Specs' Twelve Adler Museum Cafe

4.0 star rating
228 reviews Rating Details

Categories: Bars, Restaurants  [Edit]

12 William Saroyan Pl
San Francisco, CA 94133
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
(415) 421-4112
Hours:

Mon-Fri 4:30 pm - 2 am

Sat-Sun 5 pm - 2 am

Delivery:
No
Accepts Credit Cards:
No
Parking:
Street
Attire:
Casual
Good for Groups:
Yes
Good for Kids:
No
Takes Reservations:
No
Price Range:
$
Take-out:
No
Waiter Service:
No
Outdoor Seating:
No
Wi-Fi:
No
Good For:
Late Night
Music:
Live
Best Nights:
Fri, Thu, Sat
Happy Hour:
Yes
Alcohol:
Full Bar
Smoking:
Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
Coat Check:
No
Noise Level:
Average
Good For Dancing:
No
Ambience:
Dive-y
Has TV:
No
Caters:
No
Wheelchair Accessible:
Yes

Review Highlights   

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229 reviews in English

  • Review from J. S.

    • 2 friends
    • 22 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    5/23/2012

    I don't know how to feel about this place.

    On the one hand, it's in North Beach. And in that pocket of North Beach where bars are everywhere.

    On the other hand, the strangest people tend to show up and there's a large crab hanging on the wall.

    It's not a pretentious place. And a friend of mine once got into a quasi-lightsaber battle with a street vendor right outside the door, while his girlfriend was a mere foot away getting hit on by someone who looked like a cross between Amy Winehouse and Danny DeVito. Hmmm... considering that, yeah, this place is pretty cool.

  • Review from Jay H.

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    4/30/2012 1 Check-in Here

    North Beach has a smattering of viable boozer bars for the career drinker. Lower North Beach proves to hold a few of such places and none more quirky and engaging then Specs.

    Walking up Columbus you can miss it peeking out from inside a teeny alleyway. Walk into the bar and you see the narrow wooden wonder of Specs....faded, kitschy posters, photos and signs of all kinds line the walls.

    Order up a 'Cheese Plate' and a beer and just sit back with friends and revel in the amazing weirdness and fabulous oddity of Specs.

    P.S. Get a portrait done for $5 if the artist is sitting in the back table.

  • Review from NoCal S.

    • 0 friends
    • 155 reviews

    Pleasanton, CA

    4.0 star rating
    4/13/2012

    This is a dive bar that charges $14 for two drinks.  This makes me think it's a perfect museum of a dive bar. One that doesn't exist anymore.  And people want a real dive bar so badly that they'll pay $14 for two drinks in order to pretend they are in one.

    If you want to pretend you are in a dive bar, this place is absolutely cool.  I honestly loved it.

  • Review from Rebekah T.

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    12/12/2011 1 photo

    This weekend, I totally raided a Santacon party. While I wasn't all dressed as a Santa, I got into a festive mood and dressed up. I hit North Beach up looking to meet up with my friends. My friend Jaime recommended this little pub in an alley and we headed off to Spec's.

    We get there and it's filled with Santas. At the door, I'm given a "Nice" sticker. Hehe, I'll take that because even my Naughty is Nice and it's fun to play along. Oh what fun...

    It's Cash only and kinda divey, we were able to find a table in the back and have a little fun before I had to run off to dinner. Fun little place that I will keep in mind to return to again.

  • Review from Diana O.

    • 2 friends
    • 36 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    1/8/2012

    A great dive tucked away in the world's shortest alley in North Beach. There's usually some odd thing happening just outside the door. Someone might be playing the piano inside. Lots of old things, and that includes the clientele. ; ) It's a place typically shunned by douchey frat types and the douchey women they chase. Sweet! You can get cheese and crackers if you're feeling peckish.

    Cash only.

  • Review from Claire b.

    • 20 friends
    • 58 reviews

    Nob Hill, San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    2/4/2012

    I pretty much love everything about this bar and try to come here whenever I am in the neighborhood. I always get a dirty vodka martini.$5, best deal in the city!!

