The Top 10 Cocktail Bars Near Rancho Caymus Inn

1. Esquire The Best Bars in America
2. Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
3. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. West

The bar faces San Francisco Bay, with Alcatraz and the Golden Gate framed in the windows, which does a lot of the work before you even sit down. The Buena Vista is an old-school saloon that claims credit for introducing Irish coffee to America, and the bar staff still make them in assembly-line batches. Come at 9am or midnight; the order is the same either way. It won the Spirited Awards' Timeless U.S. Award in 2024, which is about right.

1. Spirited Awards 2024 · Winner · Timeless U.S. Award
2. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

1. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
2. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. West
3. Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West

The vintage jukebox leans Glenn Miller and Rat Pack standards, which tells you everything about what kind of night Tosca Café is selling. This old-school North Beach cocktail bar has been around forever, all dark wood and faded glamour that a sympathetic restoration polished back to a shine. Come late, order something simple, and let the room do its thing. If the playlist sounds like your grandparents' wedding, you'll fit right in.

1. Difford's Guide 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide

The ceiling is woven from the staves of 300 bourbon barrels, which tells you everything about where Rickhouse's priorities lie. This whiskey bar in the Financial District is styled as an old-school saloon, with floor-to-ceiling shelves of bottles behind the counter and a library ladder to reach the top shelf. A back room holds a second bar and a hayloft gallery for looking down, literally, on everyone else.

1. Difford's Guide 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide

1. The Infatuation The Best Martinis In San Francisco

The mahogany bar dates to 1906, which means it survived the earthquake and a few other things San Francisco would rather not discuss. Comstock is an old-school cocktail bar in North Beach, all wicker ceiling fans shaped like steamboat paddles, vintage drink signs, and a piano someone actually winched up to the balcony so the music drifts down. Pickled eggs and rye toast handle the eating. The martinis have a following.

1. Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
2. The Infatuation The Best Martinis In San Francisco
3. The Infatuation The 25 Best Meals For Under $15 In SF

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

Concrete floors, steel girders, and a smoking area the size of a small parking lot set the tone at this Tenderloin cocktail bar. The utilitarian look is clearly intentional, the sort of space that can survive a rowdy Saturday without complaint. A chalkboard cocktail of the month keeps things moving, and the menu spans pisco punch to rum-and-port builds with house-made Swedish punsch. Not where you go to catch up quietly, but volume was never the point.

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

Leather booths, wood paneling, and casual taxidermy give this cocktail bar the feel of a gentlemen's club that decided to relax a little. It sits inside Tyler Florence's Wayfare Tavern, and the bar downstairs splits the room between cocktails and food. Local lore insists a gangster is buried somewhere in the foundations, which does make the old-fashioned taste slightly more interesting.

1. Difford's Guide 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide