North Beach & Chinatown
During this 1907 saloon's heyday, patrons relieved themselves in the marble trough below the bar – now you'll have to tear yourself away from Comstock's…
Must-see nightlife in California
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
You've got two seconds flat to order from tough-gal barkeeps used to putting macho bikers in their place – but with 48 beers on draft, you're spoiled for…
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The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Drink adventurously with ingenious cocktails inspired by local obsessions: San Francisco muralists, Chinese diners or conspiracy theories. Every six…
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San Francisco
Dangerous dames lure unsuspecting sailors into late-night schemes over potent hooch at this art-deco bar straight out of a Dashiell Hammett thriller…
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The Haight & Hayes Valley
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum…wait, make that a Dead Reckoning (Nicaraguan rum, port, pineapple, bitters), unless you'll split the flaming Scorpion Bowl?…
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North Beach & Chinatown
Beat a hasty retreat to red-vinyl booths where Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac debated the meaning of life under a golden Buddha. Enter the 1937 faux…
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North Beach & Chinatown
The walls here are plastered with merchant-marine memorabilia, and you'll be plastered too if you try to keep up with the salty characters holding court…
Oakland
This Blue Bottle cafe is inside the beautiful WC Morse Building, a 1920s truck showroom. Communal tables, lofty ceilings and minimalist white decor invite…
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The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
At this industrial-chic, champagne-focused Dogpatch wine bar, you can't launch a cork without hitting a sommelier. The married owners are both sommeliers…
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The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
So, imagine a 1950s traveler who sets out to experience Southeast Asia and Africa, picking up art and curios along the way. Now think about this traveler…
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The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
For those who identify as ladies and also like others who identify as ladies, there's a shiny new bar. A huge neon sign announces 'you are safe here',…
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The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
Designed to stimulate discussion of philosophy and art, the Interval is a favorite spot in the Marina for cocktails and conversation. It's inside the Long…
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Santa Barbara
Grab a cocktail at the beautiful, blue-tiled bar, then grab a book from the shelves and settle into a leather banquette in this petite place that has a…
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Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
Venice's only rooftop bar is quite an experience, with 360-degree views from the shore to the Santa Monica Mountains – if you can take your eyes off the…
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San Francisco
The vintage rainbow neon sign points the way to a local landmark – Twin Peaks was the world's first gay bar with windows open to the street. If you're not…
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Greater Palm Springs
If you worship at the altar of Bacchus (the Roman god of wine), you'll be singing his praises in this dimly lit clandestine boite at the Parker Palm…
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San Francisco
Here's another neighborhood cocktail bar that doubles as a delectable brunch and dinner spot, but the drinks are really where it's at. Case in point, the…
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The Haight & Hayes Valley
Drinking becomes an art form at this Victorian parlor crammed with graffiti installations and absinthe fountains. Motown Mondays feature the Ike Turner…
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Los Angeles
Step out the back door of restaurant Cafe Birdie and you'll find this red-brick speakeasy. A neighborly oasis of tealights, leather booths and competent…
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Santa Barbara
Father and son brewers have brought their gold-medal-winning hoppy IPA, Danish red lager and potent stout from Santa Barbara's Wine Country to the Funk…
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San Francisco
Since 2014, Andytown Coffee has spread like afternoon fog, unstoppable thanks to its yummy drip coffee, Irish-inspired soda bread and one-of-a-kind 'snowy…
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San Diego
With a French-bistro feel and plenty of old-world charm, Polite Provisions' hip clientele sip cocktails at the marble bar, under a glass ceiling, and in a…
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San Francisco
On a chilly evening, squeeze into this narrow, cozy craft-beer bar and give some inventive brews a try. The brewmasters are known for throwing unusual…
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North Beach & Chinatown
Potent potions and lipsmacking quack cures are proudly served at this apothecary-style Barbary Coast saloon. Tartly quaffable Lachlan's Antiscorbutic …
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The Haight & Hayes Valley
Glory hallelujah, beer-lovers: your prayers are answered. Genuflect before the chalkboard altar that lists 40-plus beers on tap and hundreds more bottled,…
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The Haight & Hayes Valley
Persian arches, One Thousand and One Nights murals, 1930s jazz on the jukebox and top-shelf cocktails at low-shelf prices have brought Bohemian bliss to…
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San Diego
This Gaslamp hot spot serves sushi and Asian bites five nights a week and turns into a steamy dance club (EDM, minimal, deep house) on Fridays and…
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Monterey
Vintage beer advertising punctuates Alvarado Street's brick walls, but that's the only concession to earlier days at this excellent craft-beer pub…
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Los Angeles
Clippers and cocktails conspire at this winning speakeasy. The front section is an actual barbershop, complete with vintage barber chairs and inked…
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Santa Cruz
This locally beloved cocktail parlor is the perfect place for a night of dapper drinking. Settle into a huge armchair amid the vintage-chic decor to…
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San Francisco
An airplane crashed on a desert island, and out of the wreckage came this killer Castro tiki bar. Enter through the airplane door to discover a long-lost…
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North Coast & Redwoods
The kind of coffee shop you dream of finding in a small town like this with a library of intriguing books, local art on the walls and sturdy leather…
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The Haight & Hayes Valley
Who's there? Steampunk blacksmiths, anarchist hackers, trance DJs practicing for Burning Man, and other San Francisco characters straight out of an R…
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Los Angeles
One of the city's top cocktail dens, intimate ETA serves innovative, complex libations such as its famous Penultimate Word, an out-of-the-box mix of gin,…
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North Beach & Chinatown
Poetry on bathroom walls, opera on the jukebox, live accordion jams and Beat poetry on bathroom walls: Caffe Trieste remains North Beach at its best,…
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North Beach & Chinatown
Guy walks into a bar, roars and leaves. Without missing a beat, the bartender says to the next customer, 'Welcome to Vesuvio, honey – what can I get you?'…
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The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Work it all out on the dance floor with SF's most down and funky crowd – the full rainbow spectrum of colorful characters is here to party. Highlights…
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San Diego
Dozens of classic arcade games – pinball to Mortal Kombat, Pac-Man and Big Buck Safari to Master Beer Bong – line the walls of this hipster bar in North…
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San Francisco
Tonight's San Francisco weather: partly foggy, with 100% chance of typhoons every 20 minutes inside the Tonga Room. No need to duck for cover – rain only…
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Oakland
Order a greyhound (with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice) and take a gander at the profusion of antique musical instruments, fake taxidermy heads,…
