Glen Park Station
Categories: Dive Bars, Sports Bars, Lounges [Edit]
Neighborhood: Glen Park2816 Diamond Street
(between Chenery St & Kern St)
San Francisco, CA 94131 (415) 333-4633
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Music: Juke Box
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: Outdoor Area/Patio Only
- Coat Check: No
119 reviews
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
"The best moments in San Francisco are quiet and cozy - warmly drenched by the lazy afternoon sun - especially when combined with friendly…" read more »
20 Reviews for Glen Park Station
This is a fine, functional neighbordhood bar right off the Glen Park bart station. They have a few choices of beer on tap, including an IPA, but not my favorite IPA, by far. The service is good, the crowd is fairly mellow. I wish it was closer to my house (although being off my bart stop is nice).
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Sweet, sweet Glen Park Station. I have missed you over the past few years.
I miss your dart room area and your jukebox and your free hot dogs and your nicely poured drinks. I miss eating La Corneta burritos at the bar and playing dice games. I miss your funky, foul smell. I miss the old school regulars who forgot I was a regular too, because they were always drunk out of their minds. I miss your patrons who liked to argue over the invisible line that divided Sunnyside from Glen Park. I miss the bartenders who sometimes served me stale disgusting Newcastle Ale.
I will come back soon Glen Park Station. Pinky swear. Xo
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this isnt really a dive bar. its almost a country bar. its cool and i like it and it has an internet jukebox and darts.
The Glen Park Station offers a great escape from the typical SF bar. It offers cheap beers, good service, Pin Ball and darts. Great place to stop and have a few beers.
While the wife's away, the mice will...mostly stay home, drink to excess and sing along to Carole King, I suppose. But I figured I would kick off my week of loneliness with some monday-night drinking at Glen Park station--it's on the way home from the airport, after all.
I was sort of expecting droopy-old-man dive, or for it to simply be empty, but I was quite surprised. Fairly busy with one of the most diverse bar crowds I've seen in a while, worn-in-but-not-worn-down decor, and a white-haired bartender who wears a tie. In other words, the best bar in West Portal--except it's in Glen Park. Throw in free goldfish crackers, copies of the Onion laying around, Monday Night Football and ABBA on the jukebox, and you've got a real neighborhood classic. It's nice to know that if I moved here (and it's high on my list), I'd have all my bases covered -- morning (Cafe Bello), noon (La Corneta), and night (Glen Park Station).
I'll reserve the last star for the day when I run into KayJay here. Cuz that would take it to a whole 'nother level.
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Mmmmmm, testosterone and darts... Great combo!
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Some time in the early 70s, my dad used to have to go here to pick up his uncle, who was often too drunk to move, let alone drive. I went here a while ago as I felt it was necessary to continue a family tradition (even if I am adopted). Anyway, what I found was pretty much what you'd expect; a bunch of drunk, affable locals playing bar games and shooting the shit, probably taking a couple hours off from their better halves. All in all this was pretty much a three star bar, but I'll tack on an extra star because it's nice to know that places like this still exist in a city full of swank bars full of people trying not to get "too drunk".
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this has always been a fun bar. i always end up having some story to tell the next day after drinking at the station. huge bar plenty of room, plenty of good beers on tap, darts, and a damn good jukebox. i personally love bars that sell cigarettes i think thats just perfect. o not only that but you can buy beer to go as well. defiantly a plus considering all the corner stores are closed. they have an awesome back section near the darts as well
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YUCK!
My friend insists that we go here after Gialina's. This is the most that I ever feel that I am in a back country Midwestern bar...but I'm in San Francisco?! YUCK! YUCK-YUCK!!!
The bartender is a cute older gray-haired gentleman that has never heard of Knob Creek. He is quite endearing. The only positive about this place.
My friend has her cougar-on in hopes of pouncing on a royal blue-hoodie-sweatshirt-wearing youngin' that isn't biting. I drink my vodka to go within in hopes of finding solace. However, the dusty stuffed grizzly just smirks at me from above. YUCK!
We leave and she drives me home. My last words to my friend..."Try to aim higher."
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This is (sorta) my home bar. I say sorta because there is nothing I feel particularly attached to, but I go a lot because it's the closest place with a beer tap.
