San Francisco - Alison Bing [145]
BERETTA Map Bar
415-695-1199; www.berettasf.com; 1199 Valencia St; 5:30pm-1am Mon-Fri, 11am-1am Sat & Sun; 26
After a busy day shopping on Valencia St, nothing hits the spot like Beretta’s lip-smacking seasonal cocktails, made with fresh everything. But consider avoiding this place during peak dinner hours, when the small storefront restaurant-and-bar gets packed and deafeningly loud. Good cracker-crust pizzas.
CONNECTICUT YANKEE Map Bar
415-552-4440; www.theyankee.com; 100 Connecticut St; from 11:30am; 22
Odd choice of name, because the owner has a shrine devoted to the Red Sox inside his neighborhood watering hole. Pony up to the old wooden bar and you’ll know everyone by name before finishing your pint. Live music on weekends ($5 to $15 cover), TV sports, a sunny patio and decent pub grub attract mellow, hardworking ex-hippies.
DOC’S CLOCK Map Bar
415-824-3627; www.docsclock.com; 2575 Mission St; 6pm-2am Mon-Sat, 8pm-midnight Sun; 14, 49
Dig the dazzling neon sign at this happy-mellow, green-certified dive that’s always good for a few pints, shuffleboard and conversation. Every second and fourth Tuesday is local-filmmaker night, with screenings of indie shorts and $2 draft PBR.
ELIXIR Map Bar
415-552-1633; www.elixirsf.com; 3200 16th St; 3pm-2am Mon-Fri, noon-2am Sat & Sun; 16th St Mission
SF’s first certified-green bar uses organic spirits and fresh fruits to mix knockout drinks for an always appreciative, unpretentious crowd of Bacchanalian revelers, who throng this cozy, vintage-1907 saloon – some bring their dogs. Great habañero-chili cosmos.
MEDJOOL SKY TERRACE Map Bar
415-550-9055; www.medjoolsf.com; 2522 Mission St; 5-11pm Sun-Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat; 14, 26; 24th St Mission
SF’s only open-air rooftop bar has knockout views, a party crowd, Mediterranean small plates and tasty (cash-only) cocktails, but as of this writing, noise-sensitive neighbors were pressing the city to pull its permit. Great on a warm evening, but call ahead.
PHONE BOOTH Map Bar
415-648-4683; 1398 S Van Ness Ave; 2pm-2am; 24th St Mission
Twenty-something sexually ambiguous art-school students squeeze around tiny cocktail tables to get wasted on cheap drinks, shoot pool, munch free popcorn, feed a killer jukebox, smoke cigs indoors (shh!) and – on a good night – make out in the dim red light.
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top picks
FOR BILLIARDS
Zeitgeist (opposite)
Argus Lounge (opposite)
Edinburgh Castle
Bitter End
Hemlock Tavern
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YIELD Map Bar
415-401-8984; www.yieldsf.com; 2490 3rd St; 5pm-midnight Tue-Sat; 22
It’s easy being green at Yield, a storefront wine bar with a rotating list of sustainably farmed vintages served at rough-hewn wood tables surrounded by low-slung ottomans. Order a bottle or glass, along with some tasty nibbles, and kick it with the convivial crowd of locals.
ATLAS CAFE Map Cafe
415-648-1047; www.atlascafe.net; 3049 20th St; 6:30am-10pm Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm Sat & Sun; 16th St Mission;
A bohemian magnet for SF artists, some of whose works hang on the walls, Atlas has a big sunny patio, occasional weekend bluegrass jams, and a menu of exemplary coffees, full breakfasts, sandwiches, soups and small pizzas. Packed weekends.
FARLEY’S Map Cafe
415-648-1545; www.farleyscoffee.com; 1315 18th St; 6:30am-10pm Mon-Fri, 7:30am-10pm Sat, 8am-10pm Sun; 22;
Retro-Americana down to the whitewashed slat-board walls and soda-shop-style counter, Farley’s is Potrero Hill’s unofficial gathering place, and has a big community newsboard and stellar magazine selection. Neighbors while away entire afternoons at sunny sidewalk tables. If you want to meet locals, this is the place.
RITUAL COFFEE ROASTERS Map Cafe
415-641-1024; www.ritualroasters.com; 1026 Valencia St; 6am-10pm Mon-Fri, 7am-10pm Sat, 7am-9pm Sun; 14, 26; 24th St Mission;
Blue Bottle and Ritual Roasters are the two big names in SF’s ‘Third Wave’ coffee movement, which esteems coffee as highly – and artfully – as fine chocolate and grand