Vesuvio Cafe

What you need to know

Vesuvio sits at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Jack Kerouac Alley, directly across from City Lights Bookstore. The proximity is no accident. Since 1948, this bar has been the place where San Francisco’s literary crowd came to drink after browsing the shelves next door. Or instead of browsing the shelves next door.

The Beat Connection

Artist Henri Lenoir opened Vesuvio in 1948 wanting to create a bohemian meeting spot. He got more than he bargained for. On October 17, 1955, Neal Cassady, the real life inspiration for Dean Moriarty in Kerouac’s “On the Road,” stopped here on his way to the Six Gallery poetry reading where Allen Ginsberg first performed “Howl.” The Beats made this their unofficial clubhouse, and the place never looked back.

Jack Kerouac became a regular. One famous story has him standing up a scheduled meeting with Henry Miller to keep drinking at Vesuvio instead. Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and the rest of the crew cycled through constantly. Dylan Thomas drank here. Bob Dylan drank here. The walls collected their energy like sediment.

What You’ll Find

The building dates to 1913, designed by Italian architect Italo Zanolini in the Renaissance Revival style. Inside, not much has changed since the 1950s. The second floor offers window seats looking down at the alley and across to City Lights. The walls are covered with art, photographs, and elaborate geometric collages created by artist Shawn O’Shaughnessy, who spent years dyeing and lacquering notebook paper into intricate patterns.

The clientele today is exactly what you’d expect from a bar with this history: tourists on the Beat trail, neighborhood regulars who’ve been coming for decades, off duty artists, chess players nursing beers, and anyone who wandered in from Columbus Avenue looking for somewhere interesting to sit.

What to Drink

The house cocktail is The Jack Kerouac. Rum, tequila, orange and cranberry juice, lime, served in a bucket glass. It’s sweet and strong, the kind of drink that might lead to poor decisions like standing up Henry Miller. The Bohemian Coffee (brandy, amaretto, lemon twist) warms you up on foggy afternoons. The beer and wine selection is solid without being precious about it.

When to Go

Afternoons are mellow. Grab a window seat upstairs, order a drink, and watch North Beach go by. Evenings get livelier, especially on weekends. The bar doesn’t serve food, so eat before you arrive or plan to wander to one of the nearby Italian spots when hunger hits.

The alley connecting Vesuvio to Grant Avenue was renamed Jack Kerouac Alley in 1988 and converted to pedestrian only in 2007. Literary quotes are embedded in the pavement. Murals cover the walls. It’s the kind of place where you can feel the ghosts, if you’re into that sort of thing.

📍 Location: This bar is in North Beach. Explore the neighborhood →

What to drink

The Jack Kerouac (rum, tequila, OJ, cranberry, lime), Bohemian Coffee (brandy, amaretto, lemon twist), solid beer and wine