Best Original Bars In San Francisco Near Me

4worldlovers: Alchemist offers a spacious victorian and steampunk inspired hideaway that is perfect for events up to 200 guests. Our experienced team has produced over 230 events and we would love to help you design the perfect event. Please visit our private events page to learn more

Be the first to experience Members Only, a new Supper Club and Cocktail Lounge located in Lower Nob Hill (1000 Larkin St). You'll find a decadent menu of New American Fusion shared plates and entrees (served late), with cocktails featuring international flavors. Our bi-level space also includes a subterranean cocktail lounge called Finders Keepers.

4worldlovers: Since opening its doors in 2009, Smuggler’s Cove has established itself as one of the top rum and exotic cocktail destinations in the world. We offer our guests an innovative new approach to rum by featuring the largest rum selection in the United States, and cocktails from over three centuries of rum history. Our stunning interior features vintage tiki artifacts alongside historic nautical and rum décor, and provides a dramatic and inviting escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. The look was brought brilliantly to life by local designer Ignacio “Notch” Gonzalez of Top Notch Kustoms who also recently designed the epic gin bar, Whitechapel.

Experience the award-winning Smuggler’s Cove for yourself! We look forward to sharing our passion for rum and exotic cocktails with you!

The longevity of our crew is a testament to their dedication to our concept, & the pride they take in being part of the great tradition of exotic cocktail bars.

(Select a crew name above to read their bio, or read them all HERE!)

Martin Cate is a rum and exotic cocktail expert and the owner and creator of Smuggler’s Cove. He is also the author of “Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki” (Ten Speed Press, June 2016) with his wife Rebecca Cate. Martin is a passionate rum collector and conducts educational seminars and officiates rum & cocktail competitions across the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. In 2015, along with partners Alex Smith & John Park, Martin opened Whitechapel in San Francisco to bring the same passion for history and craft to the world of gin. He is also the co-owner of Hale Pele in Portland, False Idol in San Diego, and Max’s in Grand Rapids, MI.

Smuggler's Cove now has a book! Whether you’re looking for a new favorite cocktail (over 100 recipes included!), tips on how to trick out your home tiki grotto, help stocking your bar with great rums, or inspiration for your next tiki party, Smuggler’s Cove has everything you need to transform your world into a Polynesian Pop fantasia.

Martin and Rebecca Cate are alchemists—Reyn Spooner–wearing, volcano-bowl-igniting, Polynesian-popping, double-straining, Aku-Aku swilling alchemists. Which is to say, they are the finest kind of alchemists known to walk the earth. Buy this book. It will bring you a little bit closer to paradise.

Featuring over 80 exotic and traditional recipes, both classic and modern, made from premium spirits (including exclusive rums available nowhere else) and liqueurs, house-made ingredients, and 100% fresh citrus juiced in-house daily.

On our menu you’ll discover everything from historic colonial tavern tipples, elegant drinks of Prohibition-Era Havana, the greatest exotic cocktails of the tiki era, traditional Caribbean creations, and contemporary & sophisticated rum libations. Even our most complex 8-12 ingredient exotic cocktails are made fresh to order and never batched.

And, if you think you’re up to the challenge, we will give you a special punch card to track the cocktails you’ve imbibed at Smuggler’s Cove. Drink your way through the whole menu, and you’ll become a Voyager of the Cove and receive an exclusive gift and merit badge!

Click below to view all the drinks you can enjoy at Smuggler’s Cove.

4worldlovers: Restored to its original glory in 2010, the Comstock Saloon occupies a historic space at the crossroads of North Beach, Chinatown, Financial District, and Jackson square. In addition to classic cocktails and fine spirits, the saloon serves delectable food, and hosts the infamous free lunch on Fridays. We proudly host live jazz nightly and pride ourselves on our lively atmosphere. Join us for champagne and caviar or a pint of Steam Beer and some laughs!

4worldlovers: WE WILL BE CLOSED ON FEBRUARY 12th FOR OUR ANNUAL STAFF PARTY

4worldlovers: Imagine being marooned in a savage, tropical rain forest; you’ve crash landed at Last Rites, a Polynesian Noir adventure, offering over 150 rums and signature twists on tropical cocktails. The experience is an immersive destination cocktail bar featuring a real airplane fuselage-turned bar, seating enveloped by enormous banyan tree roots, stacked stone booths, all nestled in a dense jungle canopy and between two 9-foot tall stone fire-breathing skull idols.

Follow us on Instagram @lastrites_sf for up to date info on events and features.

4worldlovers: ELIXIR is open SEVEN DAYS A WEEK! But we do ask for your patience as we, and the rest of the world, are facing supply line issues and labor shortages, so we may be out of your favorite drink and our hours are not completely back to normal. With that in mind, here are some important data points:

Shop our store here to get gifts from our bar tools, t-shirts, hoodies, stickers, coffee cups and more.

We offer ticketed cocktail classes and tasting events for individuals and small groups (< 8ppl), as well as private group events. Classes are conducted both online and in-person, so participation is possible from anywhere you can log on from, in the comfort of our beautiful, or in the location of your choice. For in-person events we will supply everything, and for virtual classes we give you a list of everything needed and can help you source it.

Check out our ticketed online events cocktail classes and whiskey tastings here or by clicking the picture above.

To schedule a PRIVATE group class or a beverage catering event, please visit our ELIXIR TO GO Plan an Event page, or click the image above.

Our mission is to serve the neighborhood and the city as a communal gathering place, 365 days a year, while preserving and promoting history, operating as a Certified Green Business, and providing opportunities to support charities.

ELIXIR is the second oldest continually operating saloon location in San Francisco, making it one of the most historic bars in the country. Just one block from where the Mission Dolores was founded in 1776, we have documented evidence of saloon service on this corner since at least 1858, and it is possible that it goes back as much as another 10 years (before that is highly unlikely). The original Mission Plank Road that connected the outpost of the Mission Dolores with the bustling commerce of Yerba Buena ended at our doorway.

Over the years the bar changed hands and audiences. The original saloon burned down in 1906 and became one of the only bars to be rebuilt in the same place by the same owner after that catastrophe. Today you can see the original 1907 architect’s plans framed and on the walls, depicting the bar (expanded in 1933), the stock room (converted to a women’s bathroom in 1933), the Cigar Lobby (now the dart board area), and the Boot Black Stand complete with 4 seats.

She was called The Hunt-In Club in the 1940’s complete with a neon sign, Swede’s - a merchant marine bar in the 60’s and 70’s, La Bandita - a gay bar in the late 80’s, and Jack’s Elixir Bar - a draft beer mecca in the 90’s, before falling into disrepair and neglect. That’s when I found her.

I was the first Proprietor in 100 years to strip things down, fix them, reinforce them and bring back the beautiful mahogany, redwood and Victorian glory of her bones. I uncovered her story and continue to do so. We were a significant bar in the early days of the recent cocktail revival, and we currently hold tight on the "best whisky bars" lists. There’s a lot more to tell, but you’ll just have to catch me in the bar and ask questions. I love to talk about her with a whiskey in my hand, so come find me. I truly look forward to it!