Ace Cafe
1799 Mission St
at 14th St
(between 14th St & Erie St)
San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 861-3002
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Music: Juke Box
- Best Nights: Mon, Wed, Sun
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
- Smoking: Yes
- Coat Check: No
30 reviews
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
"Very nice place in a rather shady neighborhood. The restaurant is HUGE, and had no problems accommodating all 17 of us. Downstairs there…" read more »
37 Reviews for Ace Cafe
This is a London pub in SF! A friend invited me to come and hangout at this place to watch motorcycle racing. I had been invited by another regular awhile back, and decided to finally go. Rob the owner and his lovely wife made me feel right at home we chatted it up for a few hours about IOM, riding and Europe in general. Lots of great people Mia the barmaid is very attentive with the beer and wine. I am a fan and most likely will become a regular.
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Crazy Smoke Laden bar.
Good drinks, good times.
Across the street from The SF Armory so I hear there's some porn bandied about... I also hear some crazy freaks from Rainbow go there to drink, but you didn't hear that from me.
Bikers++
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"motorcycle people are good people" - unknown fan in "FASTER"
this is the place in SF to see watch motorcycle road racing, partake of an excellent selection of brews, and meet real fans of racing, real motorcyclists, and not friggin posers like Gerrard W...
the owners live and breathe bikes and it shows in the atmosphere and camaraderie.
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Rumpled, good natured bartender. Pretenders, Jam, Kinks, Who, soundtrack. Shabby chic moto-GP inspired decor. Elk with motorcycle faring in his antlers. Really really old beat-ass Bell helmet on a shelf. Found Giacomo Agostini on the wall.
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I'm hesitant to write a review here, only for the fact that I like the way the bar is. It reminds me of how the old Zeitgeist used to be (circa 80's and 90's) - that being a biker bar. Where you could actually talk about motorcycles and motorsports while you enjoy some suds and booze.
I've always wanted a place to watch Moto GP races at, and also a place with a decent jukebox if a race isn't on. (Don't expect to play the box if there's a race. It will be un-plugged for a reason). I dred the day when Mission yuppies and hipsters take this over. But you can't have your cake and eat it too, right?
Oh, there's also a good kitchen too. BBQ ribs on race days and probably one of the BEST fish n chips in the City!
* I'd want to give it more stars, but maybe the lower ranking might turn people off.
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The Ace Cafe is what Zeitgeist tries to be. A true motorcycle cafe, The Ace is inspired by the London cafe of the same name which was a haven for London Rockers in the 60s. Being founded and run by a native Brit, SF's Ace captures that spirit, while not copying it (yes, I've been to the original).
At first glance, it's as typical a blue collar bar as you'll find; pool table, jukebox, kitchen in the back and ashtrays on the table (smoking allowed). Their beer selection and prices are more than respectable so, no one can complain about them not having something they'll enjoy. The staff is friendly and fast, though the kitchen can be a bit slow. No worries, however, it's well worth the wait for their Fish and Chips. The batter is light and flaky, the fish is fresh and it's all cooked to perfection.
If you're in the mission, love old British motorcycles, or want truly friendly atmosphere, try The Ace.
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Dive bar look and feel, but I get the impression that it won't stay that way for long. I hope I''m wrong though. Better than average beer on tap selections, and reasonably priced. Good sized joint with several tables/chairs. Good tunes on the jukebox. Great biker paraphernalia, and the owner/bartender seems like a cool guy. It's only been open a little while, and the one time I went in for a couple of beers was early on a Thursday afternoon so there wasn't that many patrons there. Those that were there rode their motos, but I'm close enough to walk. I plan on going back soon though to see how this place evolves. Might even try the fish and chips that someone wrote about. Oh, and you can smoke inside.
old farts garage???? nothing cool and lets face it, smoking in the place is out and wrong. this place could be cool. Does the owner have a clue on the mission???????
The Ace Cafe is a small friendly dive bar in the Mission, with a definite Anglo mom and pop lean to it. It has a reputation as a biker bar and is IMHO more authentic on that count than say Zeitgeist. I spose that's the biggest thing it has going for it - a sort of unpretentious friendliness I have not encountered since frequenting my neighborhood mom and pop pub back in England.
