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Mar 10, 2023 · 1901 Union St / (415) 567-6905 / Website. Built: 1900. An undeniable family affair, Bus Stop Saloon has been run by the same lineage of relatives since the early 1920s! Now multiple generations later, this spacious and warm wooden retreat is an adored favorite within Cow Hollow's Union Street for people of all ages.
- Buena Vista Café
- Did You Know?
- Double Play Bar & Grill
- Hotel Utah Saloon
- The Homestead
- Bus Stop Saloon
- The Little Shamrock
- Shotwell’s
- Northstar Cafe
- The Saloon
photo source: Wikimedia Commons Buena Vista Café was first opened as a boarding house in 1910, but the first floor was turned into a saloon in 1916. Since then, Buena Vista Café has been serving drinks and the bar’s big claim to fame – besides its age – is introducing Irish Coffeeto the U.S. In 1952, then-owner of Buena Vista, Jack Koeppler and tra...
According to Buena Vista Café, the bar has served more than 30 million Irish Coffees since 1952 and the recipe has never changed.
photo source: Yelp Double Play Bar & Grill is not only one of the oldest bars in San Francisco, its the only existing reminder of the early days of the San Francisco Giants and the city’s other early baseball teams. The bar is located just across the street from where Seals Stadium used to stand, which is where the Pacific Coast League San Francisc...
photo source: Flickr via torbakhopper The Hotel Utah Saloon, commonly just called The Utah, was opened by the Deininger family in 1908. The Deiningers commissioned furniture makers in Belgium to design and create The Utah’s ornate bar-back. Like all of the bars on this list, The Hotel Utah Saloon was frequented by many sketchy characters early in i...
photo source: Wikimedia Commons Various sources cite The Homestead’s founding date as 1906, but the most reliable source, the bar’s current manager Deb Welch, says that The Homesteadwas opened in 1902 by Charles Scharenberg. Over the years The Homestead, which was originally called Old Homestead, changed as the area its located in became more popul...
photo source: Flickr via Ed Dunens Bus Stop Saloon is the only bar on this list that has been run by the same family since early in its history. The bar was established in the same building sometime in 1900 and originally called Alley Inn. In 1919, the Ferronis, the current family that owns Bus Stop Saloon took over and has been running it ever sin...
photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Joe Mabel Similar to how The Saloon says its the oldest, The Little Shamrock claims its the second oldest bar in San Francisco just because it’s in the original building. Also like The Saloon, The Little Shamrock did survive the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. The Little Shamrock was first opened by Irish...
photo source: TridAdvisor Shotwell’sis another old bar in San Francisco’s famed Mission District. The bar was first opened sometime in 1891 as a “Grocery Saloon” (a combination grocery store and saloon) by two German immigrants. Shotwell’s, which was called Schlichtmann’s at the time, continued operating as a grocery saloon until 1906 when the city...
photo source: Yelp Despite its name, Northstar Cafe is one of San Francisco’s most frequented bars that has been opened since 1882. In true bar fashion, Northstar Cafe doesn’t serve any food besides some popcorn. In addition to the free popcorn, Northstar’s pool tables are free to use. The bar also has six flatscreen TVs with various games playing,...
photo source: Wikimedia Commons Although Elixir and Old Ship Saloon are much older, The Saloon says that it is San Francisco’s oldest bar/saloon because its still in its original building. The Saloon has been around since 1861 and judging by pictures hanging on the bar’s walls from the 1870s, not much has changed. Today, The Saloon is a beloved div...
Jul 28, 2015 · Posted on July 28, 2015by dc1517. San Francisco is a town that was built on bars. Saloons popped up almost as soon as settlers arrived, and a few of the originals (very few) have actually survived the constant change of our ever-changing city. The Saloon, The Old Ship Saloon, The Little Shamrock, Elixir, Vesuvio Cafe, Molloy’s in Colma and a ...
- The Fillmore. Music Venue. BRMC @ The Fillmore | © swimfinfan/Flickr. Long before it hosted sold-out shows headlined by the likes of James Brown, The Cure, and Prince, The Fillmore was once a dance hall at the beginning of the 20th century.
- The Chapel. Nightclub, Pub Grub, $$$ The historical Valencia Street chapel was originally constructed in 1914.Prior to becoming The Chapel in 2012, the space was a mortuary, and then was home to the New College until 2008.
- Slim’s. Music Venue. Symphony X at Slim’s | © Rick/Flickr. In 1988, American rocker turned R&B artist Boz Scaggs took over a vacant SoMa restaurant, formerly called the Warehouse, and reopened it as Slim’s, a bar and performance space with a warm, brick décor and the aesthetic of a New Orleans manor.
- Audium. Building, Theater. Established in 1975, electronic music composer Stan Schaff designed Audium with a grant from the National Endowment For The Arts.
- Embarcadero. The Old Ship Saloon isn’t just old—it’s the oldest bar in all of San Francisco, according to the owners. It opened in 1851, and it takes its name from the Gold Rush-era ship, the Arkansas, upon which it’s built.
- Mission. Only seven years younger than the Old Ship Saloon, the whiskey bar Elixir in the Mission claims to be the city’s second-oldest bar. The compact watering hole first opened in 1858 and is now known for its cocktail classes and Christmas decorations.
- North Beach. The Saloon in North Beach opened in 1861, surviving the 1906 quake thanks to its “stout timbers,” according to its website. Today, it’s known just as much for its music as for its drinks, and you can catch a live blues performance every night of the week.
- Fisherman’s Wharf. The Buena Vista Café isn’t just historical—it’s also one of San Francisco’s most famous bars. What a sensory delight it is to watch the little clear glasses get filled with piping hot java for the bar’s signature Irish Coffee, a drink that the city itself knows about thanks to this 1891-founded establishment on the corner of Hyde and Beach, where the cable cars stop running.
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Jan 16, 2024 · Bars. Beer bars. Boerum Hill. Boerum Hill’s Brooklyn Inn is arguably the oldest bar in Brooklyn, though it’s unclear exactly when it opened (some say the 1870s, when the stunning,...
Feb 21, 2019 · 1861. The Saloon. A curious number of bars in San Francisco claim to be the city’s oldest, but if the Saloon, allegedly open since 1861, doesn’t qualify as the oldest it certainly comes close.
