Best Cocktails San Francisco
Best cocktail bars, San Francisco, iconic cocktails San Francisco, unique cocktails San Francisco. Cocktail bars with best food, restaurants with good cocktails.
Last updated May 29, 2025 5:30AM
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San Francisco Cocktails & Cocktail Bar Recommendations
San Francisco is an incredible cocktail town. With a rich history of bars from the prohibition era to modern mixology bars pushing forward new and creative ways to preserve history and add their twist (no pun intended).
Once you have enjoyed cocktails in San Francisco, it will be hard to enjoy them anywhere else.
Sure, you maybe able to find cities that do 1-2 cocktails well or some that have immaculate ambiance and/or presentations, but as much as I enjoy those one-off experiences, I am all about execution, consistency, and uniqueness.
Many cocktail bar lists can be hard to assess:
does it favor newer bars?
does it focus on instragrammable interiors?
is there lots of show and garnishes commanding viral photos?
are they mostly on various lists but rarely mentioned by locals?
should you go for a drink, for an experience or is this a proven place for regulars or those looking for well-executed drinks vs those that you have to try once, only?
I take my cocktails seriously. I keep a notepad with bartenders’ names and specific cocktail drinks. In some cases, I have stopped going to places if they change a menu or a bartender leaves.
Related lists:
Things To Do In Union Square (Bars, Restaurants & More)
Things To Do Near Moscone Center (Drinks, Meetings, & More)
Below are some of my favorite cocktail bars, unique cocktails, and iconic cocktails in the city, whether you have specific tastes or want to compile your own cocktail crawl across the city.
Some notes: I like drier, more bitter, spirit-forward cocktails and those that are well-balanced (not too citrusy nor sweet). I am spirit-agnostic, so you will see ones with whiskey, gin, mezcal, rum and tequila, as well as those with amari, vermouths and of course, coffee.