Noc Noc
557 Haight St
(between Fillmore St & Steiner St)
San Francisco, CA 94117 (415) 861-5811
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Music: DJ
- Best Nights: Fri, Sat, Thu
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
- Smoking: Yes
- Coat Check: No
152 reviews
Neighborhood: Russian Hill
"This is my kind of place. Not too big, not too small, friendly crowd, fairly easy to find seating, drinks are not too expensive and a…" read more »
185 Reviews for Noc Noc
I was told this bar didn't card when I was 20. I never got around to testing that theory when until after I turned 21, but maybe you'll have some luck if your underage. The selection of beer is good, and they've got some of those nice cider/beer mashups people enjoy too. The place looks like the Flinstones meets Tim Burton inside which is also a nice little mood stimulator. Being neighbor to the Toronado means that should you ever prefer a little more quiet with your beer or wine the Noc Noc is the place for you.
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I've been here twice...and I really liked it both times. I mean, come on, they have Racer 5, Speakeasy IPA, Fat Tire, and Sierra Nevada PA on tap? That's my entire evening right there. Very nice beer offering, and the bartenders are cool, they let you sample before committing. Sake available for those who do not consume beer. Then there's the decor. Totally bizarre and kick ass. The crowd is pretty local, people show up in bigger groups and tend to keep to themselves.
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This place is perfect for the Haight. Very artsy and burningman-ish with their decor. All the artsy metalworks and cool bar stools.. I felt right at home here as I felt like this was truly a San Francisco Bar. Not sure if you would really see a bar like this anywhere else in the world.
They were playing some cool electro beats when were there and they had a nice selection of beers. Stuff I had never tried before and I Always like trying some new stuff here and there....
HAPPY HOUR DEETS:
5:00 to 7:00 p.m. nightly
Draught Pints $3.00
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Love this dark, dark, dive bar! So dark, I STILL don't know what the "decor" is like inside lol. It's smoky and dirty and danky but it's got such a good vibe and character that I can't help but always wanna grab a beer when I'm in the neighborhood. I'll stop now cuz there are plenty of other reviews that'll give you an idea of how cool it is.
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this was my first under aged bar experience. my bro and sis brought me there after hitting up some indian at naan and chutney. its pretty creepy inside, like everything is distorted, dark, smokey, and cavelike, and the bathroom is riddled with writing all over, pretty claustrophobic. kinda weirded me out, but now that i think of it its was pretty tight
This is your bar on drugs:
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
but THIS is your bar on the Brown Acid:
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
I love this 'Beyond Thunderdome' classic 'only-in-San Francisco' bar. But it's more special if you only visit every once in a while, you gotta be a complete sicko to make this your regular watering hole.... even though the draft beer selections are all right on.
Ok... maybe i'm sick enough that if I lived closer, it would be my regular watering hole.
While not having quite the over-the-top experiences casanova Matt C. had here...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
... I did carry a passed out Yelper home from this bar many moons ago. Don't take the brown acid man.
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Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!
If you've been here, you know what I mean. When I walked into this place, I thought for a second I had cracked my back and released some of the latent LSD living in my spinal cord.
Tim Burton inspired for sure, with little nooks and crannies to settle into in various dark corners....actually, corners is the wrong term, because unlike most human establishments, there aren't really any parallelograms living here....it's very much like a cave, and that's cool.
The DJ played an interesting mix of music that was just cool enough to catch my attention from time to time, but not obnoxious enough to be annoying. Well done.
The crowd was a random mix of people that filtered in and out throughout the evening. It's apparent that Noc Noc is more of a pre-party place than a final destination...the flipside to that is, if you do stay there all night, the crowd constantly changes so it's like you're going to a new party every hour or so, without the effort of actually going to a new place! Sweet. Even though it was a Saturday night, it was busy but never crowded...pretty much perfect.
Between this place and the beer lover's paradise Toronado, I think the Lower Haight might become a fairly regular destination for me...just gotta find a good place down there that serves liquor for when I really want to hurt myself.
