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1
The Saloon
San Francisco's oldest bar, on Grant Avenue since 1861, with live blues nightly.
1232 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133 Full write-up → -
2
Old Ship Saloon
A Jackson Square saloon on a Barbary Coast site dating to the 1850s.
Barbary Coast history and a heavy wooden bar. A solid downtown stop.
298 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94111 Full write-up → -
3
Elixir
A Mission corner saloon on a site that's held a bar since 1858.
One of the oldest saloon spaces in the city.
3200 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 Full write-up → -
4
Comstock Saloon
A restored 1907 Barbary Coast saloon with a pre-Prohibition cocktail list.
Order the Pisco Punch. Live jazz and a sawdust floor.
155 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133 Full write-up → -
5
House of Shields
A 1908 SoMa saloon with no clocks, where Warren Harding reportedly had his last drink.
Old fixtures, no clocks, a long mahogany bar. A classic downtown saloon.
39 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 Full write-up → -
6
Tosca Cafe
A 1919 North Beach institution known for its coffee-free house cappuccino.
Order the house cappuccino: brandy, chocolate, steamed milk, no coffee.
242 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133 Full write-up → -
7
Buena Vista Cafe
The bar that brought Irish coffee to America, perfected here in 1952.
Get an Irish coffee at the cable-car turnaround. They pour about 2,000 a day.
2765 Hyde Street, San Francisco, CA 94109 Full write-up → -
8
Vesuvio Cafe
The North Beach bar where the Beats drank, across from City Lights since 1948.
Kerouac's bar. Order The Jack Kerouac and take a window upstairs.
255 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133 Full write-up → -
9
Tonga Room
A 1945 tiki bar in the Fairmont basement with an indoor lagoon and rainstorms.
Mai Tais by the lagoon while a band plays on a floating barge. It "rains" every 20 minutes.
950 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94108 (Fairmont Hotel) Full write-up → -
10
Li Po Cocktail Lounge
The 1937 Chinatown dive famous for its secret-recipe Chinese Mai Tai.
916 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108 Full write-up → -
11
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 → -
12
Red’s Place
Bills itself as the oldest bar in Chinatown.
672 Jackson Street, San Francisco, CA 94133 Full write-up →
Last updated August 18, 2026
