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Mon-Wed. 4:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Thu-Fri. 3:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sat. 8:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
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Best downtown happy hour (From like 4-9pm).
$5 Flavored Martini's (I like the peach)
No attitude from the bartenders or the people who frequent the place as far as I have seen so far.
It's a bit small, but I kinda like that.
So after getting chased out our usual watering hole (Sutter Station) by some meth addict, my buddy and I decided to check out Dada. I have walked by several times on my way to John Collins and Zebulon's but never went in. The crowd was supprisingly mellow which was mostly inhabited with by business types and indie kids enjoying the booze and art on the wall.
I really appreciated their happy hour specials. $4 for beer and select cocktails which is much cheaper than The Station. Another nice touch was the free popcorn. I know it's not much but I do enjoying munching on something when I am drinking.
I came here with aforementioned Betty N who was definitely gaga over Dada! Besides throwing a fantastic party at a hidden away lounge that has great ambiance and a very Phantom of the Opera type interior decorations; it was also a place with surprisingly ample parking on a late Friday night.
One of the reasons I suspect for this is that Dada is actually more or less near the financial district / general downtown area, so at night people don't normally park in the area much (it's also somewhat near-ish Union Square) so parking was easily found on the street for free and very close to Dada (within half a block!)
They have a live DJ which is nice and their bar is well stocked with premium alcohol at a not so premium price. I loved that they had a variety of beers on draft and all good beers (no bud lights here!) and their alcohol was cheap! I spent $40 on 6 drinks and thought I was crazy (this is INCLUDING proper drink tips!) I am definitely feeling the vibe of this place and will be happy to come back for future events and/or just to hang out.
Gaga over Dada.
Hosted our Halloween event here; friendly and efficient bartenders, great space, and the ambiance was just right. Love the chandeliers.
The lounge layout is a rectangular room with a loft area for a DJ who can oversee the below crowd. Pretty cool. The bar was nicely stocked and the lighting was not too dark.
Mark, the owner, was very communicative and professional. Cool guy. We were permitted to bring our own decorations, DJ, and food. Can't beat that.
Highly recommend.
G-damn it is stuffy in here! Like a sauna!
You can take a crap in peace though, because there are two SINGLE OCCUPANCY bathrooms. I love single occupancy bathrooms at bars/lounges/clubs. I normally don't mind taking craps at public establishments, but with a bar/lounge/club, it is different. I have an incredible paranoia & fear for dropping a deuce at drinking establishments. No problem here though! Thanks to SINGLE OCCUPANCY bathrooms!
Happy hour drink specials are great!
The acoustics are terrible here! No one can hear anyone so everyone is yelling all the time.
The staff is friendly, the customers are the typical bridge and tunnel / Marnia-ite crowd getting some drinks in before the migration home.
They have decent drink specials for happy hour.
All said not my kind of place but not terrible, I did enjoy watching the female bartender shaking cocktails.
I'd go back if someone else wanted to.
dada brings back great memories... we used to frequent this watering hole quite a bit when i worked closer to soma... we used to hang out and sit on the lounge couch by the window next to the entrance... the ambeince and the happy hours are pretty decent here... pretty chill place... h-100...
Small bar but cozy, a great place to hang out with friends after work. Loved the choices of art works. The music wasn't too loud, so it was easy to have conversations with friends. Only got one bartender, but she tried really hard to give everyone what they needed (including couple cups of water that we asked for). No weird guys trying to pick up girls, everyone was just there to hang out with friends, so it was very relaxing.
Thursday evening after finishing up late at work, when my honey bunny picked me up I offered this place to enjoy round of martinis. Happy hour till 9 pm!
Absolutely wonderful atmosphere and great deal on drinks.
This place is okay. I found out that it's no point in dressing up when heading off to this place, just throw on jeans and a T-shirt, and you will blend in...
It's extremely crowded after 430pm. They have decent drinks, IPA on tap.
This isn't my kind of place, so my review may not be all that accurate for others who enjoy narrow bars with shoulder to shoulder standing room only. I definately don't consider this place as a lounge.
Happy Hour from 4-9pm; $5 dollar martini's. I consider this place a great hole-in-a-wall dive bar. The bartenders are nice and friendly. A great place for coworkers to go out and unwind. It does get a bit packed toward 5:30-6:00 pm; but it does slow down drastically after.