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this is totally one of my favorite dive bars in san francisco! when you enter this place it almost feels like something out of a stars wars movie, minus the strange creatures. dingy, dark and with plenty of nooks to get cozy in, it's perfect for after dinner drinks, or if you just want to get lost and unwind. If your in the lower haight area, deff pop in for a drink or two.
be warned, if you don't like cigarettes, this probably isn't the bar for you. they let you smoke inside while you drink.
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I've been bringing my out of town friend here for years... Haight is like Fishermans Warf for the Gen Y crowd - what can I say?
It's crazy dirty funny cool... but could use some cocktails. Just beer is so 90's.
Hamat & Sam are some of the most friendly people I've ever met.
I have traveled to Egypt & Tunisia & I KNOW ;) My 1st st trip to north Africa was in High School in 78.....quite unusual & it ended up being a fantastic trip for us. We learned so much in a very short time & as always we had fun in between. Im not going to indulge........
Hey, as we say in Denmark; det er fanme fedt..... Noc Noc is absolutely the only place in SF where you can do anything within
moral norm's....capice..it's a cave for f... sake & I love it...
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Very chill atmosphere, my eyes were constantly entertained with the decor and wall art.. and their pear cider was awesome. Nice location of too, because after getting a buzz we walked across the street to grab a light dinner at Memphis Minnies (go ribs!). It's only a short distance away from the main shops on Haight, so you can park, shop, then head over for some drinks. Check it out!
5 stars for what it is. It's a unique SF bar and it's good at being just that. Here are some words that come to mind when I think of NocNoc:
space
Q (the restuarant)
Indian
Narnija
leather
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
Haight St.
Friendly bartendar, bathrooms so clean it's like your mom just cleaned 'em, interesting decor, good music--eclectic mix but not too weird (whatever that means...)
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Noc Noc has the crazy cozy mind-enveloping ambiance of a coffee shop in Amsterdam, and I'm always just wishing I could smoke a bunch when I find myself here. It's pretty much all that I can think about. I mean . . . I guess it's a pretty good spot for getting drunk too, since smoking is not going to happen. booooooo.
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What I love about this place: the crazy Theodore Geisel (that's Dr. Seuss for the uninitiated) feel. Ambiance is what the Noc Noc is all about. They're not interested in having a bar that can hold as many sweaty frat boys they can shove in -- they chose a bar that feels like another world.
What I don't love about this place: the fact they don't sell hard liquor. I'm not always a huge beer man, and I like to mix it up (yes, that's not a method for the amature). But you can't fault them that much, given that in a two block radius the only bar selling hard booze is Molotov's.
Go here if you want a place that's cozy and quiet enough to actually talk to your drinking compadres.
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Noc Noc.
Who's there?
A great bar.
A great bar, who?
Noc Noc is a great bar with funky decor and interesting mixed beer drinks, that's who.
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This couldn't be more "Tim Burton" than if he designed it himself.
A wonderful, unique beer & wine bar with intimate seating and a hidden DJ booth. My first experience in the Lower Haight and it was perfect. You walk into a different world when you enter the Noc and it is a fantastical place.
Noc Noc is kind of freaky, in a cool way. If Mars were populated and had a capital city, this would be one of its swinging night spots.
I like their beer selection and the staff is nice. What it's missing is the cantina theme from Star Wars.
For what it is - an eclectic dive bar in the Lower Haight - this place does it well. Although they only have beer and wine, there is no shortage of drafts and bottles to choose from, be it you like the dark stuff, the light stuff, or even a mixture of the two.
The real reason to go here is atmosphere. It's dark, intimate, covered in art and other fun things to look at, and has the most comfortable cushions to cozy your ass up on the floor with. Which are also by the way are great for people watching, be it your thang is hipsters, the occasional wide-eyed Marina transplant, or your fellow neighbors in the hood.
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Noc Noc is really strange, but in a good way. The inside looks like a scene in Fear and Loathing, where Gonzo is trippin that there a dinosaurs and shit in that bar in Vegas. If you know what I am talking about then you know exactly what Noc Noc looks like. Some people on this site think that it looks like the bar in star wars. They aren't even close, and they don't know what they are talking about, so disregard their reviews. they are inaccurate and therefore unreliable.
