Wildhawk https://www.wildhawksf.com is one of the Mission cocktail bars which flies a bit under the radar as it isn’t on one of the main streets but nonetheless it has delivered great cocktails for the last 10 years. The ambience is quite relaxed and calm and feels more like a living room with its flower wallpaper. It’s owned by PlumbJack group which was co-founded by Gavin Newsom. Their well-known Breakfast Negroni fully deserves its reputation - outstanding riff on the negroni
Smuggler’s Cove https://www.smugglerscovesf.com is one of the leading tiki bars in the US. Martin (also originally involved in Forbidden Island) and Rebecca Cate are credited with initiating the revival of tiki in the US, including their Smuggler’s Cove book. It’s a three level dark bar with the decoration and ambience one would expect but most importantly with excellent cocktails which very well balanced (many tiki drinks tend to get often way too sweet)
Another visit to Propagation https://www.propagationsf.com in the Lower Nob Hill - their garden-themed decoration somehow has a nice calming effect on the ambience and the cocktails continue. to be very good, including their take on a sazerac and their regular use of salted cream in some of their cocktails
Finally got to Stoa in the Lower Haight a few months ago. If this were in my neighborhood it would be a regular stop. Love that both drinks were served no garnish, straightforward two ingredient. There was more I wanted to try but I had to be somewhere.
Capstone - Cap Corse Blanc Quinquina, Aperitivo Cappelletti
San Francisco’s cocktail bar scene is pretty good at finding the right balance between excellent cocktail quality but bars which still feel like neighborhood places. Holy Water https://holywatersf.com in Bernal Heights is a good example. Lots of locals sitting in this bar which has a great cocktail program but also a very good beer tap selection. Interesting ambience with tons of religious “decor”. Both cocktails were very good but especially Shamrock hits this balance of spirit-forward, yet complex flavors in the background elevating the drink
A few cocktails after dinner in Hayes Valley at Anina https://www.aninasf.com A nice neighborhood bar open for nearly 10 years with a large patio which is nice for large groups. Good cocktails, especially the P.F.D. whereas the Vernal Pools had a nice “bite” butwas a bit unbalanced and too citrus heavy.
Lower Nob Hill has a number of good cocktail bar options. One of them is Peacekeeper https://www.peacekeepersf.com on Bush Street. It’s a bit unique with its retractable glass roof and very high ceilings which gives it a kind of indoor/outdoor vibe. Good cocktails, especially their take on an espresso martini was very nice with a good flavor profile
San Francisco and East Bay have excellent cocktail bar scenes. San Jose has a number of good cocktail bars but the peninsula has only a few good places for its size (and most don’t stay open late - looking at you Horsefeather). So every new bar opening sets up hope to improve the scene. More recently, Bar Underdog https://barunderdogpa.com opened in Palo Alto from the people behind Protege (Michelin star restaurant in PA). The online menu looked quite promising with japanese/asian influenced cocktails and a strong bar snack list.
The visit showed a surprising small but cozy room which was quite crowded for a Thursday night in Palo Alto. Good service at the bar with good, quite creative but still very balanced cocktails - just wish they also would have some more creative spirit-forward choices on the menu. Only slight disappointment was that already at 9pm the kitchen was partially closed and only had a very limited menu (it’s still in Palo Alto in the end). But the few things tried were also quite promising - overall won’t be our last visit and hopefully the cocktail bar scene on the peninsula will grow more over time
Very little in the Bay area unfortunately - the only two places which I am aware (but haven’t been to them yet) that use such techniques on regular basis are Bar Orso (from the people behind Merchant Root) and True Laurel (from the people behind Lazy Bear)
Piccino in the Dogpatch area was one of the early restaurants which helped to define the area. Over the years the owners added a bakery/cafe, more recently also a Presidio location and in 2022 a cocktail bar https://www.barpiccino.com in the same building as the original restaurant.
The cocktails are well made, often spirit-forward but still well balanced. Not surprisingly, also some negroni variations are available and the mezcal one turned out to be quite nice.
Unfortunately, the kitchen was already closed after 9pm but the available dessert of pistachio torte and especially the pistachio gelato was very good
