu and the space have expanded to accommodate a growing customer base. People come here for the food as much as they do the cocktails, and even though the menu rotates frequently, favorites like the hanger steak or the bone marrow are usually a given. Also be sure to try something unique from the cocktail men, like the Blanc Negroni, which has tequila blanco, and liqueur, although the The Brown Butter Old Fashioned (featuring brown butter washed bourbon and roasted sugar) is a better option if you’re looking for a more bitter taste. In terms of spirits you’ll find rye, bourbon, scotch, whiskey, and even some choices from Japan and Ireland up for grabs here.
3010 20th St
Trick Dog features a menu that rotates bi-annually and is focused on a particular theme: The current menu has to do with “The Joys of Cooking” and features drinks inspired by fruits and vegetables. To really experience some potent flavors, give the Che Fico a try (made with a combination of bourbon, Aveze, Aperol, fennel, lemon, and blackberry vinegar), and for something sweeter, consider trying the Liholiho Yacht Club (made with pineapple-infused rum, coconut, and lime). Both pair well with seasonal plates like carnitas tacos, beef tartare, or tuna ceviche.
309 Cortland Ave
Starting at 11PM every night, Holy Water launches into the “11th hour.” Customers get to taste new and experimental creations by the mixologists and if they don’t like the drinks, they don’t have to pay for them. Bartenders are also open to making you a drink out of whatever two simple ingredients you choose, but if you want something on the strong side, try The Zombie, which is a blend of rum and tropical flavors, and will do the trick. Most of the other options are shaken, like the After the Gold Rush, made with bourbon and apricot brandy. This cozy gem is somewhere you can count on daily for an atmosphere that’s just enough – it never gets too crowded or loud and you’ll always have an intimate experience here.