But, Ace is not about being Big, Dangerous and Bad Ass - really unless it's on the back of a bike - other reviews aside:) It's about having a place to watch Motorcycle races, talk to fellow two wheel enthusiasts, throw back a pint or two and maybe grab some fish and chips, or even a grilled cheese sandwich. The juke box is well stocked and not too loud, so you can actually have a conversation in there even when the music is on and the place is jumping.
The owner is there most nights, the bar staff is friendly and there are often a few four legged beasts wandering around the bar looking for attention. People do smoke in the bar, so if that is a sticking point for you, this is probably not the best place for you.
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not sure why it took me this long to write about it but... ace cafe is fabulous!
great food! obviously! pulled pork and delicious salad and fried goodness
good beer
good service
friendly friends
pool table
jukebox
what more do you want exactly?
maybe some sparse taxidermy? done!
I think this bar is new. Although I have been seeing it sitting on the corner of Mission and 14th for quite some time and never ventured inside, so maybe this bar is NEW to me.
I love it. I love divey kind of bars where the people are real and the real bonus...a kitchen!! A kitchen that serves good food. That fella working the food makes some mean fish and chips.
Definitely a motor cycle dive bar, but a good one at that!
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This is my new favorite motorcycle dive bar, replacing Zeitgeist, my old favorite. plus they have races on the TV, something the Geist never had. As soon as the yuppies and fixed gear posers find out, it will be over! But until then......
I would give it 5 stars but I hate cigarette smoke!
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I think Erin O. is correct and very observant! ("I think this bar is new. ") Yes this bar is new, about one year since it opened. It's just your regular not-so clean dive inside. It has a pool table (!!!) . And, it's very cool for motorcycle owners like me! But the atmosphere can be a little smoky.
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The dining provided in the back of this bar was a pleasant surprise. Excellent fish and chips with homemade tartar sauce. The kitchen is set up with a counter like a bar, the fry cook is like your food bar tender. It's really unusual and not fussy in the least bit and a great, repeat- GREAT place to drink in.
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I hesitate yelping this place because I really don't want it to become overfilled with Marina douchebags and coked up hipsters. However I need to pay my respects. This is my favorite spot right now and it'll probably stay that way until I quit smoking. The staff here are totally laid back and nice as fuck. The jukebox here kicks ass too. And they serve foods too. And they have HP sauce. Yes. Motherfuckin HP sauce. So good. This place kicks Zeitgeist's ass hands down. Bartenders and the cook are cool as hell. You can find a seat no problem. No tripping over fixies. No fake "we're so bad ass" attitudes. And no yuppies.
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Great place to watch the GP races and not be in a sports bar , food service and crowd are all right up my alley,
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Somebody got killed in this bar!!!
Seriously!!!
How cool is that?
I mean, not for the dude who got killed... And maybe not for the guy who's gonna get fried for killing him... But...
I DOUBT anyone's ever been killed in:
Lucky 13
Zeitgeist
The Attic
Mission Bar
Molotov's
Places that all think they're pretty badass.
GUESS WHAT?! YER NOT!!!
Has anyone ever been KILLED in you? No? Um, okay. Well why don't you go hang out with the Blue Light, then. And Perry's. AND JADE.
Yep, that's right. Pansy bars. All of you.
YOU AIN'T NO ACE CAFE.
Ace, I would totally take you home to Detroit and introduce you to the Temple. Or to Paycheck's. Clearly, you can hang.
In other news, the staff at the Ace is totally cool. You can smoke inside. They have food. AND...
When I was there, I ponied up for a beer, and the woman next to me announced that she was a psychic and started telling me eerie shit. ABOUT ME!
Totally badass.
(PS -- I swear, that murder thing is true. The bartender told me. And no, I don't think it's bad PR. I obviously think it's GOOD PR because I'm a whackjob!)
