Specs' Twelve Adler Museum Cafe sits down an unmarked alley off Columbus in North Beach, a sailors' and poets' bar since 1968 with maritime relics and cheap beer.
Tip: Knock on the yellow door at 250 Columbus to find it. Cash bar runs faster; the back booths are the local seats, not the bar.
Address: 12 William Saroyan Place, San Francisco, CA 94133
Vesuvio Cafe on Columbus in SF, across Jack Kerouac Alley from City Lights, has been the Beat-generation bar since Henri Lenoir opened it in 1948 with two floors.
Tip: Upstairs balcony has the best people-watching over Columbus. The bartender will pour a Jack Kerouac cocktail to anyone who asks.
The Saloon on Grant Avenue first poured in 1861 and survived the 1906 fire, making it the oldest operating bar in San Francisco with blues bands every night.
Tip: Live blues every night with a small cover most weekends. Cash bar; the original 1860s wood bar is the photo opportunity.
Vesuvio Cafe on Columbus in SF, across Jack Kerouac Alley from City Lights, has been the Beat-generation bar since Henri Lenoir opened it in 1948 with two floors.
Tip: Upstairs balcony has the best people-watching over Columbus. The bartender will pour a Jack Kerouac cocktail to anyone who asks.
The 500 Club sits at Guerrero and 17th in SF's Mission, a corner dive with a neon martini sign over the door, cheap drinks and a back room of regulars at night.
Tip: Bloody Mary at 06:00 on weekends is a Mission tradition. The room runs cash; the back room is the locals' corner, not the front bar.
Zeitgeist on Valencia in SF is a German beer garden and Mission dive with a backyard the size of a city lot, 60 taps and a kitchen turning out cheeseburgers late.
Tip: Cash bar only; the patio sets at picnic tables. The kitchen runs Bloody Marys all weekend and shuts the grill by 23:30 most nights.
The Saloon on Grant Avenue first poured in 1861 and survived the 1906 fire, making it the oldest operating bar in San Francisco with blues bands every night.
Tip: Live blues every night with a small cover most weekends. Cash bar; the original 1860s wood bar is the photo opportunity.
Tunnel Top sits over the Stockton Street tunnel in San Francisco's FiDi, a two-level corner bar with built-in cushion seating upstairs and a divey downstairs.
Tip: Upstairs lounge has bar-rail views over the tunnel mouth. Ten beers on draft and a short cocktail list; cash bar moves faster on busy nights.
1015 Folsom in San Francisco runs five rooms over three floors with a refreshed sound system and headline EDM, house and techno bookings on Friday and Saturday.
Tip: Buy tickets online before 22:00 to avoid the queue around the corner on Folsom. Rooms upstairs draw smaller crowds than the main floor late.