    The cheese and crackers is also amazing. The slice you off a chunk from a giant cheese wheel and the bar and give you a sleeve of saltines. Love that.

    Fun characters here as well, %50 percent of the time I come here there is at least one person with a bird on their shoulder! haha.

    Remember, cash only.

  • Review from Rich P.

    • 13 friends
    • 228 reviews

    Concord, CA

    4.0 star rating
    1/28/2012

    Cool little neighborhood bar with a lot of history. Good beers on tap - lights, darks ambers etc..
    It seemed like there were a lot of locals there just trying to have a good time. It wasn't like they typical bar where everyone is trying hard to hook up with someone.

  • Review from Johanna S.

    • 7 friends
    • 99 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    12/19/2011

    Love this place. Reminds me of some of your finer Alaskan establishments minus the sawdust but with the same male/female ratio (ladies- the odds are good, but the goods are odd).
    If you're taking your cool/old school-loving friends and family members on a tour of SF, this is a must stop. Gives you instant SF tour guide street cred.

  • Review from Jim B.

    • 0 friends
    • 261 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    3.0 star rating
    3/19/2012

    Pretty cool unique place- based on the reviews, I was expecting a terrible place with a bunch of washed up elderly malcontents. Since it was St. Patricks Day, they knew probably to stay the hell away. After all St Pats along with a few other holidays are amateur drinking days. Place was packed, as much like us, others discovered every place in NB was completely packed. They had Guiness, and good bartenders. No TV, but that didn't come as a surprise....

  • Review from Aaron N.

    Chicago, IL

    4.0 star rating
    12/6/2011 1 Check-in Here

    Specs' is a freaking money spot. It's kinda hidden in the corner of an alley, but if you find it, you will enjoy it for sure. It's definitely a dive bar with a pretty chill atmosphere, but the bartenders and selection of beer definitely make it different than your average San Fran hole in the wall bar.

    Oh yeah...if you want, the bartender will give you cheese and crackers. And by cheese, I don't mean that garbage Kraft singles stuff, I'm talking good sharp cheddar with saltine crackers. Which is slamming, especially with a nice cold beer. If you're looking to just get some brews and kick it in an old school pub, Specs' is your spot. Boom...with cheese and saltine crackers on top!

  • Review from Heidi M.

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    2/10/2012

    So... we can never remember the name or the exact location of this place, but surely enough we end up stumbling down Columbus near the end of a long night, looking for this spot.  Perfect place for a night cap (or few) after dinner.   I don't remember the beer selection being very large, but I can always find something I'm happy to drink.  Tables in the back are great for small groups.

  • Review from Jeff G.

    Chicago, IL

    3.0 star rating
    2/7/2012

    i don't know how do you rate a bar that you only go to for one beer?

    it was a fine place, decor made me feel like i was in the Saharan Desert in a British outpost there.

    it was crowded on a Wed night

  • Review from Darren R.

    • 3 friends
    • 7 reviews

    Costa Mesa, CA

    5.0 star rating
    2/2/2012

    Most interesting bar I've come across in San Fran.  They give you a big hunk of delicious cheese when you come in.  Lots of crazy and historic things on the walls and ceiling. Definitely a place to check out.

  • Review from Jules S.

    Haleiwa, HI

    4.0 star rating
    4/19/2011 3 Check-ins Here

    A hidden gem in San Francisco's North Beach close to a corner of Broadway & Columbus.

    Spec's rocks an old school look with an old school vibe.  It's where I like to go to change things up from the all too familiar North Beach crowd.  Spec's is rather small and cramp, especially when busy, but I'd rather be here than some stuck up scene in North Beach.  The prices for their libations are considerably less than other places in the area also.

    Someone is usually playing the piano here at night.  I don't know if he works there or not but he does accept tips.  I usually shoot him a few if I like the tunes he plays.  Unfortunately, he doesn't know the classic jazz tune "All Of Me"...I love that piece.

