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Mon-Fri. 5:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sat. 9:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
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Was recommended to this place by a local for a good place for well priced drinks and a good atmosphere.
To keep it short and sweet, John Colins is exactly that. The brick adds some character to this bar that i haven't felt many places in San Francisco. Definitely a unique spot.
Great Place.
It's not often I frequent bars... especially bars that don't have half naked boys and disco music. John Collins is the exception.
The bar itself has a great lay out. Very roomy. Its easy to sit and have a conversation with friends without feeling intruded upon. It has space to move and you are easily able to get to the bar.
The bar tenders here are friendly and know how to make a decent drink. This seems to be a very after work crowd. Which is great. Everyone is just unwinding and socializing. A great place to meet your straight friends, have a drink and have a laugh.
Great place to grab a few drinks if you're not up for a club scene. The crowd varies depending on the time and night you go, but from what I've seen, there's a good mix that finds their way to this little spot.
I do appreciate that the floors aren't sticky and there's no cover at the door as well - which makes this an automatic gem after perusing the grimy little holes around the city. Happy hour is great it too!
I saw the reviews about this place...average of 4 stars? Wow, some of you Yelpers are wayyyyyyy too generous.
Bouncers - kinda rude, if you ask me.
Bar service - can't complain; bartenders are pretty quick
The crowd - meh. It's usually a mix I don't really care for because it gets so damn confusing sometimes. You have the college kids (the ones who have been attending college for 6+ years and can't ever graduate) in their backpacks (very classy). Then you have the yuppie types in their fancy Thomas Pink shirts and ties. And then you have the artsy folks in their dreadlocks. Kinda like a weird psychedelic dream when you people-watch here...
I don't think I've lasted more than 10 minutes at this place before wanting to leave and go across the street to Zebulon.
Down a very non-descript alley in the shadow of the Bay Bridge approach lives John Colins. (What's with the one "l", Colins? You too cool for two?) The inviting space has low benches and tables lining the walls and leads back to a full bar and an upstairs room which I did not explore. They had St. George's (GO ALAMEDA, GO!) seasonal Spiced Pear vodka (fantastic with soda) and after a few of those, I don't recall much else about the place.
Did I mention the bartenders are nice eye candy, and that they serve their shots in these boot shaped shot glasses?
And when I spill a tray full of shots on myself, the bartender so kindly remakes them for me?
Love this place.
Saturday night, 11pm when we finally get here. There is no line to get inside, and…
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We got here around 10.30pm on a Saturday night. It wasn't too crowded yet and a little mellow. We grabbed a few seats at the bar and really enjoyed our drinks. The bartenders were really cool and friendly. The whole place has a great vibe and I liked the asian inspired decor and exposed brick walls. The house music was decent. No cover at the door and the doorman was even nice and funny. I will definitely be back.
2 words for you:
EL MUERTE
One of my very best girlfriends had her birthday/going away party here.
They reserved a few tables near the front of the lounge for the party. I had an awesome time! I loved the old school hip hop beats that they rocked all night long. The vibe is super chill and laid back. I will definitely return for happy hour next time!
I went here for a friend's birthday happy hour. I had nothing to drink before arriving. I am not an intimidating or particularly handsome man.
I could not, couldn't, was unable to, procure a drink for myself.
I stood at the bar. I put cash on the bar. I explained that I only wanted bottled beer (after I heard the bartender complain to another patron that pulling drafts takes longer...completely understandable in my opinion).
Still, I did not receive service.
Look at my reviews, I do not give out 1 star ratings lightly.
Usually, I also rate ambiance, price etc. In this case, all that stuff was irrelevant, because I wasn't served.
This place has 4 stars with 500+ reviews, so my thoughts aren't going to really matter, but I will not return to John Collins.
Not bad if you go there on an off night, or really early, but it tends to get really crowded with annoying people very quickly.
Dos Equis on tap is nice though.
Wow...
Went here with a couple of friends this weekend and boy was I impressed!!! I always here my friends talking about how great this place is and I never really pay them any attention because I normally don't party in SF. Strictly OAK girl :)
To my surprise, I was shocked.
I loved the ambiance of this place. It was a total shocker if you check it out from the outside. The place was packed as if this was the spot that I surely didn't know about.
The house DJ was great. Played an array of music that was awesome.
I got a chance to meet John and his wife and that was cool :)
What I loved most about this place:
The screen where you get to watch clips of an old movie playing
The fact that the door is literally like a curtain...soooo cool
And last but not least like normal lounge settings this place didn't have too many tables and chairs around. So if you wanted to shake a tail feather...which I'm known to do, you have plenty of room ;)
Love this place. Happy hours it's the place to be. And surprisingly, even post happy hour times it's pretty awesome too.
