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Cocktail Bar · Hayes Valley · 101 tips and reviews
Chris Messina: This tiny Hayes Valley haven brings a feminine touch to the classic via its worshipped Chamomile Old Fashioned, where dry chamomile flowers are infused in Old Forester 86 Bourbon.
417 Stockton St (btwn Bush St & Sutter St), San Francisco, CA
American Restaurant · Downtown San Francisco-Union Square · 127 tips and reviews
Chris Messina: You won't find the Old Fashioned on the cocktail menu, but it includes bourbon, Angostura bitters, a dash of simple syrup, orange and lemon peel, with Turbinado sugar sprinkled on top.
Cocktail Bar · Duboce Triangle · 179 tips and reviews
Chris Messina: Many flock here for the Elote Old Fashioned, which will stay on the menu through December. It's been their second most popular cocktail, based on sales, says bartender Matt Grippo.
Cocktail Bar · Mission Dolores · 95 tips and reviews
Chris Messina: Elixir proprietor H. Joseph Ehrmann added the Old Fashioned Pilgrim to the menu this week to create buzz for November's Give Back the Bird charity program.
1725 Haight St (btwn Cole & Shrader St), San Francisco, CA
Cocktail Bar · Haight Ashbury · 236 tips and reviews
Chris Messina: The Sazerac is an ode to the Big Easy. The Bourbon Old Fashioned is nothing more than a slug of bourbon on the rocks with bitters, a little sugar and lemon peel to take the edge off.
Chris Messina: The "California" version of Holland gin comes from St. George Spirits and stars in its Rye Gin Old Fashioned. For the cherry effect, Lane swears by the Leopold Bros. Maraschino from Colorado.
Chris Messina: The Old Fashioned relies on a nontraditional Old Fashioned spirit (Banks 5 Island Rum), swirled with velvet Falernum, allspice dram and angostura bitters.
Chinese Restaurant · Mission Dolores · 73 tips and reviews
Chris Messina: This funky Asian eatery gets whimsical with its Old Fashioned, throwing in a house made cola syrup that pairs well with its play mates (bitters and James E. Pepper rye).
Chris Messina: Keeping in line with its name, this longtime legend sticks to the original roots of the Old Fashioned: muddled sugar, cherry, orange, Angostura bitters, soda water, and Woodford bourbon.
15 Romolo Pl (btwn Fresno St & Broadway), San Francisco, CA
Cocktail Bar · North Beach · 213 tips and reviews
Chris Messina: This 16-year-old handcrafted cocktail pioneer hidden off of Broadway caters to an old-timey crowd (no TVs here), so it's no surprise their Old Fashioned stays close to the first recorded recipe.
399 The Embarcadero (btwn Folsom & Harrison St), San Francisco, CA
Seafood Restaurant · Rincon Hill · 199 tips and reviews
Chris Messina: Beverage director Steve Izzo uses Heering cherry liqueur instead of the Maraschino cherries and club soda as a throwback. The benedictine is there to add a bit of an herbal aromatic, he adds.
557 Valencia St (btwn 16th & 17th St), San Francisco, CA
Italian Restaurant · Mission District · 168 tips and reviews
Chris Messina: The $20 Old Fashioned Flight will get you three small glasses of a wide variety: rye and demerara; bourbon and maple; and scotch and honey.