The only bad thing about this bar is the beer, wine and sake only thing. Other than that its great, not too crowded, easy to get a drink, reasonably cool people, and a hidden DJ booth.
my most memorable night here, my friends and i went outside to smoke and suddenly, we were singing crystal the crackhead happy birthday while she kept asking us for a dollar and telling us it was her birthday. we mustve given here like $10 all together before she humped my friends leg.
needless to say, we were VERY drunk. this place is AWESOME! great selection of sake and it looks like a small cavern of tim burtons brain...
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For a very long time, Noc Noc was the only bar in SF that completely ignored the ban on smoking at bars. Depending on your taste, this is either a complete abomination or pretty cool and subversive. It's a teeny bar so if you roll in 6 deep you may overwhelm them. Seating is scarce but the friendly folks who frequent this dive aren't bothered if you need to smush up alongside them.
It's a bar, it's a cave, and it's got great beer. The music is always superb thanks to whoever mans that hidden DJ booth...And it's got more nooks and crannies than a damn English muffin.
Its close proximity to both my place AND a pizza place as well as the fact that it's the one place that my two roomies and I always agree on for drinking in our neighborhood seals the deal.
Five stars for you, Noc Noc!
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This Pee Wee's playhouse of a bar is in a neato part of town (toronado is just paces away). The decor is great if a bit dizzying.
I have noticed a ton of youngster in there (like, high school), but they seem to stay out of the way of us career fuddyduddies.
the beer selection is good. and, as a fuddyduddy, my misanthropy tends to blind me to friendliness in humankind; but these guys are truly nice.
the seating can be a bit awkward if you're in a group of four or more, but whatevs. this place is all right.
Noc Noc reminds me of this coffee shop I once went to in Amsterdam called the Dampkring. But that was a long time ago and my memory is suspiciously hazy so it might not be an apt comparison.
Its similarity to a certain coffeeshop notwithstanding, Noc Noc is probably my favorite place in the neighborhood. It has one of the most inviting atmospheres I've ever experienced in a bar. The place is just so damned *playful*, it makes me want to spend hours discussing things no one really cares about and plotting secret revolutions.
I HIGHLY recommend trying the Black & Pear (Guinness and pear cider). It's not for everyone, but I find the combination really soothing. It's one of the few alcoholic drinks I ever get a craving for.
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You are strolling down the street in the fantastical Haight neighborhood looking for a good drink. You find yourself acknowledging your place in this great city, all of your favorite neighborhood digs and you find yourself wanting a night filled with a bit of unique flavor: enter Noc Noc. This place will take you off your feet and make you feel like you are having a great trip in the midst of a Tim Burton film. The tall chairs, unique array of seating, vibrantly colored walls, astounding crowd, and incredible DJ are often just what the doctor ordered. I can't get enough of the black and tans and obsessing over the DJ through two tiny windows in his or her cave of wonders.
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Small and cave-like, with a familiar, non-disgusting smell of beer and alcohol, it looks and feels like an old punk club. It's cozy, in a really weird, different way.
Music blares from the speakers, so it's a tough place to talk, but a fun bar with interesting metalsmith decor and cheap beer. Don't get dressed up to come here, seriously. The only times I've been were, appropriately, for last-minute, "Hey, I'm in the Lower Haight, want a drink somewhere" nights. But if you do show up in high heels and a dress, I will be provided with some hours-long entertainment watching you try to walk to the tiny bathroom.
Anyway, worth it if you're already in the 'hood, but perhaps not worth a trek from the other side of town. Me and my guy walked home from here to 20th Street at Valencia, which turned out to be a nice walk, even in the just-rained damp.
This place is great. It kind of looks like a cave, but on drugs. It's dark, dingy and they have cushions so you can sit on the floor. They don't serve liquor, but have a solid selection of good beers. No cheap domestics here! The sake here is delicious. There are lots of little cubby holes if you want some privacy. They have nice selection of board games behind the bar if you want to play some chess or Othello while you have a beer.
You used to be able to smoke in here, but alas, no more. No cigs and no doobies.