It does get very crowded and it's hard to move at times. So if you're holding on too tight and you've lost the edge - I wouldn't be a regular patron here. Getting drinks and the bartender's attention can be challenging at times considering almost half the place is the bar itself! Just imagine their tough jobs of serving pretty much half of the people in there..considering once you walk in and take 5 steps you're at the bar already!
Very chill, islandy-feeling. Both John and Colins are my homies. And together - we're all BFFs!
Thank you, walking distance to Yelp HQ.
Thank you, Pear of Panties (pear vodka and champagne, times two).
Thank you kind, sexy, (straight!), doorman.
Thank you, much better circulation than Varnish across the alley.
Thank you, mysterious arrival of cheese pizza.
Thank you, even more mysterious arrival of a cab when I wanted to go night night.
No thank you, used pantyliner left behind by a very un-ladlylike lass.
Why is there a totally mangled Snickers wrapper next to my bed? Why does my purse smell like whiskey? Crap. Did I remember to grab my credit card after I paid that tab?
Why did the polo-shirted barkeep think my tab was $4 when it was really $18? Why didn't I keep my mouth shut and let him go with the $4?
Wait, back up...Did I really drink at an establishment where all the bartenders wore polo shirts?
So many questions, so few answers.
But did I have a good time? Yep. And the bartenders kept hustlin' when I and about 100 of my closest friends suddenly descended upon their establishment. Extra star right there.
So why wouldn't this place be alright by me? It was, indeed!
I've been a fan of happy hour at John Colins and I'm an even bigger fan now after throwing a little shindig here for the boyfriends birthday. We had the upstairs Sunset Lounge reserved with bottle service and had a grand ole time! The service was on hit. They came up and checked on us so many times and made sure everything was up to par. We had 2 bottles with all the mixers (red bull, sprite, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, soda water and all the fixings) at a reasonable price. The birthday boy had a blast so mission accomplished. Thanks John Colins! You guys rock!
Fifty of my closest friends and I recently threw a party at John Colins to celebrate a few birthdays.
I have a few deal breakers when it comes to bars:
-An over-abundance of drink spillage (particularly near the bar area) due to over crowding
-Random, sweaty arms brushing up against me because a place is under-ventilated/under-air conditioned
These things were definitely not issues at John Colins, which had:
-Good music (there was a live funk band followed by all night hip-hop music)
-Pretty speedy bar service
-Nice space downstairs, private upstairs by the DJ booth
-Comfortable table seating, with service
-A fun, mixed crowd
We reserved space downstairs for the party, and the staff quickly ushered out a group of Cougars who were unwilling to move from our reserved spot! And, wow!, did these Ladies bring out their best nastiness. But the JC staff stayed professional and got those cats out!
A BIG thanks to Leilani and the great staff at John Colins. We all had a crazy fun time.
This place is a sausage festival. I've never seen so many guys at a bar before on a random weekday night. It's definitely a social place and getting a drink here is a very speedy process, which is a positive.
It's a small bar and it has a neighborhood feel except that these neighbors are extremely friendly because they're trying to get at the ladies.
The prices for the drinks are pretty reasonable and cheap.
I do feel like a lot of the crowd here is between the ages of 25-38 and the guys are either in Finance or Legal professions. I find that a lot of people meet here after work to unwind since it's only a few blocks away from their office. You do find a lot of locals here.
I wouldn't go back here again... It's not my kind of scene.
I don't know why I keep forgetting to give John Collins some well deserved Yelp love...
I was in my new favorite 'hood last Friday wandering around with my peeps. Oh dear, so many bars to choose! But whaddya know...we made a swift move through the alley way to see our old friend, John Collins.
Love the casual, loungy vibe of this place. Great crowd, friendly people, awesome bartenders. Dress up or dress down, it's all good. Oh, and upstairs is a sweet little spot if you want to take it down a notch.
Last thing...don't be scared off by the bouncer. He's your friend ;)
I go here every 2nd Thursday of the month for King Kooba and the Trout. The music is amazing, the atmosphere feels like Brooklyn or a Manhattan meat packing district hideaway. The high brick walls antiquify the atmosphere and the skylight windows give you views of SF's new high rises are an awesome contrast. They usually play surf movies on the wall above the door to add to atmosphere. I just dig on the music and vibe of the place, people are pretty nice, tend to get a bit drunk towards the end so you end up with some pretty crazy, drama conversations but most of the time it's just chill.