I like it! *thumbs up*
Came here yesterday for a spontaneous happy hour with a couple of friends... the drink specials for happy hour ranges from $5-9 which is pretty good. We drink mostly the martinis and margaritas which were pretty strong. I was buzzing by the 4th drink... The bartender was super nice and accommodating - he gave us extra cherries and olives to munch on with our drinks.
The only downside is that there is no A/C and there's limited seating... you also can't hear the music that's playing in the background. I'm always looking for bars with good music so that took off one star...
Nice little spot in the middle of the Financial District. Went there this past Fri for a pre-Halloween party. Good crowd to about midnight, then thinned pretty quickly.
Great DJ. He was spinning videos, which added a nice touch. Gave the night that extra element. Never knew they could do that. No more CD's I guess. Anyway, good mix of popular rap, R&B, dance stuff. Hope they bring him back.
I still wouldn't give them 5 stars, but I have returned and had some drinks at happy hour. I am pleased to report that they are strong and tasty. Juuuuust like I like 'em.
Also, they give you a free little bowl of popcorn so you can have shit stuck in your teeth all night. Excellent. Thanks Dada, you're goin' strong in my book.
I went here the other night with some coworkers. The interior was cool but not too posh that you're… Read more »
Friday night, happy hour from 4-9.. love that! The well vodka taste like water. Bartender told me it tastes good with all mix drinks except a martini which is funny because that was their happy hour special. $5 marTINYs are more like it.
But I'm giving them 3 stars because I like the venue, dim lighting, comfy seats, nice bartenders and oh yeah, have to mention the chandelier.
It's a very cool bar with some interesting art pieces, except for the painting in the back that's all black. What the ....? A canvas painted all black with thin red writing, "There is something on this canvas" or something like that.
Anyways, I like this bar. It's got the mission vibe in the thick of financial district. I like it much more on the weekends when it's not so crowded with the financial district overworked type As.
Minus 1 point for not having food. It's not you, it's me. I just don't like to drink w/o food.
Met up with some friends for Thursday evening happy hour and it was my first time here. Cool, narrow bar with lots of ample seating and dark art. It had the Mission feel except it's in SoMa. I'm a fan. Plus they carry Chopin vodka on hand. ;o)
Extremely narrow, expensive drinks, but you can get room for a group sometimes and the happy hour is decent.
I came here about 6 weeks ago with a friend thinking that the happy hour lasted until 9pm (It even says so on their own website). We showed up at 8:05 and the bartender completely flat out refused to give us the happy hour specials since she said the happy hour ended at 8, not 9. I told her what the website said, but she didn't care at all.
Well, Dada, get it straight....is it 9 or 8? Because if it's 8, then you NEED TO CHANGE YOUR WEBSITE!!!!!
In fact, I'm giving it one star for that encounter alone. The place was nice, cozy, and not at all intimidating like some places can be....but the bartender killed it for me.
As its name suggests, "Dada" art adorns the walls of this cozy bar.
I came here the other night for a birthday party and thought it was a great space, with reasonably priced drinks. Plus, the doorman was totes cute!
Came here last week with a few friends. Nothing spectacular...it's ok.
Dada. Your Mama and Papa would say YaYa.
My new favorite happy hour place. 4 to 8 p.m. yes, that's real happy hours.
$4-5 beers.
$5 Peach (among other flavors - pomegranate, dirty and cosmo) flavored vodka martinis? Delicious.
Popcorn? Free.
You can even bring food in here. Someone was eating a Subway sandwich - and washing it down with a cold beer.
Plenty of eye-candy. Lots of good looking people (hint: my friends and I were here yesterday) and art plastered against the walls.
Friendly bartenders - they kept filling our popcorn and making sure we had enough drinks.
Fun crowd - your artsy peeps & your suit-wearing Fidi men. Comfy booths and plenty of seating.
