This sultry SOMA lounge will satisfy drinking needs both straightforward (their Room with a Vieux adds tequila to the classic Vieux Carre) & obscure (a mezcal-cherry Heering fizz with IPA—believe it).
Seasoned Alembic bartender Danny Louie and AQ alum Ethan Terry have kept up the Upper Haight staple's cocktail tradition via a great new menu.
Hog & Rocks alum Zachary Taylor has embarked on an ambitious menu project at this revamped Middle Eastern spot, making drinks with arak, yogurt liqueur, and other flavors that reflect the cuisine.
Everything is meticulously thought out, from the Pantone color scheme and record-album menus to the innovative drinks to the inventive bar food. Grab a bottled beverage (we like the buttermilk punch).
Paul Christensen's cocktail program has its own kitchen; drinks are ambitious: ingredients like black lime tincture, kumquat bitters, almond-milk foam, bourbon sous-vide with satsuma mandarins.
Whiskey aficionados could die happy delving into Erik Adkins' deep selection of American brown spirits at this waterfront bar. That $100 flight of Pappy van Winkles will light up your life.
Barman Joe Cleveland may take the prize for most ambitious cocktail menu: G&T's, sherry drinks, porrones, tipples, molecular-gastronomy creations like liquid-nitrogen sangria and frozen gin meringue!
What Gabe Lowe's menu lacks in breadth, it more than makes up for in depth. The scotcholate milk is a revelation, and the "carbonated motherfucking margarita" may be worthy of the expletive.
Swig is the oldest bar in the Bourbon & Branch portfolio, but worth another look thanks to a revamped interior, new emphasis on classic cocktails, and a deep whiskey selection that's one of the best.
The 83 Proof team made over this 106-year-old icon, and beefed up the cocktail menu (gin with kalamata-infused Amaro Montenegro or a strawberry-whiskey-porter number, anyone?).
Enjoy the draft punch program, but don't miss cocktails like Atticus Finch, an old-fashioned with balsamic bitters served up or the hardy Santiago, with tequila, mezcal, and coffee liqueur.
The cocktails are straightforward and spirituous; we like the Bosun's Knot, an old-fashioned with a green Chartreuse and coffee bean kick, and a classic Last Word or Vesper are also good options.