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me likee.
if you enjoy motorcycles (and the folks that ride them) and a good dive bar that doesn't give a fuck about smoking regulations... you'll fit in just fine here.
friendly people abound. low poseur quotient. tasty & cardiologist-repelling bar food. isle of man TT history running on the TV (and people paying attention to it... damn it, did hailwood win it 11 or 12 times?).
ace's gets 5 stars for being EXACTLY what it should be, and nothing more. I know where I'm going to be to watch motogp on sunday.
Very cool place, fun people, the owner is awesome and down to earth and there is always a good time going on there.
The moto stuff around the place makes for some good scenery and the moto GP races are always fun to watch.
The only bad thing that they allow smoking inside
Hanging out in bars like Ace usually make me feel like a bad ass. Sadly, the night I ventured into Ace I was in heels, my hair all curly, and I'm pretty sure I was wearing some glitter (IT WAS NEW YEAR'S EVE! LAY OFF!).
There were dogs running around everywhere, smoke in the air, bike racing on tv, the toilet had those weird fake fishes in the seat, the bartender ignored us until we asked for another beer. It was a perfect dive bar.
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ACE is great! I really like this place. The decor is cool. I love all the pics of bike racing.
The owner Rob as well as the other bartenders are NICE. Yes, nice. They don't have an attitude, just a smile and mostly kind words. I say mostly only because Rob's kind of a wise-ass when he's loaded, but he's harmless and quite a cool guy.
ACE is a chill alternative to Zeitgeist (depending on the day and if they are showing races there). Not to trash Zeitgeist b/c it's still my love and I've had more good times there than I can count. I consider myself an "investor" at Zeitgeist because of all the money I've spent there over the years. I can assure you it will be the same with ACE.
The pool table at ACE is clean, newish and the felt isn't all ripped up. The pool sticks are in good condition as well. This is quite rare for a Mission bar. Also, you can usually get on the table without waiting 30 minutes for your turn. Honestly I find myself somewhat reluctant to even write this knowing that much like a quiet tropical paradise it may soon be doomed to "Cancun-dom." (Have you ever waited in line at Zeitgeist on a Fri. night?) Hipsters stay out!
The food in the cafe isn't too bad and they even have one somewhat healthy option.
The only reason why I'm giving ACE four stars instead of five is that they don't yet have a liquor license. That said, maybe they don't need one???
See you there!
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For all you bikers out there this is a great hangout. If the smell of tobacco bothers you then go elsewhere, but I think most bikers smoke, or don't mind when others do. Great selection of beers, and I can bring my dog! How cool is that!
Ace Cafe, named after a legendary bike-racing cafe in London, represents a nice low-key alternative to Zeitgeist. As a big fan of bike-racing I liked the vibe, decor and clientele. The beer selection is great (they even have Speakeasy's Hunters Point Porter).
The one MAJOR issue is that they allow smoking inside. I'm not really sure that the bar is good enough to justify putting up with stinking up my clothes and having to share someone else's filthy vice, especially when it's straight up illegal. I'm sure the bar thinks they're showing their support for personal freedoms and adding to the "mystique" and "danger" of the sportbike culture, but I'll be honest - I'll take my chances on my motorcycles any day of the week over breathing second-hand smoke...
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Knew I was at the right place when I saw the Ducati parked outside! Cool little motorcycle bar with friendly bartenders, surprising variety of wine by the glass, and yummy food. Try the "toastie" - a bacon and cheese pannini sort of thing served with curry patato salad. Delicious. One note, don't visit if smoke bothers you, lots of smokers inside...
My friends and I wound up here on time while looking for Zeitgeist. Somehow we got our bearings wrong and ended up one block up and one block over from where Zeitgeist actually is. Then we were like, oh well, we were looking for a biker bar, this here is a biker bar, we have a parking spot so let's just go in.
While they dont have hard alcohol this place does actually have a really good selection of beers; I had the Red Tail on tap. After making selections on the kickass jukebox, I got schooled at pool by three different gay dudes in Carhart coveralls. They beat me badly in the nicest way possible though, each surrendering their win claiming that they were tired of playing anyway ... yeah right.