Great location - reconciles SOMA & Fidi.
this place is only okay for SOMA HH drink specials- beers $4-$5 and girly martinis for $6-$7. i sat down and had a drink w/ free popcorn while waiting for my friend and had a nice time staring at the strange art and watching the FiDi people going home from work, but i realized that once you have had a first drink, the bartender girl pretty much dismisses you. my friend had to actually stand up and wave at her for a couple minutes to order a round while she was busy texting behind the bar. the pomegranate margarita was WAY TOO SWEET! watch out for that. the HH martinis are pretty small so i'd suggest sticking to beers or mixed drinks.
This is where we met, for the very first time. Maybe it was the techno-angel sculptures on the walls, or the twisting spirals of Enochian-deamt artwork on the walls, maybe it was the way the dim lights reflected off your snowflake hair. Maybe it was nothing more than the growing spell of madness that I was slowly entering into. Maybe it was just one of those nights, those magical San Francisco nights, when the chilly bay winds blow and storybook magic steps out of the fog and changes the lives of foolish, mortal men...
Or maybe, just maybe, it really was a sign from heaven -- a warning? a promise? I don't know what the truth is, but I know when I saw you there across the room, the blood-red glass of Cabernet in your hand, behind your perfect head, a golden, streaming light. Today is Wednesday -- the lonely Tuesday night happy-hour Chardonnay sippers are just a memory and the mass of Thursday-night rabble-rousers are a distant, indistinct mirage on the horizon. And here we are, guided by kismet and the cruel, careless games of Fate. A moment later, and you'd have already left, a moment earlier and I wouldn't have yet arrived. I am walking up to you, entranced by your shimmering, honeylit halo, and you smile at me, and the universe explodes into being. Lux fiat from your perfect, glowing face.
"Hello," what do I say? The words are not coming from me, but the spirit that walks between us tonight, "Do you mind if I talk with you, for a bit?" That's what you heard, but it isn't what I spoke. Syncopatic vibrations of sound twisted by the magic road between my lips and your tiny, perfect ears, transformed a sophomoric joke instead into exactly what you needed me to say to keep me there. You are waiting, waiting to leave. How long did we talk? A minute? An hour? Or did we even speak a single word together? Who can now say. Here a year later, through love, and pain, and anger, and joy, and tears, who can really say how it all began? I'll never forget that forgettable afternoon, not for the rest of my life.
You changed me, this place changed me. You woke within me, what? Love? Darkness? Was it Azrael, or Azazel? A destroying angel, or an infernal demon, beating beneath my breast, waiting until this very night, surrounded by circuit-board angels and garish wrought-iron chandeliers, to wake and consume my soul? I became the best and the worst of myself that night. I now walk a new and strange path that began that lost and forlorn night, and ends... where? Will it ever lead me back to you? Or were you simply the catalyst that lit the pilot lamp beneath my bubbling, emotion-fed reactor? There's no way to know the end of the road, but to follow it to completion. And for this place, this dark, dreaming dive of a saloon, I will always see your ghost, sitting there at the corner, smiling at me... the only woman I've ever truly loved.
I love you.
Dada, you have red walls and a giant statue of wings. How could I not like you?
I came on a Wednesday after work, and unlike other times where I've seen a crowd so large that it can barely fit inside the door (maybe when the art changes?), there was hardly anyone here. But, in a good way. Meaning, I could sit down and not stand in heels for 3 hours. The booths are cozy and stretch the length of bar, so event though it's a small space, they definitely try to maximize their seating.
What I liked the best was that even when they bumped the music up (I was looking for a table to dance on when Biggie came on, but alas, twas not to be!) it was still quiet enough to be able to have a normal conversation with the person next to you. In other words, I didn't have to scream at someone 2 inches away from my face. Although Minna is generally the place in SOMA I'd go on a Wednesday, I think if you actually want to have a lengthy conversation with someone and aren't in the mood for dancing, Dada is a better bet.
What I didn't like was the size of their happy hour drinks. I didn't know cosmos could be served in a shot glass! It wasn't like I was trying to get wasted but you could honestly give those drinks to a 3 year old without them feeling the slightest buzz. So any charm that I might have exuded that night was thrown out the window by the fact that I had to order a drink every 10 minutes. Well, that's an exaggeration, but you get the idea. On the flip side, the bartender seemed so nice that if I had asked him to make me a grown-up sized drink, he probably would've.
I'll definitely be back when I want to meet up with someone to have a discussion, as opposed to leaving them to dance on a stage.
After one too many happy hours at Irish Bank (it's across the street from my office), a couple of co-workers and I headed to Dada to switch things up a bit. They have a great happy hour that lasts until 8pm and the bartenders are all really friendly. I went back to meet a date here and the next time I went again with co-workers the bartender recognized me and made a point to chat me up...anywhere with friendly people is always solid in my book.
Check out the art work, nipples and panties are always a crowd pleaser.
A variety of house martinis- $5 each
Happy hour until 8pm- about $20
Excellent service- about $12 in tips
No hangover after 4 dirty house martinis- priceless
Cool spot in a place in SF that desperately needs one.
Great loooong bar with plenty of seats and friendly barstaff.
The two DJs on Friday night were dropping some excellent music from the loft area, volume level wasn't obnoxious but the sound system was bumping in a good way!
Really cool place and their happy hour drinks are liver damagingly good!
Really nice folks work at Dada. If you're trying to put together a low-budget gathering for work folks, call them. They'll rope off the big table for you, allow you to bring food in or have pizza delivered, and will make sure they have enough staff behind the bar to help you drown your sucky work problems. Or celebrate reaching a milestone.
Or swing by for happy hour with some pals. It's a neato spot for cheap drinks.
A good, cheap happy hour in San Francisco is a rare thing, to be cherished. (And if you disagree, definitely let me know your faves - I'd be so happy to find out I am wrong on this one!) Went there around 6 pm on a Wednesday, and the place was full, but not uncomfortably so, which was nice.
DaDa is conveniently located in SoMa/Financial District. Their Happy Hour runs till 8 pm and includes cheap beer, wine and margaritas, as well as a variety of vodka martinis (pomegranate, cosmo, peach and dirty as I recall) for only $5. Woohoo!
The bartenders (There were 2, which was a good ratio to the amount of drinking going on) were friendly, quick, and on-point with the drinks. Our pomegranate martinis were well mixed, generously strong, and not sweet or syrupy, which is rare. We had a few of those and then tried the dirty martini, which was also good.
My partner was super-excited about the free popcorn for munching, and I was a big fan of the comfortable seating (high tables at front and side wtih lounge-y tables at the back with lots of seats at the bar as well.)
Overall a great find, we'll be back.
I have a standing date with a friend on Monday nights at DaDa. Tonight, it was apparently also the meeting of the San Francisco Lonely Hearts club. This is a good atmosphere for such a meeting: dim, surrounded by art, cheerful bartenders, popcorn if you want it, and a pretty good happy hour ($5 martinis, $4 beers).
Two beers and a dirty, dirty martini later, I'm home and not feeling the pain so much.
A bar doesn't really have the power to lift you out of the doldrums, but your friends do. And this place provides a nice, laid back setting on Monday nights for those friends to join you...notably, conveniently close to my school.
I'll be back...
Not that this place really needs another review, but I do love it here. They have a great happy hour, and popcorn. I'm a big fan of bars with popcorn (see the Albatross) so this is major points in my book.
The atmosphere here is laid back and warm. The bar is dark and there is cool art on the walls. They have $5 martinis which is hard to pass up. Of course, I ordered a gin martini and my friend ordered vodka. I made the mistake of watching the bartender pull out a bottle of taaka vodka. I don't know if any of you remember taaka, but it's what we drank in high school. It was something like $2 for a half pint, mix it with a little diet coke, and voila, the most disgusting drink ever. but we drank it, in HIGH SCHOOL.
After watching this horror, i turned my head, so I could avoid knowing what kind of gin they used in my martini. I simply asked the bartender to make it extra extra dirty, and hey, it was great! Not many bartenders actually make my martinis as dirty as I like them, so I was happy when it came back almost too salty to drink. Not gonna lie, I loved it, and I loved the second and third one, too.
Thats about all I remember. Next thing I know I'm watching as the BART doors close on my stop in Berkeley. Fuck. I have to stop drinking on weekdays.
