San Francisco - Alison Bing [141]
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top picks
FOR SMOKERS
Phone Booth
Amber
Edinburgh Castle (below)
Rye (right)
Zeitgeist
Irish Bank
Mars Bar
Hemlock Tavern (right)
Rosewood (opposite)
Medjool Sky Terrace
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EDINBURGH CASTLE Map Bar
415-885-4074; www.castlenews.com; 950 Geary St; 5pm-2am; 19, 38, 47, 49
SF’s finest old-school monument to drink comes complete with dart boards, pool tables, rock bands, occasional literary readings and locals acting out (as is our habit). Photos of bagpipers, the Trainspotting soundtrack on the jukebox and a service delivering vinegary fish and chips in newspaper are all the Scottish authenticity you could ask for, short of haggis.
HA-RA Map Bar
415-673-3148; 875 Geary St; 3:30pm-2am Mon & Tue, 9:30am-2am Wed-Sun; 19, 38, 47, 49
If you’re alone with your journal, or need a place for a tête-à-tête that may end in tears, bring a fiver for the jukebox, select Miles Davis, and cozy up in this often-empty vintage-1947 classic dive. Take note of the flashback-to-the-1950s black-and-white photo of the couple dancing, then look at the wall sconces and you’ll realize you’re standing in the exact same spot – only now it’s filled with ghosts, not bee-boppers.
HEMLOCK TAVERN Map Bar
415-923-0923; www.hemlocktavern.com; 1131 Polk St; 4pm-2am; 2, 3, 4, 19, 38, 47, 49
When you wake up tomorrow with peanut shells in your hair (weren’t they all over the floor?), a stiff neck from rocking entirely too hard to the Family Curse (weren’t they good?) and someone else’s mascara on your armpit (should we even ask?), you’ll know it was another successful night at the Hemlock. Weekday nights, stand-up comedy and literary readings are anything but staid among this motley crowd of raucous, party-hardy San Franciscans.
KOKO COCKTAILS Map Bar
415-885-4788; www.kokococktails.com; 1060 Geary St; 5pm-2am; 2, 3, 4, 19, 38, 47, 49
Our favorite place to start a Polk St pub crawl is a retro-cool cocktail lounge that looks like a gussied-up rumpus room from the 1970s. Seven bucks gets you a fancy, hand-muddled cocktail, which you can sip at handmade tables of reclaimed oak. DJs spin reggae, soul and sometimes hip-hop, but never rap.
LUSH LOUNGE Map Bar
415-771-2022; www.thelushlounge.com; 1100 Polk St; 4pm-2am; 2, 3, 4, 19, 47, 49
Portraits of jazz luminaries and long-forgotten Hollywood stars line the walls at this mellow storefront bar that marks the line on Polk St where grit ends and hip begins. Martinis are the specialty (15 different varieties), but we also love the lemon drops, cosmos and anything in stemware. Ideal for couples and small groups; all sexual persuasions welcome.
RYE Map Bar
415-474-4448; www.ryesf.com; 688 Geary St; 5:30pm-2am Mon-Fri, 7pm-2am Sat & Sun; 27, 38
Rye’s high-style design mixes concrete, steel and polished wood, and its leather sofas are a sexy spot for a basil gimlet or anything else made with herb-infused spirits or fresh-squeezed juice. The smokers’ patio is actually a cage overlooking the sidewalk, and offers a glimpse of who’s inside. It packs after 10pm; arrive early.
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CHINATOWN
EZ5 Map Bar
415-362-9321; www.ez5bar.com; 682 Commercial St; 4pm-2am Mon-Fri, 6pm-2am Sat; 1, 10, 41
Don’t worry if you’re not looking your best – EZ5’s lighting is dim, with blue and red strings of Christmas lights that are reminiscent of a long-since-over New Year’s Eve party. But the ’80s-ish cherry-red vinyl seating isn’t sticky, the disco ball still turns, and crowds show up at happy hour and on weekends after 11pm for DJ beats (house and hip-hop) to kick-start the otherwise dead room. If nobody’s here, console yourself with Ms Pac Man.
LI PO Map Bar
415-982-0072; 916 Grant Ave; 2pm-2am; 45
A fave of the Beat poets, Li Po’s fake-grotto decor comes with lurid 1960s-era plush red booths, bartenders shouting in Cantonese and