#2101 - High Tide, San Francisco - 3/4/2013

You want your dive bar?  This is a dive bar.

They have all your dive bar essentials -- cheap, stiff drinks, dark interior bills pinned to the ceiling and walls, random small packets of snacks hanging on clips, Christmas lights hanging year round. But then the High Tide takes it up to dive-bar eleven. It is massively dingy, clearly not meant to be seen in daylight hours. The portion of the red carpet under the pool table features a plateau of dust that must have been building for generations. The remaining portion is specked with black dots of aging miscellaneous substances. The cracked vinyl seats have some hapless attempts at patching with packing tape, and the Camel Cigarettes display case is filled with dusty origami made from dollar bills. Then there is the enshrined portrait of the old owner's mother, topless.

The portrait, it appears, is of the grandmother of local hip hop artist Richie Cunning. (7x7) Cunning's grandfather and then his father once owned the place. I came at a slow hour, on an early Monday evening when there was only one other customer with myself and Vicki, the bartender who immigrated from China seven years ago. I would like to come back and see that the tide brings in on a Friday or Saturday night.

600 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94102 - (415) 771-3145
Reviews: 7x7 - sfist - sfbarexperiment - sfweekly - yelp

#2100 - Sears Fine Food, San Francisco - 3/4/2013

This barely, barely qualifies as a bar, but they do have a physical bar where they serve beer and wine, presumably just sine 2004 when they began staying open for the dinner hour and on weekends. The "fine" in Sears Fine Foods must be taken with a grain of salt, but they do fit the bill for anyone looking for old-fashioned American breakfasts and comfort foods.

Sears was established a block up the street in 1938, started by Ben Sears, a retired circus clown with a reputation for good Swedish pancakes. From its heyday when people lined up down the block for a table, it basically went under in 2003, and was revived in 2004 by Man J. Kim. Kim immigrated from Korea in 1972, working as a janitor and taxi driver before buying into the restaurant business. (sfgate)  He now owns a local chain of 50s style diners called "Lori's" and "Gaining control of Sears would make him the indisputable pancake volume leader at Union Square." (ibid)  Nolstalgia for the menu notwithstanding, the sign out front alone makes me grateful someone preserved the place.

439 Powell St, San Francisco, CA 94102 - (415) 986-0700
Est. 1964 in current location, 1938 in earlier location, Aug 1, 2004 under current owneship
Web site: searsfinefood.com
Reviews: sfgate - gayot - yelp - citysearch

#2099 - The Redwood Room, San Francisco - 3/3/2013

This is very much what you'd like a hotel bar to be -- dark and swanky, with history and good cocktails. I'm not sure how well the digital portraits (which change over time) fit in. But the cherry colored wood, the lighting, the art deco angles and the rest of the decor make for a romantic stop -- at least if you come in on a non-busy night when there are no special events. And while the bar has recently had an expensive remodel, it retains the redwood bar and the basic design theme from it's beginnings right after prohibition.

495 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 - (415) 929-2372
Est. 1933
Web site: facebook
Reviews: restaurant-ingthroughhistory - sfweekly - worldsbestbars - spottedbylocals - about.com - partyearth - yelp

#2098 - Toronado, San Francisco - 3/3/2013

Toronado is a long-time craft beer mecca, in a divey sort of setting crowded with beer lovers and hipsters. I had my first Pliny (the Elder) there, and got a lot of friendly nods from people who thought a guy sitting on a stool near the door must be working the door.

547 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117 - (415) 863-2276
Est. Aug 5, 1987
Web site: toronado.com - facebook
Reviews: partyearth - beeradvocate - esquire - sandiegoreader - blackbook - urbanspoon - yelp - tripadvisor

#2097 - The Mad Dog in the Fog, San Francisco - 3/3/2013

Perhaps you like soccer. I do not. But the Mad Dog is still a pleasant place to grab a pint. It's a fairly typical English style pub, comfortably situated in the neighborhood, with a pretty good beer selection, a nice little patio, and enough unique gewgaws and decorative touches to feel like it has some personality.

530 Haight St. San Francisco, CA 94117 - (415) 626-7279
Web site: themaddoginthefog.com - facebook
Reviews: partyearth - wsj (barcraft) - yelp - thefillmorecenter - citysearch - everybarinsf 

#2096 - Trax Bar, San Francisco - 3/3/2

From the 70s through the first half of the 80s, the Haight had a thriving gay community rivaling the Castro. A dozen gay bars in the area included including the I-Beam, which hosted such bands as the Cure, Red Hot Chile Peppers, Duran Duran, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. But unlike the Castro, the more bohemian Haight gay scene never recovered from the AIDS crisis, and Trax is now the single gay bar left in the neighborhood.

From the outside it looks like a vintage gamers' scene, but the inside is bathed in velvety reds and rainbows. The site is said to have hosted a bar since the 40s, and it's now one of the oldest running bars in the Haight. It's now a fairly standard gay dive bar, with strong, cheap drinks, friendly bartenders, and a mellow vibe.



1437 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117 - (415) 864-4213
Est. 1974
Previous bars in this location: Question Mark Cocktail Lounge
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp

#2095 - Martin Macks, San Francisco - 3/3/2013

An Irish themed "gastropub and sports bar" that struck me as pretty thoroughly boring.

1568 Haight St, San Francisco 94117 - (415) 861-1586
Web site: martinmackssf.com - facebook
Reviews: haighteration - yelp - menupages - eater