San Francisco’s dive bars are where the city’s history actually lives: a saloon pouring since 1861, a 1937 Chinatown basement with a secret Mai Tai recipe, and a North Beach room stuffed with fifty years of sailor souvenirs. These are the six I take people to, ranked, with a map.
Practical notes: most of these are cash friendly and card grudging, and none of them take reservations. Go in the afternoon if you want to talk to the bartender, at night if you want the room going.
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1
Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe
A North Beach dive since 1968 with walls covered in seafaring memorabilia.
A Legacy Business down an alley off Columbus. The menu is cheese and saltines.
12 William Saroyan Place, San Francisco, CA 94133 Full write-up → -
2
The Saloon
San Francisco's oldest bar, on Grant Avenue since 1861, with live blues nightly.
The city's oldest bar. Come for the live blues.
1232 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133 Full write-up → -
3
Zeitgeist
A Mission beer bar with a huge gravel back patio and around 50 taps.
Bloody Mary and a picnic table on the back patio. No photos.
199 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94103 Full write-up → -
4
Li Po Cocktail Lounge
The 1937 Chinatown dive famous for its secret-recipe Chinese Mai Tai.
Order the Chinese Mai Tai. It's strong and the recipe's a secret.
916 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108 Full write-up → -
5
Pop’s Bar
A Mission dive on 24th and York, a Legacy Business with block history back to 1937.
Pool table, photo booth, jukebox. Open 6am to 2am.
2800 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110 Full write-up → -
6
Red’s Place
Bills itself as the oldest bar in Chinatown.
A tiny holdout that calls itself Chinatown's oldest bar.
672 Jackson Street, San Francisco, CA 94133 Full write-up →
