San Francisco Nightlife Tips by acemj

Nightlife Spot: The Irish Bank

The Irish Bank Bar & Restaurant is a very friendly and authentic Irish Pub right in the heart of the Financial District. At happy hour, it will be packed, so be warned. There are some great photos on the walls inside and it's one of the best places to meet locals and tourists alike in the whole city.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Dress Code: Come as you are.
Phone: 415-788-7152
Address: 10 Mark Lane
Directions: Just Off Bush between Grant And Kearny Street
Website: www.theirishbank.com

Nightlife Spot: Buena Vista Cafe

In Spanish, "buena vista" means good view and the location here high on the hill just behind Ghiradelli Square is indeed a good view. The place has a long bar that curves along the left side of the restaurant. It feels like it has a long history and a little internet research revealved that it's been around as the cafe since 1952 and even longer (1916) as the Buena Vista saloon.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Dress Code: They are most famous for their Irish Coffee. Here's how it's made:
(this is straight from their website and from watching the bartender make tons of them!)

1. Fill the glass with very hot water just to preheat the glass, then pour it out.
2. Pour in hot coffee to 3/4 full, then put 3 cocktail sugar cubes in glass.
3. Stir sugar to dissolve
4. Add full jigger of Irish Whisky
5. Top with lightly whipped whipping cream by pouring gently over a spoon
6. Enjoy hot!

I thought it was great on a cool SF night!
Phone: 415-474-5044
Address: 2765 Hyde St (@ Beach)
Website: http://thebuenavista.com

Nightlife Spot: Fiddler's Green Irish Pub

This Fisherman's Wharf area pub was a great place to listen to some live music and get into some generally good craic, especially with the bartender Kevin who know every Irish Pub owner I've ever met. It's like an Irish Pub owner's network! He gave me his card and promised that I would give it to the owner of an Irish Pub in Charlotte that he knows!

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Dress Code: Good beer and craic!

Nightlife Spot: E & O Trading

E & O Trading's location right in the heart of the main downtown shopping district around the corner from Union Square. It's a great looking restaurant and the Asian inspired menu looked great, although we just hung out at the bar and drank some overpriced drinks.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Dress Code: Come as you are although, most people were the well-dressed sort.
Phone: 415-693-0303
Address: 314 Sutter Street
Website: http://www.eotrading.com

Nightlife Spot: San Francisco Brewing Company

All the beer is unfiltered and unpasteurized and they always have around 7 beers on tap. The location is cool too, right where Chinatown, North Beach and the Financial District intersect. They've got great beer, good food, regular live music and an interesting history, so check out their website for all the details.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: (415) 434-3344
Address: 155 Columbus Ave
Directions: Columbus near the City Lights Bookstore and Broadway
Website: http://www.sfbrewing.com

Nightlife Spot: Hobson's Choice

We came, we stayed, we drank. Yep, we pretty much spent our whole afternoon in this place in Haight Ashbury meeting a bunch of really interesting and diverse group of locals and having a great time. The drink prices are average and they have some unique specialty drinks and some interesting beers on tap. There's a cool upstairs loft overlooking the main level, although the Saturday afternoon crowd was centered on the bar. We met this really cool guy who goes by the name "LA" and ending up hanging out with him most of the day. The bartenders were really laid back and friendly too.

Great website too. Check it out.

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Theme: Other
Dress Code: Come as you are.
Phone: 415-621-5859
Address: 1601 Haight Street
Directions: Haight and Clayton in Haight-Ashbury
Website: http://www.hobsonschoice.com/

Nightlife Spot: SF Symphony

The Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall building is located near City Hall and makes a good photo, although I haven't been to a performance here yet. Check out the websited for a schedule of events, ticket prices and a seat map.

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Theme: Other
Dress Code: Dress up!
Phone: (415) 552-8000
Address: 201 Van Ness Avenue
Directions: Take the #49 bus . . . Van Ness at Grove
Website: http://www.sfsymphony.org