I don't really see this place as a dive bar, the floor is clean, the clientelle seem to be on the right side of the law and the bartenders wear ties. They all kinda remind me of Sam Malone actually. But I guess this is San Francisco and some people consider any bar that is not designed for meeting singles as a "dive".
I like the vibe, the parking is good and the music ain't too loud to talk, but not too quite. Although come to think of it I can't name one song I've heard at this bar before.
If you're looking to get out of the house and grab a beer, maybe watch a game, this place is for you.
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The Station. Early drinkers. Heavy smokers. Bar fly galore.
I get to Glen Park with the sun shining and see that the Station is packed @ 4:00. I walk in the door to work and preemptively say to Blake, my co-worker: "I really can't go out tonight."
Blake: "Yeah. Me either."
...some hours later at, say 8:00, 7:00 on a hectic night...
Me: "I could maybe have ONE drink after work."
Blake: "Oh yeah, girl. I'm down for one or two."
And so it goes that after a grueling shift we head over to the Station, a.k.a. the GPS, for a drink. Bar flies have long gone home and we pretty much have the bar to ourselves. Sweet.
We take our seats...They know us by name... and by drink.
Blake: Jameson with a soda back.
Me: fernet with a ginger back.
We sip strongly. The stress melts away. Another is poured. This time it's on the barkeep. We hunker down onto the bar. A basket of the fresh, "good" snacks are tossed down on the bar for us to nibble.
Love this place.
Then the transformation begins... The professional, perma, server-smile transforms into a more natural (sarcastic & wry) expression as we re-hash our night of triumphs and tragedies. Boy does it feel good to sit. We laugh at stupid co-worker & customer tricks. The night melts away.
Blake feeds the jukebox some money and one of the fine bartenders fills our glasses. The Smiths are playing. Then Al Green. Perhaps a little Santana or Zeppelin. Or a Blake fave, TV on the Radio (he pays extra for those).
The Station is just your average dive bar. Moose head over a dart board. Angry bear head by the door. On cold nights, the fire pit blazes. Occasionally, some dude will wander in for a 6-pack (yep. that's right. you CAN get the booze to go). More often than not, there'll be some drunk-ass fool stumbling out for a smoke. You can bet that most nights the place smells like melted Velveeta cheese, or like stale beer and cigarette smoke.
But as with all good things, nights at the GPS are short-lived as BART declares my curfew. Just a little tipsy, the stress of the evening has been transformed into a warm, boozy glow, and my chariot awaits to schlep my ass home.
*********
UPDATE: 4/22
please note that while i love the GPS, i only gave it 3 stars 'cause the place stinks to high heaven on some nights. pretty knarly.
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Hey, who doesn't like the Station?
When I moved here - 10 or so years ago - I lived near the Station, and would come here for a dose of east-coast-ness. Because there are a zillion bars like this where I come from and there didn't seem to be any here.
And, except for the smoking ban, it really hasn't changed at all since then. Everything in the other reviews is true. It's a dive bar and it's definitely a serious drinker bar, too. The juke's got Journey (at least it did when I was there last) and the bathrooms are... let's just say you should try not to touch things in there. But it is what it is, and the crowd there is generally friendly and the guys behind the counter are, too. So what more do you want?
So, three stars. Definitely worthwhile to me and worthwhile to you if you're from the east side and want a real-bar fix. It's not cool, it's not real clean, and you shouldn't get an apple-tini there (or anywhere, actually)... it is what it is. And that's fine.
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Why do people call this a "dive" bar? Just because there ain't no hoochies gyrating to lousy dance music doesn't mean it's a dive! For god's sake, Richard the bartender wears a tie! If you wanted dive in the day you had to go to Bill Tracey's Lodge (now the location of the fancy French joint).
Anyway, GP Station is my "home bar" and I guess it's a little divey but it's also an honest workingman's bar and friendly and they don't charge you an arm and a leg for a watered down drink. They have darts too.
Its true I don't go to bars often..
Its also true that I'm a bandwagon Warriors fan...
Finally its true that I look like the Heat Miser....
What has this got to do with Glen Park Station...very little. However I dig a place with a crock pot..a hidden world of dart throwers...decent # of TV's..a fine combination of barfly's, and finally a sign that says "liquor to take out". I don't know if you really can take it out..and honestly I don't care.
I give Glen Park 4 Stars for just being itself..divey and local...as a good bar should be
Ohh snap to the shizzle!
