What constitutes a great dive bar? For one, it’s a place where you seek refuge from the outside world, where once you walk through the door, it’s almost as if time stops and the only thing that matters is what’s happening inside. San Francisco is chock full of incredible dive bars, places where drinks should be cheaper than at your average pub, where the bartender will take a shot with you if you ask them and where incredible service isn’t necessarily a guarantee. But after all, that’s part of the charm. And while Upper Market’s Lucky 13 — easily the best dive bar in the city when it was open — closed its doors during the pandemic, these 11 spots also have bathroom walls covered in graffiti and are sure to make time stop in their own unique way.
Kilowatt
A Mission District staple, this classic punk and Detroit sports bar got new ownership last year; they transformed the room but not without tipping a major cap to its history. Now with a live music permit, the stage is in full effect for punk shows and free DJ nights — even Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokinnokva played two nights there recently. Concert posters from Kilowatt’s ’90s heyday adorn the walls, and the pool table is always in action beneath the tower-like “Bird’s Nest,” which houses the sound booth but also gives the room an aura of rebellion. The new owners are all former bartenders from punk-minded venues like Bottom of the Hill, Thee Parkside and Make-Out Room, so drinks are poured with a true sense of SF culture.
The Little Shamrock
Across the street from Golden Gate Park’s 9th Ave entrance, the Little Shamrock is one of the oldest bars in the city — in fact, it’s the oldest running business in the Sunset District. As its name suggests, the Shamrock is a good bet for a proper pour of Guinness, and they still have Harp and Smithwick’s on tap. While it’s “just an Irish bar” on the surface, there’s some serious depth to this dive. It has an entire room tucked away in the back with dart boards and two-tops in the front room that have backgammon boards carved into the tabletop. Both add a classic touch.
Knockout
They don’t make ’em like this in SF anymore. Knockout is the quintessential punk rock dive bar, with a tiny stage that gets jammed and sweaty whenever someone’s performing. It’s a go-to venue for punk shows, Sweater Funk’s throwback soul and boogie nights, Chulita Vinyl Club’s DJ nights, drag shows and even a killer ’90s Simpsons Trivia monthly. It’s a gritty, grimy place that sometimes feels like it’s best to stick to the bottled beers instead of the drafts, but what could be dive-ier than that? The pandemic-built outdoor patio remains, lining the totally aces sidewalk for smoking cigs.
St. Mary’s Pub
On the outskirts of Bernal Heights, below Glen Park and heading towards the Outer Mission, St. Mary’s Pub — which has been open since 1933 — sometimes gets forgotten by people who never venture beyond the La Lengua bars. But dammit if it ain’t worth the short jaunt. It’s a total workhorse dive bar that has it all: a proper local craft beer selection, shot specials, a pinball machine (KISS and Indiana Jones tables have graced the room), a far out jukebox and free hot popcorn to boot. There’s also massive TVs for sports, booths, a pool table, turntables, legendary Bloody Marys on the weekends.
Horseshoe Tavern
Look, Marina bars have a storied reputation of being fratty, one-dimensional bro bars. But Horseshoe Tavern dubs itself the “non-Marina Marina bar,” and it wears that moniker well. At any point in time, you could find the Giants and Sharks crowd in effect, tipsy lawyers celebrating a courtroom victory, awkward first dates and rowdy softball players soaking away a loss at nearby Moscone Field. The active pool table in the backroom feels like its own domain, and the high-top table parklet patio remains after the pandemic. Grab a burrito from Los Hermanos next door, chase it with a Fernet shot and stay for a while.
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There are not many places left in town where you can get a quality shot for $5 to go along with your beer, but Ha-Ra is holding strong (for me, it’s the Fernet and Drake’s 1500 Pale Ale combo every time). Ha-Ra is named after a wrestler named Hank and a boxer named Ralph (sounds like the start of a joke, I know); it first opened in 1947, and the ephemera of those days — from a giant black and white photo of Hank, Ralph and regulars that hangs on the brick wall by the pool table to boxing gloves and newspaper clippings — is all over the place. The TVs are showing everything from sports to films on mute late on weekday nights. The Tenderloin characters flow in and out and the photo booth is tiny, but you can definitely squeeze four people in there if you try extra hard.
Pop’s Bar
On the corner of 24th and Bryant, Pop’s Bar represents the perfect Venn diagram of the multigenerational Latinx Mission crowd and Mission hipsters who managed to never get priced out of town. Pop’s might be one of the best places in the city to watch Warriors and Giants playoff games (when that’s a thing) because the DJs drop hyphy jams during the commercials. The lone grand booth in the back is the pinnacle of Mission opulence, and there are a number of sidecar specials on the menu. It still has the coldest Pacifco tap in town, and on any given night, vinyl DJs put down soul, Brazilian, funk, hip-hop and more on the raised decks.
Club Waziema
Ethiopian owned and operated, Waziema might be the only highly-trafficked dive bar in the country that stays committed to serving incredibly delicious food, too. Waziema proprietor Nebiat Tesfazgi is a motherly fixture behind the bar, whether you’re there for a celebration with friends in the expansive backroom or are just popping in for a drink following a concert at The Independent. The red velvet wallpaper complements the dim lights, and the Touchtunes jukebox has an eclectic mix of one-credit plays.
540 Rogues
Can a dive bar get classed up and still remain a dive? If the culture stays strong, then absolutely. Look no further than 540 Rogues, which if the name is unfamiliar, is the newest iteration of the 90-year-old bar now owned by former bartenders of the old 540 Club. This Inner Richmond haunt has proper cocktails, great drafts (including Moonlight Brewing Co seasonals — yes please!) TVs galore, a tiny arcade in the back, local art displays and food pop-ups on the cozy outside patio from the likes of Maillard’s ridiculous smash burgers. This is more than a dive bar — it’s a legit community space.
The 500 Club
Not to be confused with 540, 500 Club in the Mission is famous for the Martini glass neon sign out front, one of SF’s best. And while it doesn’t really open at 6 a.m. anymore like it says below the sign, it’s still on fire from noon (10 a.m. on weekends) until 2 a.m. every night. A slight revamp of the space recently gussied 500 Club up a bit, but it’s very much a no frills spot for pints and whiskey-gingers. Saddle up on a stool along the lengthy bar top, or grab one of the crescent-shaped vinyl-lined booths in the front room. The bar has an open window into the backroom, which is another vibe unto itself.
Columbus Cafe
North Beach is chock full of dive bars, and Columbus Cafe has been among its finest since its origins as a longshoreman pub in 1936. Bought by three of its bartenders in 2020, Columbus Cafe still has that workhorse vibe, with regulars dotting the corner of the bar by the window facing vibrant Green St. closest to Columbus Ave. Buy a beer at happy hour, and you get a poker chip good for a second beer. A shot of Fernet and a PBR is always $9, the pool table is always $1 and there’s five TVs inside, along with a big screen on the badass outdoor parklet. If you need a quick reprieve, Golden Boy pizza has epic slices a couple doors down.
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