These are San Francisco’s bars to grab a drink

In 2024, San Franciscans celebrated the long-awaited revival of the famed Starlite, a rooftop lounge on the 21st floor of the Beacon Grand hotel. The bar debuted a completely new interior and fresh new menus from local mixology star Scott Baird (Trick Dog) and small plates from D.C. chef Johnny Spero. The historic spot has been serving cocktails atop the Union Square hotel since 1928, including a storied chapter as Harry Denton’s Starlight Room, when Sunday drag shows drew consistent crowds. Today, the swanky decor serves as the perfect setting for its nightly vinyl-only music. Find osetra caviar, tuna crudo and furikake fries; wash it down with a Cable Car Redux, Porn Star Martini or other signature cocktail. 

Featuring Japanese-inspired craft cocktails, Bar Iris is more than just the sister bar to next-door Michelin-starred Nisei. The cocktail menu by bar manager Timofei—drawing from flavors like red shiso, Okinawa yam, yuzu, sour cherry and nasturtium—is both inventive and refined. And while beverages are the star, don’t miss the stellar food menu from chef-owner David Yoshimura: miso cream cheese-stuffed shishito peppers, classic kara-age fried chicken, and wagyu temaki. A library of rare whiskeys awaits those seeking it, too. 

Secluded but inclusive—that’s the motto behind Bar Nonnina, a tiny bar tucked away inside Fiorella, an Italian restaurant in the Inner Sunset. While walk-ins are welcome if there’s room, it’s smart to snag a reservation to ensure a spot at this 14-seat bar. After walking through the main restaurant and the rooftop bar, this hidden cocktail lounge is tucked away down a discreet corridor. Inside you’ll find a warm and intimate space aglow with a fireplace, an overflowing floral display, and two long, high-top tables. The craft cocktails on the menu change with the season, with a couple of mainstays including the Slushy di Modena, a Lambrusco slushy using shaved ice made from a specialty machine imported from Japan. The small food menu provides snacks or full meals, ranging from a trio of nuts, olives and crackers, to a seasonal pasta and salad.

Stepping into Bar Sprezzatura will make you feel suddenly transported to Europe, with a stately wood-paneled bar, blue velvet couches and large dome lighting fixtures. Recently opened in the Financial District under a partnership between notable mixologist Carlo Splendorini and TableOne Hospitality, the bar aims to honor the casual elegance of coastal Italy with creative takes on classic cocktails paired with cicchetti (Venetian bar snacks) from executive chef Joseph Offner. Given its location, Bar Sprezzatura is an obvious choice for visitors staying in the area, but it’s definitely worth the trip for locals, too.

A queer space that prioritizes its BIPOC and Latine family and holds trans folk as sacred, El Rio is a beloved, decades-old dive. It embodies all-inclusive San Francisco at its finest, welcoming a colorful cross-section of the city—young and old, gay and straight. The dog-friendly outdoor patio is inviting, and you’ll find shuffleboard and an anything-goes interior dance floor where bands, DJs, burlesque dancers, trivia and karaoke happen nightly. Between the casually competitive bar games, chatty patio and ongoing dance parties, the introductions happen naturally.

Head across the bay to the historic Cavallo Point Lodge, nestled at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge on national parkland, for a drink with a view inside its recently renovated bar. Farley is a refined American bistro—the redesigned interior brings a modern feel while maintaining its original historic character. Saddle up to the green-tiled bar, get cozy in a booth with views of the Golden Gate and while away your time happily with locally-themed cocktails like the Miwok Trail, the Sausalito Sunset and the Cavallo Point Negroni. The food, too, is incredible: We adore the lobster mac and cheese and the pumpkin arancini.

The team behind the Michelin-starred Mr. Jiu’s opened this upstairs lounge dripping with mid-century elegance, so you can snuggle into a red-velvet booth under lotus-shaped brass lamps. The extensive cocktail list includes seasonal offerings and signature drinks based on the Chinese lunar calendar and spiked with black garlic, plum, oolong and other Eastern ingredients.

By location alone, Fort Point Beer is the best brewery in the city. Their retail window and tables located on the street side of the Ferry Building are perfect spots for people watching—or if you want to study the bay, go around to tables on the waterfront side. The beer produced here includes ultra-drinkable Kölsch-style ale, American IPAs and Korean-style lagers. Order a hot dog with all the fixings or a soft pretzel and stay awhile.

The light-bright Anina is a sun-kissed tropical breeze. From its colorful Moroccan-tiled bar to its wallpaper of leafy greens and oversized florals, the space is a breath of fresh air in a city whose cocktail culture can tend towards darker environs. Like its decor, the cocktails here are buoyant and sunny and include a handful of tiki-style punch bowls and spritzes like the seafoam, a mix of elderflower, Salers aperitif, lime, prosecco and lemongrass. A picnic table-packed back patio makes for a cheery beer garden on sunny afternoons.

Last Rites is not your average tiki bar. The island vibe here is dark and deadly: more zombie than friendly islander, more cannibalizing than coconut drinking. Amid the ruins of a lost plane, bartenders mix rum cocktails that are a far cry from the typical saccharine scorpion bowls. Try the shareable No Doctor on Board cocktail with aged rum, oloroso sherry, brandy, Noyaux, gin, cashew orgeat, curacao, Peychaud’s, cherry-raspberry and pandan cream.