  • Review from Fatty A.

    • 180 friends
    • 1433 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    11/5/2011

    Cool dive bar good for groups.  Some drunk newbs were playing chess in the corner.  I thought they were going to start a bar fight over a game of chess.  Damn wannabe n3rds.

  • Review from Krystal H.

    • 39 friends
    • 141 reviews

    Berkeley, CA

    5.0 star rating
    9/8/2011 1 Check-in Here

    I love, love, love this place.  I love how it's tucked away in the corner.  I love the people that hang out outside, selling photographs of their first love sunning herself on the beach in Barbados in the 60's.  I love the cheap cans of OIy.  This is how dive bars are supposed to be!

    Listed in: Bars

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  • Review from Jon L.

    • 6 friends
    • 10 reviews

    Walnut Creek, CA

    4.0 star rating
    3/21/2011 1 Check-in Here

    A true piece of San Francisco. A nice break from the over the top atmosphere of North Beach. Eclectic doesn't even begin to describe the decor - nautical I've heard? If I were you, I would order beer here. Plunk down a few bucks, and you can get a plate of cheese and crackers - informal munchies. As stated in other reviews, cash only - I think I still owe them a buck actually.

    Oh yeah, look out for friendly folks dubbed "FOS" - friends of Specs. They help the bartenders clean tables. Gotta love it.

  • Review from Robert C.

    Los Angeles, CA

    4.0 star rating
    10/16/2010

    This type of bar is one of the reasons why I think I officially like SF more than LA.

    Charming, old, cool....

    You still have those places in LA but you really gotta hunt for them. Here you can just stumble into any old place and find a gem.

    This was a gem of a gem... An emerald if you will.

    The beers were fine--$5 for a Stella. But you really go for the atmosphere. The old bricks. The beer stained wood. The antique furniture with old signs collected for a century. Not like new signs made to look old like in a Crackerbarrel or an Applebees in the Midwest...

    Bathrooms were kind grimy though.

  • Review from Paul D.

    • 18 friends
    • 129 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    9/14/2011 1 Check-in Here

    Very homey place with excellent help. Decent beers in a good location. Bartenders treat to shots on occasion and will get you very inebriated if you are not careful.

  • Review from Keane L.

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    11/11/2007 2 Check-ins Here

    MISSED CONNECTIONS

    Reply to: AZNdbzFAN@asianavenue.com
    Date: 2007-11-11, 10:24AM PST

    Possibly South American artsy girl on 11/3 - m4w - 25

    You saw me looking at you... My friend asked you for a light... We both like your shoes... Overuse of ellipses...

    One must review Spec's in relation to its surroundings. This is North Beach, the Vegas of SF. In one short walkthrough, I can easily collect about five strip club cards, and talk to at least two strippers (gosh, they sure seemed smart). Spec's is a cozy writers' bar with $4 beers on tap, good looking people and plenty of space. While it may not be my first choice for a hangout in the city, it certainly shines within this district. But alas, while I write, I am not a writer, and thus I find myself at ends with impressing such types.

    I will bee back tonight okay... If you see an Asian guy nursing a cosmo thats me... come say high and mention CL... we can begin a normal converstation from there...

  • Review from Kenny R.

    • 348 friends
    • 166 reviews

    Napa, CA

    4.0 star rating
    8/27/2007

    Pretty cool wax museum... They serve beer to the figures and on weeknights the homeless tell jokes outside in the alley-like ambience.  
    If your alley-hoppin' and need a place that doesn't care if you take your drink outside so you can smoke out with Foot Stompin' Fred before wandering on... this is your place for the night.

  • Review from Tom R.

    • 1449 friends
    • 524 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    3.0 star rating
    11/2/2008

    This place used to be known for it's wildlife, I.e. roaches, but it seems like they've got control of the insect population.

    I'd rather be here than Vesuvio but neither would be my first choice.

  • Review from R M.

