Bar Crawl: San Francisco

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Sometimes it's fun to spend an evening out touring through the best bars that a neighborhood has to offer, other times it's great to hop from 'hood to 'hood. This particular crawl celebrates the latter. Enjoy a boozy stroll through some of the nation's most notable bars, beginning with Specs' Twelve Adler Museum Cafe and finishing the night at Bourbon & Branch. 

For Drinking Al Fresco

Where: Specs' Twelve Adler Museum Cafe, 12 Saroyan Place, (415) 421 – 4122

Ease into the evening by knocking back a few beers while enjoying the delightful outdoor patio. Inside, the vibe is old school with dark wood furnishings and a nautical motif.

 

For Jamming Out to Jukebox Tunes

Where: Tosca Café, 242 Columbus Avenue, (415) 986 – 9651

Don't forget to bring along a stack of quarters for playing your favorite tunes at this jukebox hot spot. Tosca Café is filled with the kind of warm atmosphere and friendly clientele that defines a truly great community bar.

 

For Sharing Enormous Tiki Drinks

Where: Tonga Room, 950 Mason Street, (415) 772 – 5278

Since 1945, San Franciscans dreaming of the tropics and visitors to the city alike have been escaping to the South Pacific via this appropriately decorated restaurant and tiki bar located in San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel, for mai-tais and more — for instance, the sounds of tropical rainstorms and a Hawaiian band floating on a barge in a pool in the middle of the room.

 

For Upscale Cocktails

Where: The Redwood Room, 495 Geary Street, (415) 775 – 4700 

Located in Ian Schrager's Clift Hotel, this historic red-walled bar has been reinvented as a sophisticated, modern drinking spot — one of the most popular places to dance, see, and be seen in San Francisco.

 

For Speakeasy Drinks

Where: Bourbon & Branch, 501 Jones Street, (415) 931 – 7929

Bourbon & Branch harkens back to the prohibition era of the 1920s, when only those select few "in the know" could drink the night away in secret. In keeping with the hush-hush nature speakeasies, the owners ask that patrons follow a set of house rules (which includes a strict no cell phone policy).

 

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