The best bars and cafés San Francisco

A superb brasserie, where you can enjoy beer made on the premises, either indoors or on the wooden tables in the courtyard, under the trees. The converted former warehouse boasts high ceilings, which are the real attraction of the place, and which have made it possible to install a mezzanine, from which you can enjoy a cold draught with a view of Mission's youth. What's more, the burgers and fish & chips are more than decent for a pub! Perfect for an early evening in Mission, we highly recommend it.

This bar oscillates between dive bar and lounge, for its elegant and trendy decoration. Look up to the two rifles and the stuffed pheasant that taunts them... More atmosphere on weeknights than on weekends - Franciscans go out in livelier neighborhoods. Ideal for an aperitif. You can enjoy the very authentic juke-box, or the screens available for sports fans - well, they are not really necessary, but you have to deal with them as everywhere.

We come here to see and be seen. The glasses are very expensive and the decor is a little cold. Conclusion: a trendy place for the hors de towners, the people of passage to San Francisco.

The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar, open since 1945, is the Fairmont Hotel's tiki restaurant and bar. Named after the Tonga Islands of the South Pacific, it has a kitschy La Croisière s'amuse feel. Imagine a desert island atmosphere under coconut palms, with straw huts, strings of colored light bulbs and an indoor pool. Not to mention a cyclone simulation with fake rain and lightning every quarter-hour... Live music every day.

Aloha! Pagan Idol is a huge, spectacular Hawaiian tiki bar. Colored lights highlight the decor, which combines tiki elements such as totem poles, aquariums and gigantic plants behind glass canopies... It's almost an attraction in itself. Lean against the counter in one of the bars, or simply stand on weekend evenings when the bar is full, to sample fabulous cocktails where rum is king, including the famous zombie of course. Some are flambéed for added spectacle.

Tucked away on a side street in Union Square, this little vintage neighborhood bar is warm and inviting because music is at the^{heart of}the project. DJs who are friends of the bartenders and the owner play vinyls from their collection on turntables on the mezzanine floor of a small dancefloor. The atmosphere is rather groovy and calm during the week, but livens up at the end of the evening on weekends. On Wednesdays, a small band plays at the beginning of the evening, creating a really nice atmosphere: either jazz (but not daddy-style jazz) or reggae.... The cocktails are delicious.

Pub in the heart of the Tenderloin (beware, take a cab in the evening). Typical American-style neighborhood pub atmosphere, here named dive bars, wood panelling, subdued lighting, two galleries upstairs to get away from the crowds, DJs some evenings. You can drink beer, eat fish & chips and, above all, have a good time. On quiet evenings, you can enjoy a drink tucked away on the wooden benches or perched on the mezzanine. But the real bonus here is that everyone talks to each other, and that's a good thing!

Originally opened in 1947 by a boxer and a wrestler converted to bartending, this mythical place has been reopened after being beautifully renovated. The original style has been preserved, and you can still sit at the vintage bar in a subdued red atmosphere, under the incredible ceiling made of carved wooden slabs, ordering a bourbon on the rocks, or enjoying the pretty terrace; before indulging in a good game of billiards. You'll feel right at home. A classy dive bar that promises a great start to the evening.

Perched on the ^21st floor of the Beacon Grand Hotel, ex-Sir Francis Drake's new Art Deco showcase, the Starlite is a glass eagle's nest with a dizzying panoramic view of Union Square. The iconic Starlite, born in 1928, deserved such a successful revival. Velvet armchairs, marble tables, subdued lighting - the retro decor in jade green and beige is sumptuous. The musical atmosphere is distilled every evening with vinyl DJ sets. On the menu, fine cocktails by mixologist Scott Baird and tapas concocted by Michelin-starred chef Johnny Spero.