    • 429 friends
    • 239 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    3.0 star rating
    5/20/2007

    Ok. I'm 5'8, Curvy, Athletic and well...Substantial.  So, I'm comfortable patronizing Specs on any late night.  You can have a stiff drink alone at one of the round tables -or- enjoy congenial conversation with the bar keep and the regulars.  I love variety!  

    But, you cannot find yourself behind the Alley of Mr. Bings across the way because your ass will get mugged!  Unless you are me (here's where I praise myself in the third person).  

    Nadja lives a dark dangerous life where hard drinking and objectifying men  play a large part.  Here is her story:

    "After a late drink at Spec's I found myself surrounded by at least a dozen surly, hungry-eyed potential attackers.  

    Clever banter ensued.  Bravado met bravada.  Ultimately they knew my chic taupe macrame' hand bag (homage to 70's vintage) was not goin' down without a fight.  

    I take my Wing Chun stance and make Michelle Yeoh proud.  With all the cockiness of Bruce in "Game of Death" I instigate a little "Play".  I toy with my prey then bring about the final unforgiving blows.  Alerting my would-be attackers, in a Black Mamba way that they are free to go...but, their limbs are mine!"

    Spec's is great!  Take caution in the surrounding areas.
    You can't all be Kung-Fu masters like me!

  • Review from Amanda C.

    • 360 friends
    • 379 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    2.0 star rating
    11/6/2007

    Picture this.

    It's Matt H's birthday. You, and everyone else, have spent all night at Cigar Bar lapping up vodka tonics (and other various adult beverages) like you're a camel storing up water prior to a 3 month trek across the Sahara. You head over to Spec's sometime after midnight  with the other 20-ish merry birthday party go-ers and settle into a few tables.

    Now,

    1. What would you least expect to happen?
    (a) Someone to take their pants off.
    (b) Someone to vomit in the bathroom.
    (c) Two people who have never met before tonight to start making out.
    (d) The bus person telling you to "keep it down" because they "aren't that kind of bar" after the group toasted the birthday boy.

    2. What would aggravate you the most?
    (a) Someone spilling your drink accidentally.
    (b) A drunk girl rubbing up on you while your girlfriend watches and looks angry.
    (c) A bacholerette party dancing on the bar.
    (d) The bus person telling  you again to "keep it down" and denying you more than 2 napkins to clean up the drink that slid off the table drenching everyone in a 15 foot radius.

    3.  What would be the final straw be that would make you and your party head for the exit?
    (a) Richard Simmons showing up naked.
    (b) The piano player playing nothing but off-key Michael Bolton
    (c)  The Last Call bell rings.
    (d) The bartender tells you to "knock it off or we're going to have to ask you to leave" because we "leave the singing to the piano player" when two people in your group start singing along to an epic Queen song.

    CORRECT ANSWERS:

    1. D
    2. D
    3. C. It was a trick question but the answer should have been D.

    If you answered this quiz correctly not only will you not like Spec's but I kinda want to hang out with you.

  • Review from neil c.

    • 200 friends
    • 294 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    4/18/2008

    This place looks like someone  went on a $50000 shopping spree at Paxton Gate,  and threw all of it on the walls. I know that's not what happened, this place came first, but still, I like the idea of someone doing that. I also love how it's shoe horned in to a little alleyway.

    Here is how it could turn into a 5 star establishment: Racer 5 on tap.

    This review sucks, read Adrienne G's and Andy F's for more fun.

  • Review from Angela M.

    • 37 friends
    • 114 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    9/28/2010

    If you love dive bars and nautical paraphernalia  (and really, who doesn't?) than you are going to LOVE Specs'. It's the hidden gem of North Beach and the place I escape to on the weekends when my regular bar, Vesuvio, is chocked full of the Bridge and Tunnel crowd.

    The wine is awful (about a half step up from drinking turpentine) but the bartenders and the charm of the space more than make up for it. Be warned that Specs' is cash only.

