Public House As the Giants begin playing at AT&T Park today, if you can’t score tickets then the next best place to watch a game is with the throngs of fans at the Public House in Willie Mays Plaza. The huge, open bar serves 24 kinds of beer, in addition to cocktails, and faces the 24 palm trees surrounding the Say Hey Kid’s statue. (Mays’ number was 24.) It boasts good bar food and shares the space with the Mexican eatery Mijita, with both kitchens run by self-proclaimed huge Giants fan and celebrity chef Traci Des Jardins.
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You gotta love a bar whose menu board on the street says “Soup of the day: Whiskey.” This proudly self-proclaimed dive bar in Lower Pacific Heights is known for good “drunk” food, such as chicken strips. But I was lucky enough to enjoy delicious sauteed Brussels sprouts during a restaurant pop-up featuring A16 cook Chris Norton. (“This is my old stomping ground, my ‘Cheers,’” he explained.) Veteran San Francisco bartender Christine Imfeld is particularly friendly and easily translated the day’s special for a French customer (“Petit chou, vert”).
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Built shortly after the 1906 earthquake and fire, this historic building has been a saloon since 1907. A plaque outside proudly proclaims it “one of the last of the Barbary Coast saloons — site of the infamous Billy Goat saloon operated by pigeon-toed Sal.” Bar manager Karri Cormican notes that it still has a white-tile spittoon trough that runs the length of the bar under customers’ feet. Vintage 1916 punkah tropical fans rotate above a mixed crowd of locals sitting at the bar, which is made of “flaming” mahogany.
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Monarch at Sixth and Mission streets is pretty gritty, but this new hot spot is definitely worth the trip. Part bar, part club, part sexy circus — it’s a visual kaleidoscope. You quickly leave the grungy neighborhood behind after passing through the entryway, a topiary of copper pipes and magnifying glasses. Distinctive chandeliers made of sousaphones and swirling copper hover over the upstairs bar. But the coolest thing is the big, empty oval behind the bar that frames a sexy trapeze artist who performs on weekend nights.
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This Union Street spot in Cow Hollow has housed many bars over the years and might be best known as the longtime home of Tarr & Feathers, which was famed for its daily live performances. In fact, bartender Zach Taylor says the current owners considered resurrecting the name in homage to the popular music venue. But they carried on the musical theme by naming it after The Clash’s “The Guns of Brixton” since one of the owners is a fan of the English punk-rockers. Clash posters also line the walls, and a newly added fireplace gives the bar a homey feel.
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The continuing popularity of this always-hopping waterfront bar is due in large part to its varied nightly live music and the big back bar on the Bay. The building has been there since the 1930s and was a longshoreman’s bar before the shipping business moved to Oakland. Its nautical roots are reflected on the walls — a huge marlin, maritime clocks, historic pictures of square rigger ships. Longtime bartender Ryan Blanchard’s band regularly plays there.
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Limon, a hip, urban restaurant, is one of the foodie stars that line Valencia Street. The narrow, high-ceilinged room is lined bycitrus-yellow banquettes on one side, facing the handsome bar and open kitchen. Dramatic glass lamps hang above the large front window that looks out on the vibrant street parade passing by. Modern graphics in bright, primary colors line the walls. Upstairs, a small loft overlooks the action. The pioneering Peruvian spot was opened by the Castillo brothers in 2002.
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Martuni’s is one of those places that make you glad to be in San Francisco: big cocktails (10 ounces), eclectic crowd (half-gay, half-straight, young hipsters, middle-aged regulars) and piano bar with nightly cabaret performances featuring really good singers and musicians. Its bronze paneled walls and intimate atmosphere easily transports you to a more romantic world. The spot has been home to mostly gay bars, including a leather bar and Lily’s, a drag queen bar.
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Nova, an überfriendly neighborhood bar just off South Park, is popular with young techies who work at local video game companies and baseball fans who come in after games at nearby AT&T Park. Nova, which took over the spot that formerly housed the Infusion bar, has a relaxed atmosphere that features red velvet booths facing a long bar. Weekend brunches are especially popular, and customers can pick which sporting events to watch on the TVs over the bar while downing bottomless mimosas.
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