Might be a good time to start a general thread around cocktail bars in the Bay area. There are so many options that it would be nice to collect everybody’s experiences in one location. (we still can make separate threads for specific bars)
Speak-easy style cocktail bar in a basement with relaxed ambience and dark lighting (as one can see from the quite dark pictures). Overall very well thought out and executed cocktails (even though I was bit surprised to see some bartenders free pour sometimes instead of a jigger which tends to make consistency challenging)
One of the best cocktail bars in San Jose
I went to the Phone Booth at S. Van Ness and 25th Street in the Mission late last Sunday. It’s a dive, cash only.
This was my first visit. I had a Martini, which I think was $12. I had it with Beefeater gin and a twist. It was quite large, quite cold, and quite nice.
I went to Rikki’s in the Castro in San Francisco today to cheer on the Golden State Valkyries, who have made history this year by making the WNBA playoffs in their inaugural season. Tonight they were playing to stave off elimination against the top seeded Minnesota Lynx. Despite playing valiantly down to the final buzzer, they came up just short. It was a special season!
Rikki’s, which opened a few months ago, is a bar dedicated to women’s sports. It’s named after Rikki Streicher. More info about Rikki’s from Eater:
They have cocktails and also beer and wine, including some low/no ABV cocktails and non-alcoholic beers. To drink I had a Ballhalla (natch), which has white rum, plum brandy, cacao, guava, mint, cava, and clarified soy milk. It’s violet colored of course, and a little sparkly. Quite nice, it was a little fizzy from the cava.
I had a drink at the Balboa Cafe in the Marina last Saturday. The Balboa Cafe is over 110 years old. It opened in 1913 and is owned by our governor and former SF mayor Gavin Newsom’s PlumpJack Group. It was very busy on a Saturday evening but I found a seat at the bar inside.
I had an Espresso Martini, which is I believe their signature cocktail. It was a good Espresso Martini, served in a coupe with a nice head, and very easy to drink. Good but not quite as good IMHO as the Espresso Martinis I’ve had at Petite Lil’s in North Beach.
ABV is one of the more established cocktail bars in San Francisco now in its 11. year in the Mission. Also known for a kitchen that is open until midnight every night with good food. Also cocktails are well crafted and so it is not a surprise that ABV is often very popular that it can be quite tough to get a seat.
I had some drinks at the Linden Room in Hayes Valley in SF tonight. The Linden Room is a small bar from chef and owner Kim Alter, connected to her restaurant Nightbird.
The entrance on Linden Street is a bit speakeasy like.
To drink, I had a Bramble On Old Pal ($18), which has Redemption rye, Campari, Cocchi Torino, blackberry, and mint, and was quite nice. Stirred and strong and I believe a variant of an Old Pal cocktail, garnished with a blackberry and a mint sprig and served on a large ice cube.
And also a Honeydew Highball ($20), which has Suntory whiskey, melon, lemongrass, makrut lime, and soda water. It was refreshing and had a lot of honeydew melon flavor, garnished with a melon ball. A nice taste of summer as we head into fall.
More or less across ABV is Dalva https://www.dalvasf.com/ - a longstanding bar in the Mission with more than 20 years and a more recent renovation which “modernized” the interior to a brighter, less dive bar feeling but still keeps it as a great place to sip good cocktails which tend to be more spirit-forward
Worth noting that Dalva also has a bar within a bar within it called the Hideout. It’s open Thursday to Saturday and serves more classic cocktails. I haven’t made it to either one yet.
I had a Jonny’s Martini ($19), which has Ford’s Gin, Manzanilla sherry, Chartreuse elixer végétal, Maldon salt, and a Machego stuffed olive. It was a good savory briny Martini.
I also had a Salted Honey Phosphate (n/a) ($10), which is a type of soda with added phosphoric acid for a little sourness. It was good with a lot of honey flavor but a bit on the sweet side for me.
They used to have really unique bourbons and scotch, pre-Covid at the Hideout, I recall a Laphroaig that was aged in space. These days, it’s got a different vibe and more of a cocktail focused menu, everything I’ve had here is top notch.
I’m guilty of buying a bottle of Jefferson bourbon aged at sea perhaps 8 to 9 years ago. It didn’t taste the least bit different to me compared to their usual offering. Swore off these sort of gimmicks after that.
I went to Smuggler’s Cove in SF recently on a Sunday. Smuggler’s Cove is a rum and tiki bar from Martin and Rebecca Cate in Hayes Valley. The Cates have also authored a Smuggler’s Cove cocktail recipe book which I’ve followed from often at home.
There’s two bars, one on the ground floor and one in the “Boathouse” in the lower level
And another mocktail, which was a bartender’s creation of something he described as tasting like an Orange Julius. This was really nice and did taste like a tropical Orange Julius - citrusy, frothy, and creamy with coconut.