Bonus point for being the bar where I pulled my first ever threesome and also for meeting a girl there who was willing to have sex with me in the bathroom, happily using her face as a doorstop :-)
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I started going to Noc-Noc in 1990, and lived right across the street for 10 years. It was like my living room. The weekends here are not so great, because it gets filled up with lil' yuppies, and non locals. Just too crowded. I love the beer selection, and taking over the island with my many friends from the hood. Ramaht is my friend, so I'm kind of bias in my rating.
Came here for a penis and vagina party.
Seriously.
It was my buddy from work's release party for his Big Coloring Book of Penis's (Penii?). This was the highly anticipated follow-up to the Big Coloring Book of Vaginas.
The bar is totally cool, funky and cave-like. Go check it out. Note for the alcoholics, I think it's beer and wine only.
Minus 1 star for the stupid tiny bar setup that makes it slow and difficult to get drinks.
For those interested, you can buy the coloring book here:
http://www.amazon.com/...
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I've been here twice with a group of at least 4 people and each time we have walked out of the place feeling good (I guess it could've been the alcohol but that's beside the point). I feel like Jabba the Hut and some characters of Star Wars would make this place just a bit cooler, but of course then the place would be too cramped as it doesn't fit too many people. This is a perfect place for a pre-funk because of the cheap drinks and eccentric people, music, and atmosphere.
a good place to grab a drink after a day of shopping further up haight. the music is set at just the right level and the ambience is dope. A cross between an Amsterdam smoke shop and a typical dive bar creates the hybrid of Noc Noc. Check it out if you want a chill place to throw back a few drinks (sake too) from a bartender who knows his stuff.
What a random yet oddly enjoyable place. The beer is cheap, and its sane enough to carry on conversations with your friends. Parking blows, but its the Lower Haight so I should have known what I was getting myself into. I agree with the crappy bar setup with those gigantic chairs getting in the way and also the lack of normal-ish seats. We powwowed on the floor, ewww, sticky.
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What's not to love?
1. Fab. staff and weird, but oddly comforting, decor
2. $3 pint of beer during happy hour-- this is enough to make me seriously consider making alcohol another food group-- but I'm holding myself back.
3. Nice mix of people after work. Not too loud, so you can still talk, and not too crowded. Even late night on the weekends this place has a pretty eclectic mix of people (although definitely skews younger).
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This is one of the most original bars in the city and I love it!
This is a classic lower haight institution.... Some months back a took a friend here who had never been to the Noc Noc and he loved it.
Particulary great if you're a little stoned...the cave like environment with cool interior decor, makes you feel like you're either on a spaceship or in some cool movie.
Love it....love it...love it... I've personally told the owner, who you can sometimes find behind the small bar...that I love this place..
This place is always friendly and there's always welcoming great service.
You must must try this place. Great place for a drink or two while you're bar hopping in the lower haight. You can hop from Molotov's, Noc Noc, to Toronado, and on to other fun places like SF Underground all within shouting distance.
Thank god for the lower haight and thank the owner for the Noc Noc.
A must try and one more reason I love SF!
I have vague memories of going to Noc Noc at some point over the past four years to hear a punk band. I could be mis-remembering this, but I also could be remembering correctly.
Aside from this "mebbe I went there once" time I have not been to Noc Noc again until last night. And, I didn't even have a drink there last night.
Let me explain why - considering I may or may not have been to this establishment during operating hours and have never bought or been served a drink there - that Noc Noc gets FIVE stars (ten, if I could give it ten.)
Picture this:
Big Saturday party somewhere in the Mission. Party ends, no one can get cabs. There is one sober guy (Fong you rule) amongst a sea of drunks. The sober guy takes pity on me - who really just wants to go home and go to bed, as opposed to continuing to party as everyone else seems inclined to do - and, says "I'll give you guys a lift to X place where you - girl who wants to go home - can catch a cab back to the Avenues; and, you - three people who want to continue to party - can continue to party... but, FIRST I need to stop for some food."
Fair enough, sober guy with the car gets food. Totally kosher with everyone. Apparently, less kosher with the universe, as the first pizza place we try is closed. McDonalds is closed. Popeye's is closed (we actually didn't check - we just went on the assumption that if McDonalds on Haight was closed, Popeye's would be too.) There is no Taco Bell with in a thirty mile radius (which is probably a good thing.) At this point we are seriously considering either the Lucky Penny or eating one of the people in the car.
