Must-see nightlife in California

  • Comstock Saloon

    North Beach & Chinatown

    During this 1907 saloon's heyday, patrons relieved themselves in the marble trough below the bar – now you'll have to tear yourself away from Comstock's…

  • Zeitgeist

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    You've got two seconds flat to order from tough-gal barkeeps used to putting macho bikers in their place – but with 48 beers on draft, you're spoiled for…

  • Trick Dog

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Drink adventurously with ingenious cocktails inspired by local obsessions: San Francisco muralists, Chinese diners or conspiracy theories. Every six…

  • Stookey's Club Moderne

    San Francisco

    Dangerous dames lure unsuspecting sailors into late-night schemes over potent hooch at this art-deco bar straight out of a Dashiell Hammett thriller…

  • Smuggler's Cove

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum…wait, make that a Dead Reckoning (Nicaraguan rum, port, pineapple, bitters), unless you'll split the flaming Scorpion Bowl?…

  • Li Po

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Beat a hasty retreat to red-vinyl booths where Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac debated the meaning of life under a golden Buddha. Enter the 1937 faux…

  • Specs

    North Beach & Chinatown

    The walls here are plastered with merchant-marine memorabilia, and you'll be plastered too if you try to keep up with the salty characters holding court…

  • Blue Bottle Coffee Company

    Oakland

    This Blue Bottle cafe is inside the beautiful WC Morse Building, a 1920s truck showroom. Communal tables, lofty ceilings and minimalist white decor invite…

  • Ungrafted

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    At this industrial-chic, champagne-focused Dogpatch wine bar, you can't launch a cork without hitting a sommelier. The married owners are both sommeliers…

  • Bon Voyage

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    So, imagine a 1950s traveler who sets out to experience Southeast Asia and Africa, picking up art and curios along the way. Now think about this traveler…

  • Jolene's

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    For those who identify as ladies and also like others who identify as ladies, there's a shiny new bar. A huge neon sign announces 'you are safe here',…

  • Interval Bar & Cafe

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    Designed to stimulate discussion of philosophy and art, the Interval is a favorite spot in the Marina for cocktails and conversation. It's inside the Long…

  • Good Lion

    Santa Barbara

    Grab a cocktail at the beautiful, blue-tiled bar, then grab a book from the shelves and settle into a leather banquette in this petite place that has a…

  • High

    Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey

    Venice's only rooftop bar is quite an experience, with 360-degree views from the shore to the Santa Monica Mountains – if you can take your eyes off the…

  • Twin Peaks Tavern

    San Francisco

    The vintage rainbow neon sign points the way to a local landmark – Twin Peaks was the world's first gay bar with windows open to the street. If you're not…

  • Counter Reformation

    Greater Palm Springs

    If you worship at the altar of Bacchus (the Roman god of wine), you'll be singing his praises in this dimly lit clandestine boite at the Parker Palm…

  • Violet's Tavern

    San Francisco

    Here's another neighborhood cocktail bar that doubles as a delectable brunch and dinner spot, but the drinks are really where it's at. Case in point, the…

  • Madrone Art Bar

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Drinking becomes an art form at this Victorian parlor crammed with graffiti installations and absinthe fountains. Motown Mondays feature the Ike Turner…

  • Good Housekeeping

    Los Angeles

    Step out the back door of restaurant Cafe Birdie and you'll find this red-brick speakeasy. A neighborly oasis of tealights, leather booths and competent…

  • Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co

    Santa Barbara

    Father and son brewers have brought their gold-medal-winning hoppy IPA, Danish red lager and potent stout from Santa Barbara's Wine Country to the Funk…

  • Andytown Coffee

    San Francisco

    Since 2014, Andytown Coffee has spread like afternoon fog, unstoppable thanks to its yummy drip coffee, Irish-inspired soda bread and one-of-a-kind 'snowy…

  • Polite Provisions

    San Diego

    With a French-bistro feel and plenty of old-world charm, Polite Provisions' hip clientele sip cocktails at the marble bar, under a glass ceiling, and in a…

  • Woods Outbound

    San Francisco

    On a chilly evening, squeeze into this narrow, cozy craft-beer bar and give some inventive brews a try. The brewmasters are known for throwing unusual…

  • Devil's Acre

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Potent potions and lipsmacking quack cures are proudly served at this apothecary-style Barbary Coast saloon. Tartly quaffable Lachlan's Antiscorbutic …

  • Toronado

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Glory hallelujah, beer-lovers: your prayers are answered. Genuflect before the chalkboard altar that lists 40-plus beers on tap and hundreds more bottled,…

  • Aub Zam Zam

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Persian arches, One Thousand and One Nights murals, 1930s jazz on the jukebox and top-shelf cocktails at low-shelf prices have brought Bohemian bliss to…

  • Bang Bang

    San Diego

    This Gaslamp hot spot serves sushi and Asian bites five nights a week and turns into a steamy dance club (EDM, minimal, deep house) on Fridays and…

  • Alvarado Street Brewery

    Monterey

    Vintage beer advertising punctuates Alvarado Street's brick walls, but that's the only concession to earlier days at this excellent craft-beer pub…

  • Blind Barber

    Los Angeles

    Clippers and cocktails conspire at this winning speakeasy. The front section is an actual barbershop, complete with vintage barber chairs and inked…

  • 515

    Santa Cruz

    This locally beloved cocktail parlor is the perfect place for a night of dapper drinking. Settle into a huge armchair amid the vintage-chic decor to…

  • Last Rites

    San Francisco

    An airplane crashed on a desert island, and out of the wreckage came this killer Castro tiki bar. Enter through the airplane door to discover a long-lost…

  • Mind's Eye Coffee Lounge

    North Coast & Redwoods

    The kind of coffee shop you dream of finding in a small town like this with a library of intriguing books, local art on the walls and sturdy leather…

  • Noc Noc

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Who's there? Steampunk blacksmiths, anarchist hackers, trance DJs practicing for Burning Man, and other San Francisco characters straight out of an R…

  • ETA

    Los Angeles

    One of the city's top cocktail dens, intimate ETA serves innovative, complex libations such as its famous Penultimate Word, an out-of-the-box mix of gin,…

  • Caffe Trieste

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Poetry on bathroom walls, opera on the jukebox, live accordion jams and Beat poetry on bathroom walls: Caffe Trieste remains North Beach at its best,…

  • Vesuvio

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Guy walks into a bar, roars and leaves. Without missing a beat, the bartender says to the next customer, 'Welcome to Vesuvio, honey – what can I get you?'…

  • El Rio

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Work it all out on the dance floor with SF's most down and funky crowd – the full rainbow spectrum of colorful characters is here to party. Highlights…

  • Coin-Op Game Room

    San Diego

    Dozens of classic arcade games – pinball to Mortal Kombat, Pac-Man and Big Buck Safari to Master Beer Bong – line the walls of this hipster bar in North…

  • Tonga Room

    San Francisco

    Tonight's San Francisco weather: partly foggy, with 100% chance of typhoons every 20 minutes inside the Tonga Room. No need to duck for cover – rain only…

  • Cafe Van Kleef

    Oakland

    Order a greyhound (with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice) and take a gander at the profusion of antique musical instruments, fake taxidermy heads,…

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