In the words of Ed to the M.:
"Hol up hol up hol up hol up hol up hol up...."
You biz-nitches are trippin'.
That's right. I said it! Whatchoo gonna do about it?
You biz-nitches are trippin'! You biz-nitches are also trippin' while partaking in the esteemed honor of what is one of my oh so rare "extremely drunken reviews". That's right. I'm drunk. You wanna make something of it? We can take this shit outside. I'll go all Oakland ghetto on your ass and pull out the vaseline and brass knuckles.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHA! I kid. I've never been in a physical fight in my life. Shhhhhh... don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold and awesome hair to keep in check. Seriously, you pull my hair in a fight... YOU GO DOWN. Yo momma won't know who you are if you pull my hair in a fight, cuz I'll mess you up something awful.
Is that too aggro? Sorry. I just spend a lot of time on my hair to make it look as AWESOME as it does.
As I said, I've never been in a physical altercation. SHUT UP! DON'T JUDGE ME! I will ::crookey eye:: you then tell you how you look like Schnieder from "One Day At a Time" sans tool belt, bitch slap you and win without a physical altercation of any sort.
Try me. Just try me fool!
Oh. Dang. I must be drunk.
Anyhoo, I have just two things to say:
1) Evidently, Glen Park Station is the home of the Dart Throwers Association. They're stats are pinned to the wall of the back room. They were there tonight throwing darts in the back area and crock- potting up a corned beef or somethin'. NO! I did not sneak in the pot and taste, although I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to. I didn't want anyone to haul off and throw a dart at me or anything for stealing their food.
2) I, Kristine J, being of sound mind and body (er? um...... ya) do take the, Glen Park Station, to be my lawfully wedded bar. For richer or for poorer (how much did that lemon drop cost?). In sickness (serosis of the liver) and in health. Til death do us part (seriously biz-nitch, I go... you go).
This bar is twenty stumbling minutes and 5 cab drunken minutes from home. For you "non Glen Park people" it is just one block from a BART station. How much better can it get than that? It boasts a seriously long, amazingly cool, fully stocked bar with Hefeweizen (aka Beer Heaven) on tap. Strong drinks. Old school charm mixed with local sensibility and sports on the telly. It smells a bit like Old Spice mixed with male BO, but you get over that as soon as you enter and some nice ol' dude offers you his table. Kindness, as well as drunkeness, is abound here. There are lots of men over the age of forty that I would totally do after three shots (cuz I like the older men - what can I say. Anyone that knows classic rock and the female body in a extraordinary way is someone I wanna know) and space to not have to say "Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, GET THE HELL OUTTA MY WAY!!!!" to hipsters for as long as the eyes can see!
One word: Holla!
I think I'm going to pass out now. Someone call my job and tell them I'll be coming in late tomorrow.
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i get excited every time i get to come to the station. it's right on the way to my co workers house on the way home from work and is my number one super star happy hour place.
the bartenders are incredibly friendly, not only do they know us by name and drink, but also by song! that's right, they sing to us every time we slide onto a stool.
the fellow drinkers here are also quite friendly. we even got invited to a dinner party. delicious!
after a few too many we hit up the juke box. the fact that you can download pretty much anything (we played anticon and madonna) seals the deal.
oh, and the (free) pretzels are outstanding.
recap:
cheap strong drinks
friendly bartenders
awesome regulars
fun, fun, fun, atmosphere
walking distance to friend's place
we have a winner folks.
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This is a fun neighborhood bar. They have several options on tap that are not "Macro Brews".
The crowd and the people behind the bar are friendly. The owners are both notaries, so you have that going for ya too.
GP Station is a great neighborhood bar. Not chic or upscale but not a dive either, in my opinion. Reasonable prices, good drinks, dartboard, friendly folks--everything you'd look for in a local joint.
The people that drink here start super early. There's always a group of hammered old men here at like 11am. Its a cool place I've been here like 4 times. Its an okay bar and there's darts. Drinking and darts is like the best idea ever. A buddy of mine lost an eye here though
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This is a cutty little bar with locals and TVs and crusty dudes drinking American beer. Next door to La Corneta, so you can fill up on burritos and then head over for a Ramos Fizz, er, I mean, a Bud Light.
Why is there WiFi and a notary service? For "working"!?
And as the sign says, they offer "liquor to take out"???
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