The best cocktail bars San Francisco

If you'd like to step back in time and find yourself in the middle of the 1930s, in a speakeasy atmosphere that's as good as it gets, but with oddly pop electric blue touches. Then Stookey's Club is the place for you. The very Art Deco decor immediately transports you to another world, thanks in particular to the magnificent period furniture, just like the bar, and the deliciously retro lettering. And the cocktails of yesteryear take you on a journey to equally successful taste worlds. Delicious!

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.

Originally opened in 1947 by a boxer and a wrestler turned bartender, this legendary venue has been reopened after an attractive renovation. 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.