  • Review from InfodivaMLIS B.

    • 1935 friends
    • 458 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    12/17/2007

    Specs!!  I know thee well.  I first heard about this bar via Adam Adler RIP. He was the gayest(good) guy at Abraham Lincoln HS. I don't think he is any relation to the street name.  I remember how excited he was to know there was a bar and street named after him.  This was in 1982.

    Since 1968, Specs Twelve Adler Museum Cafe -- Specs to you -- has thrived as a North Beach holy spot

    It was a sad day in Specs' history when the door connecting the bar to the upstairs strip club was closed off, corking the stream of scantily clad women who ventured down. The bartender, patrons and owner of the North Beach saloon dealt with the convulsive change in a traditional way: They had a drink.

    The bar, which is formally called Specs Twelve Adler Museum Cafe and was opened in 1968 in an alley off Columbus Avenue in San Francisco, has been home to a menagerie of misfits, from strippers and poets to longshoremen and merchant marines. A sign reading, "Please mind your head'' hangs above the bar next to the genitalia of a walrus. A photo of Ronald Reagan stretching his legs includes the homemade caption, "One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you."

    The bar is a slice of a bawdier San Francisco, a foil for the modern day Internet cafe, a dimly lit place that inspires conversation, debate and impromptu poetry readings.

    I remeber the Handwriting Lady. I remember passing out after drinking Kama-Kazi's on a school night.  Kathy Gray now a cop threw up in Clown Alley's Bathroom.  Some dude paid for a cab/taxi ride from North Beach to my house...  That is a $40.00 cab ride folks.

    I still drop in to Specs when I am down that way. I love it when I run into the owner. He is such a character.

    This space has a deeper history...in the 40's it was a secret/underground Gay and Lesbian Bar.  

    God I love this town. I always leave my heart in San Francisco.

  • Review from matthew r.

    • 169 friends
    • 518 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    11/9/2007

    Having a bunch of sorta historical looking junk all over the walls does not a museum make. Museums have their historical looking junk laid out in a coherent way, and they have information about the junk and guided tours and they sell memberships and you're not allowed to touch anything. And I've never seen a museum with restrooms as bizarre and foul smelling as these.

    But none of the other museums I've been to recently have such capable bartenders and reasonably priced drinks and odd but refreshingly down to earth patrons. Spec's is not at all like other north beach bars; There's no neon, no dance music blasting, no gelled hair inside. It's tucked away in a little alley off of Columbus with a tiny sign. You won't find it if you're not looking for it.

    This place may very well have inspired Billy Joel to write 'Pianoman' (there was a live piano player last time I was there!) At least a third of the regulars could have been Davy who's still in the Navy and there were a fair number more who evidently never had time for a wife. They're all generally friendly though.

    Stop in here if you're tired of crowds and noise and stuck on Columbus. Spec's is there for you.

  • Review from olivia w.

    • 51 friends
    • 28 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    12/10/2006

    I used to go to Spec's with my fake ID in the early 90s. Since then, it has always held a place in my heart. There are many stories and storytellers there. Like the man who used to bring his pet bunny into the bar and if you bought him a beer,  you could hold the bunny.

    and did you know that on Sundays from noon to 4, they host a life drawing class? costs money, but good for you artists.

    and the cheesewheel. how can anyone not like this place? its gets crowded on weekends, but for some reason, i can tolerate it, which is rare for me.

    the other day i was there with my friend Kevin. within minutes we were helping tourists out with their map. i think it just brings out the best in people.

    don't go to Tosca. go to Spec's. then again, don't go, because I want Spec's all to myself.

  • Review from Kerry P.

    New Orleans, LA

    5.0 star rating
    4/9/2008

    Have you ever wondered what the world looked like from inside an aquarium?  Sit near the front window of Spec's and you can experience that sensation.  Not only does the plate glass cast an eerie blue glow on the outside courtyard, but many of the characters here might very well be water-dwelling.   The bar's nautical motif is something out of bohemian nightmare.  Glancing up you will see a corpse's head wedged in between the skeletons of two giant shark jaws while John Coltrane jams quietly in the background.  

