111 Best Bars in San Francisco, California

With an all-night (and most of the morning) dance party starting at 10 pm on Saturday, the EndUp is SF's most popular after-hours place, with possibly the best sound system in the city. Weekends often see day parties that make it so 3 am and 3 pm seem to blur together. It can be a bit of a meat market, but this San Francisco institution doesn't adhere to any particular scene, with DJs playing a variety of music styles. Said sound system is cranked. Even the cool kids wear earplugs.

History and great cocktails collide at one of the city's most legendary bars. There are rumors that President Warren G. Harding met his final fate here, but other accounts say that happened across the street at the Palace Hotel. Today, it's a favorite watering hole for the Financial District happy hour set, then a quieter, casual date spot later on. The cocktails are prepared with the same care and quality as at its flashier, newer peers.

In a grungy but hip section of the Mission, the king of dive bars (with requisite cheap bottled beer and photo booth) is popular with the discerning hipsters who dare to venture south of César Chavez Street. There's usually a cover for bands or DJs on weekends, but it's never more than $10. Bingo on Thursday keeps it real. An added bonus for trekking out to the southern edge of the Mission: some of the city's best taquerías are nearby.

A mixed gay-straight crowd that's drop-dead serious about its karaoke—to the point where you'd think an American Idol casting agent was in attendance—comes here seven nights a week. Do not walk onstage unprepared! Cash only.

Choosing the city's "best beer bar" is an impossible task, but there is no doubt that this intimate, friendly destination is one of them. The tap list captivates the most ardent beer geeks, the bottle list is as deep as many fine-dining restaurants' wine lists, and the gastropub cuisine is particularly impressive.

A decidedly unglamorous pub where old-timers swap stories over pints of Guinness, this is your best bet for traditional Irish music. Bay Area musicians (and, once in a while, big-name bands) perform every night except Monday and Tuesday. Talented locals gather for seisiúns, informal sessions where musicians sit around a table and drink and eat while chiming in; anyone skilled at Irish traditional music can play.

Hard-drinkin' in-the-know locals favor this raucous spot, renowned for great blues. Built in the 1860s, the onetime bordello is purported to be the oldest bar in the city. This is not the place to order anything mixed besides maybe a gin and tonic. Get a bottle or can of beer, enjoy the scene, and chat with anyone next to you. Just keep quiet when the music is jamming.

A welcoming yet refined drinking destination, this Lower Pac Heights bar is exactly what the well-heeled and fun-loving neighborhood needed. It’s the rare bar that emphasizes clever cocktails, in-high-demand local craft beer, and smartly selected wine in equal parts. Elevated takes on bar bites like yellowtail poke and sesame naan with shiitake mushroom hummus are created by a chef formerly at some of the country’s gastronomic heavyweights (Benu, Alinea). As a reflection of its firm belief in living wages, in lieu of tips the Snug adds a 20% "fair-wage surcharge" to every bill.

Glam trans women, gay bears, tight-teed pretty boys, ladies and their ladies, and a handful of straight onlookers congregate here to dance to live DJ sounds and watch world-class drag performers on the small stage. The entertainment is often campy, pee-your-pants funny, and downright fantastic. Each night's music is different—from funk, soul, and hip-hop to '80s tunes and disco favorites. At Frolic, the Stud's most outrageous party (second Saturday of the month), club goers dance the night away dressed as bunnies, kittens, and even stranger creatures.

With a striking, almost elegant interior, this is a prime happy hour spot in the afternoon, then a citywide cocktail destination afterward. You can't go wrong with any of the cocktails, but the bar has a particular affinity for sherry.

Art-deco-influenced floor-to-ceiling windows frame superb views on the 39th floor of the San Francisco Marriott Marquis. You won't feel out of place here just getting a drink or two rather than dinner, but the small bites are usually delicious. It can get crowded at happy hour on weekdays and all night on weekends.

Shuffleboard, arcade basketball, a jukebox, and plenty of flat-screen TVs make this spacious yet divey place feel like a time machine back to your college days. On weekends the crowd is a sea of popped collars, baseball caps, and chest bumps, so get there early if you yearn for a turn at one of the games.

Since the 1940s, the Tonga Room has supplied the city with high Polynesian kitsch. Fake palm trees, grass huts, a lagoon (three-piece combos play pop standards on a floating barge), and faux monsoons—courtesy of sprinkler-system rain and simulated thunder and lightning—grow more surreal as you quaff mai tais and other fruit-flavored cocktails.

For a dive bar with old San Francisco soul, go no further for a nightcap involving an old-fashioned, martini, or Negroni after a night of pizza crushing.

A famous magazine photograph immortalized the bar atop the Mark Hopkins as a hot spot for World War II servicemen on leave or about to ship out. The view remains sensational. Entertainment on many evenings ranges from solo piano to six-piece jazz ensembles (sometimes with a cover charge). Drinks and small bites can vary in quality, but you're really here to drink in the view and history.

"Laid-back" would be an understatement. Once inside Trax, you won't feel like you're in a gay bar—or in San Francisco—and that's the way the regulars like it. Cheap beer specials draw all types, and though you don't have to don your cruise wear for this place, it's still social.

This cheery, modern industrial–designed spot is truly wonderful and refreshingly casual. The excellent list of wines by the glass is always impressive. Nicely composed small plates, cheese, and house-made charcuterie are worthy companions to all the Chardonnay and Zinfandel.

It's kid-friendly during the day, but this 14-hole indoor miniature golf course really lights up at night when you can enjoy a quality cocktail or beer and putt through the Transamerica Pyramid and those famous Painted Ladies. It's one of the city's favorite spots for a first or second date.

A former movie palace is now one of the city's largest rock venues, with folding chairs or standing space (depending on the event) downstairs and theater seating upstairs. The historic venue has booked everyone from Prince and the Grateful Dead to the Killers.