I kept trying to think of a clever way to use that old 90s dance song, "Da Da Da (How Bizarre)" in my review, but I'm, having trouble, so I'll keep it simple. Dada was a pretty solid happy hour spot. Went here last week with coworkers and was pleasantly surprised. $4 beers, $5 martinis...not bad. I will say that the martini glasses were a little on the small size, but hey, how much alcohol does one really need? Kidding. Great art on the walls, attentive staff and a moderately clean restroom. Aside from the fact that this place was super packed, I'd return. I think I'll put it on my M-W happy hour list, but something tells me Thursday and Friday get a little too busy.
The Happiest hour in the hood! 4-8pm now that's a happy hour us late working lads can attend!
The bar tender on tuesday thursday and friday is cute and cool, "Vicky"! She knows how to mix drinks to boot!! Her Pomegranate Martinis are my recommendation. I work opposite so i am a regular. There are a ton of bars in the hood, this is by far the best atmosphere, art and clients!
A great find in the 2nd/Market area.
When you want something in between an ultra pricey lounge and that comfortable but crowded dive ... in this area ... DaDa will suit you just fine. Call it the Goldilocks of that little area's bar scene, i.e. not too much of this-or to little of that-but just right.
While it is classified as a lounge I feel that may be stretching the truth just a bit. The atmosphere is loungy (chill music for the most part-nice revolving art pieces-darker) but to be a full on lounge it would need more seclusion. The wall length seat is quite comfy and offers a good place for your group of 2-6 people.
The bartenders are fast and friendly and the clientele basically are here to partake in the great happy hour and chat with their friends, coworkers, or liaisons. The decibel level is just right so you don't have to raise your voice too much but you also can't hear the other tables' conversation...generally a good background hustle and bustle.
No food. Full bar. Smallish alcohol drinks. Good beers on tap. A decent place...all in all about 3 stars...but with great company easily a 4 or a 5 and will always be memorable.
pros: great happy hour drink specials. good beers on tap. and some fruity faux martinis for $5 a pop, but i'd stay away from those. mixed crowd. chandelier in the front. endless free popcorn. friendly bartenders who are always on point and never miss a beat. i mean, the dude didn't even have to ask for my name to close my tab after 2+ hours. that was seriously impressive. and they take amex.
cons: can get crowded, and too many napkins over half filled pint glasses at empty seats when it is really crowded. boo.
While I've never visited the bar on a regular night, I did have the fine fortune to rent this place out for my 30th birthday and If I say so myself, it was a spectacular time. The owners were great at communicating with me prior to the event, they allowed me to bring food, connect my ipod to the stereo system and even play movies on the screen behind the bar. It was perfect for my Warhol Factory themed fete and I highly recommend this space as a party rental!
We went there for happy hour, enticed by the promise of $5 cocktails...only to realize that the martinis were $5-sized (i.e. small), the place was packed, and the drinks were nothing to write home about. Everything tasted a bit watered down and I definitely saw the bartender pour orange juice (minute maid from concentrate, no less) into my peach martini. The end result tasted a little syrupy. The price tag might be might be satisfactory, but the overall experience was, unfortunately, not.
A former co-worker of mine hosted a very hip party at Dada. She invited all of her friends who she'd met while working in Antarctica (really!) and displayed tons of crazy art. She donned a black leather dress and long black leather gloves. I did not expect to see her sporting that hot look!
There were great passed appetizers, fortune cookies with special fortunes in them, good drinks (of course!), and an awesome tap dance performance.
When I came back to Dada for happy hour one day, I barely recognized it. If it were like her Antarctica party all the time, it would be at least 5 stars! Compared to that, it just seemed a little bit ordinary though...
This review was prompted by two realizations:
1) After a long review-writing hiatus, it occurred to me that I use Yelp reviews all the time to figure out places to try so I really should be writing reviews to contribute to the pool of opinions available on the site.
2) I had such a great experience at a place that I wanted to share it with the Yelp community.
That place is DaDa. I passed it all the time walking to and from work and had been there once before for a drink. Recently, I was looking for a venue for a trunk show I was hosting for a friend's eco-friendly fair trade clothing line (http://www.suutra.com). I did a search on Yelp for a downtown venue and read through several reviews. I contacted Mark at DaDa and explained the type of event I wanted to host. He couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating. The trunk show went off without a hitch and the venue worked out perfectly. The drinks were delicious and reasonably priced as well. I will definitely be back and encourage others to check it out as well.
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