🥃 Dive bars

Big gritty beer garden, picnic tables, tamales, zero pretension. Cash only, dogs and bikes welcome. The great equalizer of SF bars.

A cluttered, beloved dive on a tiny alley, walls covered in maritime junk and decades of stories. Cash, characters, no pretense.

Cavernous Chinatown dive with a giant gold shrine and the famous Chinese Mai Tai that will end your night. Dark, weird, perfect.

The oldest bar in SF, 1861, a survivor of the great fire. Live blues nightly, sticky floors, zero pretense. History you can drink in.

The 'gay Cheers' on the Castro corner, the first gay bar with full-length open windows to the street. A landmark, a stained-glass room, a stiff drink.

1937 Chinatown dive with a dangerously strong Chinese Mai Tai.

Bear-focused SoMa bar with a pool table, patio, and DJs.

Historic Tenderloin dive hosting the Hot Boxxx Girls drag revue.

A Playland-at-the-Beach-style arcade bar on the former Coin-Op site, packed with games.