Drinks are standard, nothing special or standout and don't drink the wine it taste like vinegar. I nearly choked on their 2 buck chuck Merlot. Please a warning would have been nice. I would stay with the staples or vodka tonic or something clean and easy to fix. Beer selection is good too and prices are not through the roof. All in all I just come for the music on 2nd Thursdays. King Kooba and the Trout rock it like you would never even imagine with old school dance hall music that has a definite British bend to it.
I know this place can get super packed, but I don't care. The bartenders are friggin amazing. I've never had such great service from someone who didn't know me. Every single bartender took great care of us, remembered our orders, and offered a smile each time we went up. Excellent!
I'm a fan of the John Colins. I'm originally from SoCal and, yes, I do surf. So it is nice to roll in to JC and have a pint, rap with some friends and then watch surf flicks at the same time. It's a nice oasis for a beach kid living in San Frandisco.
Cool little bar - the night we were there the DJ was playing mash-up - usually totally annoying, but it kept the vibe going in this place.
It's a nice intimate place where you can have a one on one convo or bring a group and have a little celebration.
Met up a few friends while were in SF for Outside Lands in Aug and I really like this place. It's on this small street in the cut and away from the main streets of SF.
We arrived there and there was a bit of a wait just because there was a band that went on before and they had to pack up. Once we got in, I totally dug the space and how the bar is set up. It was a bit packed when we got in, but it was too hard to find some space. The music was pretty good on a Saturday night and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
One major complaint: the bartenders there are f'ing inept. I dunno how many times they messed up on our friends' drink orders. Especially this one chick who thinks she's an amazing bartender, when in fact, she's terrible at what she does. She screwed up ringing up my drinks and said "you're sooo lucky, omg, you're soo lucky." Honestly, she was just an idiot and doesn't know how to push buttons on a register.
Other than the rookie bartenders there, this is a great bar to meet your friends and enjoy some good drinks (if the bartenders don't mess it up).
Soooo this is probably one of my favorite bars in the city...located off the beatin path you'll find this spot only if you know where to look. It used to be an old train station and is proably going to have to be torn down soon so if you haven't gotten to see it yet now is your opportunity!
Came here for the first time last night and I love this place! The decor is very industrial with the red brick walls. It's really comfortable to lounge with friends since they have couches every where that you can sit on.
Everyone who came in was super TALL for some reason and there were many good looking people around ranging from 30-40 years old. :) That's always a plus.
The bartenders were nice and the drinks weren't that expensive and the music was great, They play hip hop from back in the days.
Can't ask for anything more!
Another gold star for another great bar in the Soma district.
I decided to try this place out for happy hour since I keep hearing great things it. I was expecting a packed crowd since it was the Thursday before the three day weekend but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was quite empty.
They had happy hour specials from 4-7 pm in which we took full advantage of. $3 well and beers on tap! Can't beat that price in the city. Nowt only was the drinks cheap but they were also provided cups of bar snacks consisting of pretzels, gold fishes and nuts. Our bartender John (I think that was his real name) was hilarious! He defiantly made the experience awesome by drinking with us, cracking jokes and even coming around the bar to take a pix with us.
Thank you bartender for making me experience at John Collins. If only more bartenders in the city had your attitude!
Had a great time with friends during "Happy Hour" on a friday! The atmosphere was very lively, everyone seemed upbeat.
I thought it was a great hangout spot to meet up with friends.
Service was good.
Dear John,
I believe you possess every quality needed for a 5 Star Happy Hour Bar in my book:
*Good drink specials
*Friendly/efficient bartenders
*Interesting, ecclectic crowd of all kinds and colors
*Ample sitting and standing room
*2 separate bathrooms
*Pretzels and GOLDFISH(!!!!) to munch on
*Active busstaff to make sure every little nick-n-cranny is clean
Go at 5:30 on a weekday and get yer buzz on....
Mucho amor,
Meredith R.
john collins is a decent bar to grab a a couple of beers... i say a couple and not a few because when this place gets busy (and it does happen to get quite busy on most nights) the service starts to stall and drinks become less frequent... get there early would be my advice (especially if you have a large party)... h-100...
Work's out, the short hand hit 5...time to see John and he's pretty cool
Awesome that we stopped by this bar at an alley on our way to another party and that it put me on secretive mode like finding the hidden market of alcohol sold during the prohibition era. It's a far fetched imagination but I won't have to worry about any cops tailing me...
In any manner, if you're looking for a place to ultimately unwind with your co-workers then John Collins can grant just that...it's cool for cats, ya know? Everybody seemed comfortable...the hipster & yuppie mixed crowd holding their glasses & discussing the late afternoon away as if they're wearing jeans & sneakers behind those work suits or pumps.
Music was great...electronic, deep house...sorta like thievery corp meets Tiesto. They go well with a dirty martini!
