A rooftop bar here is a gamble in a way it is not in most cities. The marine layer can sit at four hundred feet and turn a view bar into a cloud. Eight rooftops, ranked, and every write-up says whether the place still works when the fog wins.
Top of the Mark is the safe bet, nineteen floors up and behind glass. Charmaine’s is the one to book when the forecast is clear, because the firepits are the whole point of going.
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1
Charmaine’s
A rooftop bar 120 feet above Market Street with fire pits and skyline views.
Get a fire-pit seat at sunset, on top of the Proper Hotel.
1100 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 Full write-up → -
2
Top of the Mark
A 19th-floor Nob Hill lounge open since 1939, with a 100 Martinis menu.
Dress up, get a window table, order off the 100 Martinis list.
999 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108 Full write-up → -
3
Starlite
A 21st-floor Union Square lounge with cocktails by Trick Dog's Scott Baird.
Sky-high cocktails near Union Square. Thursday through Sunday only.
450 Powell Street, 21st Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102 Full write-up → -
4
View Lounge
A 39th-floor hotel bar with picture windows over Yerba Buena and the skyline.
Go for sunset and book ahead. The view does the work.
780 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 Full write-up → -
5
Rise Over Run
A glass-ceilinged rooftop solarium bar near Union Square.
Fire pits under glass and American-Asian plates. Works rain or shine.
9 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 Full write-up → -
6
KAIYO
A Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian) rooftop bar near Oracle Park.
Pisco and Nikkei small plates twelve floors up, a walk from Oracle Park.
701 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 Full write-up → -
7
Cavaña
A 17th-floor Latin American cocktail bar with skyline views in Mission Bay.
Agave-forward cocktails and Bay Bridge views. Book for sunset.
Mission Bay, 17th floor, San Francisco Full write-up → -
8
Dirty Habit
A 5th-floor downtown bar with over 640 whiskeys and a heated patio.
For whiskey drinkers: 640-plus bottles and fire pits on the patio.
12 4th Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103 Full write-up →
Last checked August 17, 2026