Theres some kind of weird cafe situation in the back. I didnt check out the menu but it smelled deeply fried. There were dogs here too - major plus!!
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I'm not sure this is really a cafe, but it does pretty well as a bar. There's no hard liquor, just beer and wine, with a better beer list than wine list. They've got about 5 beers on tap and 15 bottled versions to choose from (including delirium tremens). It's sort of a biker bar, but only in the sense that they have a bunch of tvs playing motorcycle races and a few types of people who like to watch that stuff. There's a pool table and a jukebox, some tables, and a good bar. You can also smoke in here - no joke, there are ashtrays on the bar.
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I guess we found our MotoGP race watching spot!
After being abandoned for nearly ten years, this spot has been reincarnated as a bare-bones biker bar with motorcycle racing on all of the TVs. It features an extensive collection of beer on tap and in bottles, in addition to premium wine (sorry, no hard liquor now, and I know that some of you might be skeptical of a wine rack in a biker bar, but bear with me here). There's a pool table and a jukebox that's full of your hard rock, metal, and punk favorites, as well as a kitchen serving sausages, barbecue, and chili. Although I requested my chili extra spicy, I think I might have succumbed to a slightly inebriated hubris when ordering, which I paid the price for three hours later. It will was still very good, though, and well worth the pain.
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Cold beer? Check.
Shockingly good wine selection? Check.
The Fabulous Mia (ex-Expansion) on Mondays and Saturday afternoons among many other fabulous bartenders (yeah, Tuesday night cutie, I'm looking at you)? Check. Check.
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Great spot to watch moto races, chow down on a tri tip sandwich or sausage, play pool and chat with the lovliest of people in the Mission.
Kudos the the excellent wine selection, so many beer & wine only bars are too lazy to spend a minute stocking decent wine, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Ace knows better.
Saturday days and Tuesday nights are awesome with Mia serving up brews and wine with a smile. Playing the juke box is always a treat, so much great stuff that's different from the other Mission bars.
They just got some stickers and shirts in, girlie bitch beaters, hooray!
Absolutely the nicest folks in the world. This place just opened but I'm one of the 1337 few that's been hanging around for a few weeks. Now that it's a legitimate and operational bar, I'm looking forward to using this as my own personal Cheers.
Rob (a lifelong motorcycle fanatic) and crew have done an excellent job with this little corner place.
Just having Strongbow (the best cider known to civilized Man) on draft is worth 3 stars to me. I drank buckets of the stuff at the Isle of Man and was thrilled to find it here.
they also have an excellent jukebox, great bar food, MotoGP on the big screen, and some of the nicest staff in town. Sparsely populated on the Tuesday night I popped in, but fully half of the patrons were actual bike chicks in leather! That's gotta count for something.
non-descript bar on mission at 14th. beers, dogs & smoking. i think the smoking policy keeps it from getting crowded.
Nice twist to the mission. This is a biker bar that allows smoking in bar. Currently the bar only serves beer and wine but they have a great selection of domestic and imported beers on tap. Bar also serves food.
They've only been open for about a month. I hope this place makes it. Nice neighborhood joint with reasonably priced eats and beers, good juke box and motorcycle racing in the background. Oh!, and ask for 'Henry'.
Hey, new bar in my neighborhood... They finally opened this place up and it's pretty damn cool. Tons of good beers including a german pilsner that I have never had (and I drink alot of beer) which turned out to be pretty damn good. For now they stay open untill 2am on fridays and Saturdays, every other day they close at 12. I had the tri tip sandwich and it seemed to hit the spot. I will definatly be back.
Great place for a beer, a bite and a race or a game of pool.
If you're looking for a night out in the Mission, skip this place! Before coming back to my car and finding the window smashed in, I'd already been disappointed by the slumming college-kid atmosphere and pathetic attempts to create yet another "biker" atmosphere in the neighborhood. Isn't that scene a little on the stale side already? Anyway, if you're a poser who's chosen that particular uniform, now's your chance to become a pioneering regular on a corner best known for junkies, gang killings and now cheesy b-movie pornography.
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