Bars

Stylish cocktail lounge with a resident DJ and moody ambiance. Open to 2am every night.

Dimly lit vintage bar with a live Hammond organist most nights. A true SF original.

Hidden alley bar with a vinyl-record motif and a live DJ. Great cocktail variety.

The revived Old Pro space on Ramona, rebuilt as a polished sports bar with Stanford roots and a limited late-night menu until…

Widely considered one of the best tiki bars in the country. Deep rum list and a multi-level interior.

Critically acclaimed cocktail bar highlighting Asian-inspired ingredients.

1883 saloon at Jack London Square with floors tilted by the 1906 quake. Cash-friendly, regulars-driven, the kind of bar that…

Dive rock bar with a full kitchen (Overkill Grill). Great pool tables, burgers, and tots.

Berkeley's oldest pub. Free popcorn, shuffleboard, darts, trivia, and a fireplace that earns the wait list.

Hidden cocktail room behind a tailor-shop facade. Serious drinks, low light, low volume.

SJSU-edge craft beer bar plus bottle shop. Rotating taps, knowledgeable staff, growlers to go.

Mission cocktail temple where every six months the entire menu gets redesigned around a new conceit — vinyl record, zodiac,…

One of the country's oldest continuously-running queer bars (1933). Dance floor, drag, and packed weekends.

Two-story downtown cocktail bar with a packed rooftop. Strong list, sharp service.

Castro-adjacent cocktail bar with a pool table and eclectic design.

Crashed-plane themed tiki bar with fire effects and plane-seat bar stools. Gimmicky but fun.

Owl-themed cocktail bar with old SF charm and a private upstairs event space.

Downtown SJ's neighborhood Irish pub. Imperial pints, fish & chips, regulars who know the bartenders.

Classic Mission dive bar with a giant neon sign and a photo booth in the back.

Divey live-music bar hosting local bands and DJ nights. Small but fun.

Last surviving 1920s bait-shop-turned-bar in Temescal. Outdoor heaters, shuffleboard, cheap beer.

Chill Mission dive. Low-key vibe, movies on low volume, photo booth in the back.

Downtown Campbell's most ambitious cocktail program — hidden door, dim booths, classic stirred drinks built like architecture.…

The new upstairs lounge in the old Mountain Charley's space — velvet, low light, ice spheres. Los Gatos dressed for a night out.

Last of its kind in the Tenderloin — a working-class queer bar with weekly drag, the Hot Boxxx Girls revue, a dance floor the…

Second-oldest bar in SF (1893). The clock above the bar stopped at the 1906 earthquake and never started again. Inner Sunset's…

Down a Saroyan-named alley off Columbus, the walls are covered in nautical and bohemian artifacts collected over decades.…

Massive Belgian-leaning beer list, a tree-shaded back patio, and live jazz late on weekends.

Library-themed cocktail bar known for punches on tap. Good for groups.

One of the country's first brewpubs (1986). House IPAs, rooftop deck, burgers stay on the menu late.

Iconic Chinatown dive. The Chinese Mai Tai is the signature, a high ABV rum punch in a unique room.

Junk-shop maximalist Uptown cocktail bar with antlers on every wall. Famous for fresh-squeezed grapefruit greyhounds and an…

One of SF's oldest bars. Premium whiskey flights at approachable prices, livelier than a traditional dive.

Cavernous Uptown cocktail bar with two indoor bocce courts and a relaxed neighborhood crowd.

Japantown karaoke lounge with a packed weekend list and a stubbornly old-school vibe.

Downtown SJ's stubborn punk dive. Cheap drinks, sticky floors, and shows that don't soundcheck quietly.

Beloved Mission dive with pinball, a great jukebox, and a neon sign worth a photo.

Funky Mission dive with a jukebox, pool table, and friendly regulars.

A near-secret whisky bar buried inside the TETRA Hotel near Moffett. Toki highballs, properly fried karaage, and the sort of dim…

Darkly lit Mission cocktail room with white tablecloths, palm fronds, and Manhattans built like architecture. The volume stays…

Industry favorite on 16th — no reservations, killer cocktails, elevated bar food including a fried chicken sandwich with havarti…

Divisadero's cocktail room — design-forward drinks, lighter shareable plates that survive a third round, and a bar that reliably…

Castro Street Irish pub. Pints, footy on the screens, fish and chips you can rely on.

Mission dance bar at 16th & Valencia with rotating DJs, a back-room dance floor, and a stiff house Manhattan. Long-running,…

Mission cocktail lounge with quirky vintage pendant lights and reasonable prices.

Downtown San Jose's elder-statesman dive. Vinyl seats, neon, and a juke that earns its keep.

A 50-year-old time warp tucked behind the Pruneyard. Jukebox in front, shuffleboard and darts in the back, no TVs, no pretense —…

Ethiopian restaurant in front, dive bar with a pool table and an unbeatable jukebox in the back. Once hosted SF jazz legends;…

Where Inner Richmond restaurant workers go after shift. Staff-owned, dimly lit, beer-and-shot economy, open till 2am every night.

Castro sports bar serving the LGBTQ+ community since 1980. Big patio, big screens, draft list deep into the local lineup. Open…

Murphy Avenue's anchor pub since '94 — the South Bay's deepest Irish whiskey shelf, Tuesday trivia, weekend DJs starting at…

Willow Glen's grown-up Friday-night spot — twenty wines on draft, Tuesday trivia, the kind of after-dinner crowd that lingers…

A North Santa Cruz Ave Irish pub that swerves into proper cocktail bar after 10pm. Whiskey list, friendly bartenders, the easy…

Named after a wrestler and a boxer, opened 1947, still pouring $5 wells on Geary. Ha-Ra is the Tenderloin dive everyone says is…

Potrero Hill pool-table classic. View of the city from the front window if you angle right. Quiet, regulars-heavy, exactly what…

Steakhouse with a serious cocktail program that flips into a lounge after 10pm on weekends. Hamachi crudo at 12:30am — that's…

San Pedro Square's anchor pub — Guinness pulled properly, fish and chips, every soccer match in every league, a lock-in feel…

Rooftop lounge with SF skyline views. Bar service runs to midnight most nights and 1am on Friday-Saturday.

The biker-and-everyone-else patio at Valencia and Duboce — sixty-plus beers on tap, sassy bartenders, tamale guy on rotation, a…

Willow Glen's only true late-night bar — daytime neighborhood pub, late-night dancehall on the same Lincoln Ave block as the…

Half neighborhood bar, half pool hall, all night. Late karaoke, 2am close every day, the kind of place where engineers off late…

Waterfront bar on Pier 28 1/2 near the Bay Bridge ramp, useful before or after Giants games and SoMa shows. Current public…

Downtown San Jose's reliable British sports pub — Premier League mornings, Sharks nights, last call at 2am Friday and Saturday.…

The infamous Los Gatos dive that serves kamikazes in pint glasses. Cash culture, shoulder-to-shoulder, the kind of place…

Industrial-park dive that's been here longer than half the buildings around it. Pool tables, a small dance floor that activates…