    Apparently, owner of the bar got his nickname from the spectacles he sported back in the day.  Sometimes I feel like I need spectacles to see past the odd-ball facades of the bar patrons.  Upon further examination (eavesdropping), I've discovered that the conservative investment bankers at the table next to me dress in drag on the weekends.  The senile bums at the bar are actually political activists in heated debate about the contributions of Ralph Nader and the evils of the Neo-con movement.  The gentleman keeled over his drink is praying, not snoozing.

    The suffix "-arium" is Latin for "a place for relating to."  Put on your specs, have a couple of cheap Anchor Steams and take a swim with the fish.

  • Review from David C.

    • 119 friends
    • 250 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    1.0 star rating
    10/10/2008

    If you want to go to a bar where you have to be quiet and aren't allowed to have any fun....go here. This place sucks balls.

    So me and a few friends stroll into this hole, granted we were a little drunk but by no means were we loud at all. We sit down. Our buddy gets us some drinks at the bar and brings it to us. So we go ahead and chug our drinks and the bartender comes to our table, grabs our empty glasses and kicks us out. Why? Because apparently we didn't behave. We didn't disrupt anybody's good time. We weren't loud and obnoxious. I asked her why we were getting kicked out and no response. She just said to leave. So we didn't cause any kind of ruckus. We got up and left.

    If I could give this place negative stars I would.

  • Review from Lynae Z.

    • 16 friends
    • 84 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    1.0 star rating
    12/16/2007

    The bartenders at Spec's are assholes. The primary clientele could be described as "interesting" if you're looking in the door, but if you actually go in and hang out with them, you'll find out it's more like going to a bar full of the very same crazy homeless people you cross the street to avoid when you're downtown.

    I remember not minding Spec's the first time I went in there. The decorations are cool and, as I said, the patrons aren't immediately alienating. Also, we just went in there and drank.

    The next time I went, it was for a friend's moving-away celebration. We sat in the back, it was fucking noisy, and the bartender mistook us for some other people. Then several of us started messing around with this little rubber flogger thing that we'd picked up earlier in the day, just, like, hitting each other with it. Nothing sexual, just goofing around. We were told by the bartender that it wasn't "that kind of bar" and had to stop.

    Then a little later one of us started singing an old sea shanty. He was also told that it wasn't "that kind of bar" and when I asked the bartender why they had a piano if they weren't the kind of bar where you could make music, he responded with, "Sorry, house rules."

    I've never been back. If you want the kind of bar where you're supposed to sit silently next to some stinky toothless old fucker mumbling into his dirty beer glass, drowning your sorrows over also being a smelly geriatric transient, then my rating for you would be 5 stars instead of one.

  • Review from Anna b.

    • 54 friends
    • 169 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    6/8/2006

    I have nothing to add, except:
    - got kicked out of Specs for playing the piano
    - because it attracts tourists, I end up meeting random people, like the dutch death guild
    - the bartenders are surly (and if I dealt with as many tourists, I would be surly too)
    - watch out for the bathroom stairs!!

  • Review from Wilhelm Y.

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    3/3/2008

    My first impressions: a hangout for North Beach locals and aging hippies, lots of "stuff" plastered on the walls must be some sort of historical shit, popular considering it's a Sunday night

    I was here for one night to have a couple of beers with friends, enjoy good conversation and to view some short films.  That's right.  I went to Specs to watch a movie.

    My friend Gregg M seems to be a regular customer here.  He starred in the twelve minute flick titled "Jake and Ronne" which maybe not so coincidentally was filmed in its entirety at Specs.  The film was directed by another friend, Mark N, who doesn't seem to be a regular here.  Anyway, good stuff.  In part because the bar patrons were lively and made a lot of noise while cheering on familiar shots or cameos by the bartender made this a very enjoyable evening.