Then we find that [Insert Name of Pizza Place Here] next to Noc Noc is open. So sober, hungry driver and drunk, hungry friends jump in line to grab a slice and I go in search of a bathroom, as all the vodka and cranberry juice from the previous evening of partying is causing me to dance around like a five year old doing the pee-pee dance.
EXCEPT: It's almost three in the morning and EVERYTHING except for the pizza joint is closed.
I am about to cry, I have to go so badly, when I see the door to Noc Noc is still ajar. I timidly knock (shut up) on Noc Noc's door and say, "Hey would it be okay if I came in to use the bathroom real quick?"
I fully expect a "Fuck no, drunk girl who has to pee, we're closed." But, instead - like a gift from God, Allah, the Earth Goddess or whatever you believe in - I hear the voice of Rahmat (the owner of the bar) saying, "Sure, go ahead."
Not only does Rahmat let ME use the bathroom; but, he lets two of my drunk friends who are also doing the pee-pee dance use the bathroom.
Rahmat is the most AWESOME person on the face of the planet.
I promise you, I will be returning to Noc Noc and giving them my business (once I'm done with the whole three months of sobriety thing) as the awesomeness of Rahmat indicates that it will be a choice place to hang out.
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Felt like I was in one of the hipster bars of the East Village in NYC. Loved it!!! Alas, what a contrast to the plastique lounges of Vegas (which I also enjoy, more on an - 'I'm amused' level), my newly adopted hometown. :-(
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One day many years ago, somebody took a few too many psychadelics & went a little crazy on a bid for a replica of the set from 'Beatlejuice'.
Noc Noc was the result.
It's every bit as unnecessary as 40 subscriptions to Vibe, but way more fun.
You will have a good time at Noc Noc. It's mandatory. But be warned, this is a covert smoker's hangout.
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Of the bars in San Francisco I have spent the most time in, the Noc Noc beats all of them by at least two fold. Ramat is the nicest person in the universe. The beer selection is great, and you never have to worry about how cool you're dressed, or what the bartender's mood is.
Thanks Noc Noc for facilitating my debilitating alcoholism.
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Call me crazy, but this is probably the last place I'd want to be when "The Big One" hits.
If I died at Noc Noc during the earthquake, my obituary would read:
Sassy S. was a feisty girl and a bit of a lush, who was speared through the chest by a throne-like spiked chair with a cold Stella in her hand and a look of confusion on her face.
I'm not sure which is scarier: intruding on somebody else's used Tampon floating, unflushed in the women's toilet after you just ate a sausage at Rosamunde's and are feeling the frightening aftermath on your digestive system, or turning the lights on in this bar.
This place reminds me of the tactile dome, not only because of the strange decor and many touchable oddities, but because during the daylight it probably resembles Saddam Hussein's cave, with the addition of a dusty drain, chairs that are bolted to the floor, and a bar where the bartenders look at you like you ordered a tuna hand roll when asking for a Diet Coke.
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Warning: If you go to Noc Noc, you will probably start making out with someone in a dark corner. Hopefully it's someone you know or at least find remotely attractive. My date is devastatingly cute to begin with, but the nonexistent lighting and Garden-of-Sin vibe at Noc Noc made me me feel like a bad, bad girl. Before I knew it, I was half-naked and giving lap dances left and right. Ok- that part may have only happened in my head. But for realsies, AK got a little handsy and it's because Noc Noc makes you feel like you've died and gone to hell. And hell is sexy. At least to me.
Drinks are strong strong strong too. Which may explain more of my bad behavior as the night progressed. I probably need an exorcism now. I think they do those in the bathroom at Noc Noc. Because that shit was tore up. Apparently the girls at Noc Noc pee standing up. Because there was plenty of pee around the toilet seat and on the floor. I know because I slipped in pee, hit my head/shoulder on the wall, and got some on my dress. That's nasty. Minus two stars.
Run of the mill Lower Haight crowd and bartenders who won't smile or make you feel welcome but who will get you as intoxicated as you want to be in a timely, efficient manner.
My advice? Bring someone you want to make out in the dark with and use the restroom at a neighboring establishment.
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