The SF Streetcar Drinking Guide

Joe Starkey
Joe Starkey

Because MUNI weirdly doesn't have them listed on its route map, here's the best place to drink near every stop on SF's historic F-Market streetcar line.

All of the spots on here 1) serve alcohol (duh), 2) are within a block of the designated stop, and 3) aren't in *shudder* Fisherman's Wharf... which we omitted because Fisherman's Wharf is the worst. Let's do this!

Twin Peaks
Joe Starkey

The Stop: 17th & Castro
The Spot: Twin Peaks Tavern (click here for address and info)
Covered in our guide to the Castro, this historic landmark of a bar has two levels and Irish coffees good enough to make it hard to safely navigate between said two levels. If you're gonna make this a bar crawl (dude, you should make this into a bar crawl), this is the end you wanna start on.

Super Duper
Joe Starkey

The Stop: 16th & Noe
The Spot: Super Duper (click here for address and info)
Not only is this one of San Francisco's best burger chains, but it's also one of San Francisco's best places to get tap beers and a good base of food before getting too far along in a 22-bar streetcar bar crawl.

Hi Tops
Joe Starkey

The Stop: 15th & Sanchez
The Spot: Hi Tops (click here for address and info)
Because where else can you drink a pitcher of beer and a cocktail with Muscle Milk in it, while sitting on a set of bleachers? Oh that's right, nowhere. Bonus: if you ignored our Super Duper food advice, they've got a fantastic fried chicken sandwich and wings from a former Top Chef-er.

Churchill
Grant Marek

The Stop: 14th & Church
The Spot: Churchill (click here for address and info)
Get literally any cocktail here (and by "literally any cocktail" ,we mean very specifically the Jennie Jerome From Brooklyn), and make sure to bring a friend for a pool partner and/or taking your new profile picture in front of the American flag.

The Mint
Joe Starkey

The Stop: Dolores & Duboce
The Spot: The Mint Karaoke Lounge (click here for address and info)
Sub-$5 beers, sub-$6 whiskey shots, plus one of the coolest karaoke twists in the city: they stream performances live to the TVs in the bar.

Orbit Room
Orbit Room

The Stop: Laguna & Guererro
The Spot: Orbit Room Cafe (click here for address and info)
This oft-overlooked bar (because it's not really near anything else) at the intersection of Upper Market/Castro/Mission actually has surprisingly good drinks as of late, and a worth-trying pizza station. Make sure to grab a Pimm's Cup. And after that, a bourbon and basil.

Zuni
Joe Starkey

The Stop: Haight & Gough
The Spot: Zuni Cafe (click here for address and info)
Yes, this is a little classier than most of the places in this guide, and yes again, there aren't exactly stools at the copper-topped bar, but there are Balsamic Bloody Marys... and that's really all that matters, isn't it?

Ma-Velous
Ma-Velous

The Stop: Van Ness
The Spot: Ma-velous (click here for address and info)
If you can get past the name, this place is actually a pretty well-hidden gem. It's technically more of a coffee bar than it is a wine bar (even though they bill it as both), but the interior is super cozy (sit in the makeshift living room), there are 50+ wines available, and (best part alert!) they've got a pet turtle!

Sam's Diner
Sam's Diner

The Stop: 9th & Larkin
The Spot: Sam's Diner (click here for address and info)
Two important things you need to know about Sam's: 1) their tagline is "The Flavors of the City" (?), and 2) they have $3 bar drinks (including 21st Amendment beers and Bloody Marys) from 3-6pm, Mon-Fri.

Blue Steel
Joe Starkey

The Stop: 8th & Hyde
Skip!!

Me
Joe Starkey

The Stop: 7th & Jones
Skip!!

Showdogs

The Stop: 6th & Taylor
The Spot: Showdogs (click here for address and info)
All of the press for this Mid-Market spot revolves around its house-made sausages (and deservedly so, they're awesome), but its bar actually deserves way more ink than it gets, thanks to a super-legit tap list that includes stuff like 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon, Iron Maiden's Trooper, and Lagunitas' Little Sumpin' Sumpin'.

Mikkeller Bar
Joe Starkey

The Stop: 5th & Powell
The Spot: Mikkeller Bar (click here for address and info)
By far one of the best beer bars in the city (if not nation), this American iteration of a Dutch brewery even boasts an underground room devoted entirely to sour beers, and a draft system that pumps in brews at three separate temperatures so that they're always at the ideal temp.

Dirty Habit
David Phelps for Dirty Habit

The Stop: 4th & Stockton
The Spot: Dirty Habit (click here for address and info)
Come for the giant cocktail list, stay for the amazing patio... leave with the "Adult Lunchbox" full of bar nuts, beers, and a hot toddy in a thermos?

Local Edition
Joe Starkey

The Stop: 3rd & Kearny
The Spot: Local Edition (click here for address and info)
Because every streetcar bar crawl should have a spot from the guys behind Bourbon & Branch on it.

Sutter Station Tavern
Joe Starkey

The Stop: 2nd & Montgomery
The Spot: Sutter Station Tavern (click here for address and info)
We're not sure how this place exists in Downtown SF, but this dive bar (nicknamed "Sutter Gutter") is without question the real thing, complete with Christmas lights in May, cheap beer, four pool tables, and slurring old people who may or may not have just stepped on your feet while getting to their table.

83 Proof
83 Proof

The Stop: 1st & Battery
The Spot: 83 Proof (click here for address and info)
A longtime Thrillist fave, this relatively hidden bar boasts a truly impressive whiskey collection, a mezzanine level, a FRAMED WES WELKER PATS JERSEY!!!, and a piano we're pretty sure doesn't work.

Terminus
Joe Starkey

The Stop: Main & Drumm
The Spot: Terminus (click here for address and info)
Sure, it's kinda cookie-cutter for a new SF bar (Edison bulbs, large metal lamps, exposed wood), but it's also kinda awesome-cutter -- the dude behind The House Of Shields is also behind this spot, and it's got proper Moscow Mule copper mugs.

Perry's
Joe Starkey

The Stop: Steuart
The Spot: Perry's (click here for address and info)
$5 wine on a heated patio with a view of the Bay Bridge? I mean, if you're gonna twist our arm...

Ferry Building Charleton Realness
Joe Starkey

The Stop: Ferry Terminal
The Spot: Just anywhere in the Ferry Building
Literally, anywhere.

Hard Water
Hard Water

The Stop: Washington
The Spot: Hard Water (click here for address and info)
Charles Phan's Embarcadero restaurant is an ode to oysters and whiskey, with a huge raw bar and an always-crowded bar. Pro tip: try the fried alligator. Pro-er tip: get a flight of bourbon -- they've got one of the largest collections of brown stuff in the city, and the flight'll give you a chance to explore a lot of it.

Coqueta
Joe Starkey

The Stop: Broadway
The Spot: Coqueta (click here for address and info)
Spanish for "flirt", this Michael Chiarello-helmed restaurant has its own side bar/sangria-eria (sp?) that has a perfect view of the Bay/SO MUCH SANGRIA!!!.

Seaglass
Seaglass

The Spot: Green
The Spot: Exploratorium (click here for address and info)
Enjoy a hands-on children's science museum just the way God intended: buzzed on drinks from the attached SEAGLASS Restaurant.

Pier 23
Joe Starkey

The Stop: Greenwich
The Spot: Pier 23 (click here for address and info)
With an outdoor patio so good it made our Top Patios list, this is the perfect spot to end (or restart?) your streetcar bar adventure.

Joe Starkey is Thrillist's San Francisco Editor, and plans to start riding the F WAY MORE after putting this together. Join him on Twitter @starkey_joe.