    They have Sierra Nevada on tap so I was happy.  Cool bartenders and loud music played softly so one can actually enjoy good conversation without shouting.

    Two of my first impressions turned out to be right.  The crowd is a good mix of friendly North Beach locals and modern day hippies, and maybe because of film night this was a very popular place on a Sunday evening.

    The stuff on the wall wasn't very historical unless you consider how old they are.  Vintage signs and famous quotes mostly with an assortment of knick-knacks here and there.  There's some really hilarious graffiti in the restroom too.  Ah, local charm.

  • Review from Justin C.

    • 317 friends
    • 310 reviews

    Marseille

    France
    2.0 star rating
    10/27/2007

    The good news: if you want to act like a complete idiot, drink other people's drinks, and physically assault other people's personal property (including expensive guitars) with no repercussions whatsoever, this is the place for you.  There are no consequences for bad behavior here.  It is as permissive a place in San Francisco as you can get nowadays.  Don't worry, you'll never be 86'd or ejected from Spec's.

    The bad news: if you've ever stepped away for only a few seconds then turn around to see someone drinking your full pint of beer, imagine this scenario.  You ask the person politely, "Is that my beer?" to which the person responds to you in indecipherable drunken mumbling.  Then before you even get a chance to notify the bartender, the drunk woman finishes your beer and all the bar patrons descend on you and lecture you like you're the asshole picking on a poor thirsty person who is entitled to drink your drink and any other drink she sees.

    If that kind of behavior is rewarded at Spec's on a consistent basis, thanks but no thanks.

    +1 star for the one female bartender there who is friendly and polite

  • Review from Towanda S.

    • 8 friends
    • 57 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    6/1/2008

    Not sure why or how we ended up at this little bar in the back of a nowhere alley.

    From now on, when I do decide to brave the NorthBeach crowds, I will make an effort to go here.

    Dark and creepy and cheap and wonderful

    I almost had to break my 3 month "no punching" streak. People need to learn how to stare politely and NOT bump into me so they can't "accidentally" touch my ass. Sure I just happened to be wearing what can only be described as an 80's hooker outfit... but that's no excuse.

  • Review from Allyson V.

    • 17 friends
    • 84 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    4.0 star rating
    11/2/2006

    Spec's is fairly divey but the clientele is mixed with office drones like myself looking to forget our day and older guys who look like they've been drinking long enough to forget several years. I've never been there on a weekend night, so I have not seen it overrun with tourists. The bartenders are fun. The prices are pretty reasonable.

    This place is so close to my work, and yet only a few of my co-workers even know it's there. That is actually what gives it the 4th star.

  • Review from Aaron M.

    • 21 friends
    • 76 reviews

    Seattle, WA

    4.0 star rating
    5/25/2006

    Specs is a pretty cool bar to just chill in. When I went there it got kinda crowded, but the place is pretty small. Also some middle-aged guys were playing Magic cards behind us and had all their role playing game figures out. I dunno.

    Anyway.... the decor is great, filled to the brim with a maritime theme. I even saw a bumper sticker for Tybee Island, GA, a place I used to frequent when I was in college.

    Also, they have a wheel of cheese they cut for you and crackers.

  • Review from Matias D.

    • 108 friends
    • 100 reviews

    San Francisco, CA

    5.0 star rating
    8/2/2010 7 photos 7 Check-ins Here

    This is the choice beatnick-atmosphere, hole-in-the-wall-(of an alley) type of bar, that's not dirty and includes a piano. You may find some old timers jamming here, which is becoming increasingly more rare in this world.

    Good price... drinks/service are all great.

  • Review from katy h.

    • 58 friends
    • 22 reviews

    Sacramento, CA

    5.0 star rating
    5/2/2006

    Read across the street at City Lights until it's appropriate drinking time.

    Head to Spec's no later than 6ish and you'll be treated to cheese at happy hour.

    Old style SF, comfortable atmosphere, all the usual North Beach characters and stiff drinks. You won't need anything else.

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