The door guy hassled me for using a "fake id" MOTHER F'ER I am almost 30! asshole! and then when we got in, it was freaking SLOW! no one was in there! pass...
but my friend told me this was a great place for happy hour, and she said it might change my mind when I come back, and that the nightlife at jc isn't cool.. so maybe I will give it another go.
I've been here a several times over the past few years and the vibe of this place has not changed.
It remains a chill hangout spot attracting the casual, mature, good looking crowd, which is why we went here for my bday. I can't say I remember much about that night, but everyone told me they had fun and were glad we went to John Colins because we got to actually hang out with each other and not get stuck in some loud, crowded club.
Love that there was no cover and no dress code. Had one of my favorite birthdays here and would recommend here for a good night with friends.
This seems obvious to me but some bars just don't seem to get it. People go to bars to drink and talk, people go to nightclubs to listen to music and dance.
There is no reason for loud music in a bar. The music should be a background that encourages conversation. This bar has speakers in every corner so there's no escaping what the DJ feels like inflicting on you. While I was there I had to put up with scrotum shaking repetitive Bass noises, some kind of government sonic torture experiment I figure, which segued into the soundtrack of Disney's jungle ride all the time yelling into my friends ears to be heard.
On Mondays they have happy hour prices all night so at least I was getting a good deal but their beer selection is sad.
JC is pretty cool. not too crowded and plenty of seating. its hidden in an alley, so thats a good thing. place is a bit on the small side, but it doesnt really create too much of a problem. i was drunk so i had fun.
Doors open for happy hour @ 5:30. Sucks for alchies like me.
NEWS FLASH: I'VE DISCOVERED THE SECRET HIDEOUT OF THE HOTTEST GUYS IN THE BAY.
I came here to celebrate my friend's 26th birthday, and I only ordered one drink because I wanted to stay sober enough to admire the plethora of hotties (EVERYONE starts looking good after I drink too much, and I wanted to distinguish fact from fiction).
They have a DJ booth upstairs that overlooks the entire lower level, which consists of a bar and a make-shift dance floor. The walls are lined with comfy booths and tables to lounge at (perfect for me, because I was wearing 4" stiletto heels and my lazy ass didn't feel like standing the whole night).
My lemon drop was rimmed with sugar AND salt, which I thought was strange, and could feel my cholesterol levels going up with every sip. I only drank half, before I was distracted by a boy, who later finished my drink and told me it still tasted good warm.
Fast forward to the morning after, and I have a massive headache and extreme nausea.
How the EFF do you get a hangover from half a drink?!
When it's too cold or cloudy to have apps and pops on Zebulon's patio, I hunker into John Colins for a cozier experience.
I try to sneak out before the DJ pumps the dBs louder than my fragile ears can handle, but there's usually ample time for a few rounds with some pals before dinner or something.
John Colins is so cool that it can spell the second half of its name with just one "l" despite the fact that intuition tells you there should be two. It also projects surfing movies on the wall above its front door and garnishes its cocktails with flowers (simultaneously quelling and exacerbating my homesickness for Hawaii). Quirky, intimate, and centrally-located to both FiDi and SoMa, it's no surprise that this bar ranks high as the young professional's after-work pit stop. I just wish that not EVERY SINGLE young professional were there during Friday afternoon happy hour. While I'm not entirely turned off by or even apart from the yuppie scene, it makes me enjoy a cool place less when I'm squished between 100 of them in a small room.
However, when I get here early enough to be able to move and breathe, I immediately take advantage of:
1. A fresh bowl of crunchy, salty goldfish crackers and pretzels
2. A Dark 'n Stormy--ginger beer, dark rum, lime--served up in a jar (yes, before it gets too crowded and they run out of them, they serve this cocktail in a jar, topping it with a pretty orchid of course)
3. The interesting view of San Francisco as if you were sitting somewhere in the bay around Treasure Island, courtesy of a huge, beautiful wall painting of the entire city
4. The loungey music, and the surfing films I can see but not hear (I like pondering over whether or not a particular plant in John Colins that casts a peculiar, artsy silhouette on the wall where movies are played has been positioned intentionally for this very reason)
Dead after 7:30 pm. You possibly might want to come then.
Kew kew Kewl, this place is kewl.
I like it, although it's not really a club, more of a bar, in my eyes, they BUMP the music at about 10ish or so, fine with me, but still it really isn't a club. The crowd here is cool, seems like it's a mix of people who work in the Fidi and are out drinking after a hard days work......
Neighborhood: SOMA
Category: Lounges
Neighborhood: SOMA
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: SOMA
Category: American (Traditional)
Neighborhood: SOMA
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: SOMA
Category: Bars
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