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The Cigar Bar & Grill
Categories: Nightlife Bars Restaurants American (Traditional) Bars, American (Traditional) [Edit]
850 Montgomery St(at Gold St)
San Francisco, CA 94133
Neighborhood: Financial District
(415) 398-0850
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 4 pm - 2 am
Sat 6 pm - 2 am
- Delivery:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- 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:
- Yes
- Ambience:
- Trendy, Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
About This Business:
Great burgers and fries. We proudly serve natural, grass-fed beef burgers, turkey, veggie, and buffalo burgers. We do classic hamburgers, making the… read more »
493 reviews for The Cigar Bar & Grill
Review Highlights
"The live music and food is outstanding."
(in 59 reviews)
"This is one of my fave Happy Hour spots."
(in 63 reviews)
"Live music, dancing, outdoor patio with heaters."
(in 45 reviews)
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493 reviews in English
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Review from Shirleyanne Z.
San Francisco, CA
1/8/2012
I really like hanging out at this place. The Latin music they play reminds me of The Buena Vista Social Club. The fountain they have outside is nifty and across the fountain there's a room with comfy couches where you can hang out with your friends. It is also conveniently located near a bunch of pizza shops in case you have the late night drunken munchies. There's a strip club just up the hill if you're a man who has never seen a pair of boobies before.
The drinks were pretty reasonable for San Francisco pricing standards and the noise level isn't that loud so you could actually have a normal conversation with your friend or date. They have this closet full of different types of cigars. I really liked the one with the chocolate aftertaste amd was like a zero calorie indulgence. I do not recommend this place if you have asthma or allergy issues. The smoke can really get intense. This is definitely one of my favorite spots in North Beach. -
Review from E. J.
Larkspur, CA
1/17/2012
I went to Cigar Bar recently and had unpleasant encounters with two servers. The first one was over happy hour. We sat down and chatted for about 15 minutes waiting for some friends to join us and lost track of time. At 3 minutes before happy hour ended we asked if we could put an order in and our server flat out said no.
What happened to the days when your server came to your table to see if you wanted to get an order in before happy hour ended? And the place was not busy at all.
It was kind of cool and funky to go downstairs and into the outdoor courtyard with all the cigar smokers and all the different rooms. The food was pretty good. -
Review from Mary Ann M.
Palo Alto, CA
1/13/2012 1 Check-in Here
Pros:
-Nice venue: We were seated in the center outside courtyard with the lovely fancy fountain and good heat lamps. Clean, hip, good crowd.
-Amazing food: Ceviche was fresh, great tasting, big portion, needed more chips though. I heard the seared scallops were really good, but only comes with three. Sliders (3) were very good and fries were cooked nicely.
-Good drinks: The sangria was very good. It's only $4 if you get it during happy hour.
Cons:
-STINKY as hell: Figures... it's called Cigar Bar.
I'd go back and maybe try to sit inside where there's no cigar smoking going on. -
Review from Anthony I.
San Pablo, CA
1/7/2012
Went here last night 1-7-12 for salsa night and had a great time. Good older and fun loving crowd. Has different rooms depending on what you want to do. A pool room, middle area where you can smoke or have good conversation.
Pro: Great ambiance and good live performances, drinks are not expensive in comparison to other large cities I've visited.
Con: During intermission of the performances there was no music playing for over 20 minutes.
I plan on visiting this place again to see if I can upgrade my rating from 4 to 5 stars. -
Review from Ann R.
Vallejo, CA
2/3/2012
I have been here at least a couple of times. The food and drinks are very good and the noise level isn't too bad. I love salsa nights so Sat. night is one of the best nights to go. They extended the size of the club with a bigger room with the band and decent size dance floor. Also depending on what you want to do, there are several rooms in the club. A small room with a pool table, main bar, and 2 or 3 other cozy party rooms with couches, chairs, and tables. Also if you smoke, the courtyard is the place to go there. Nice architecture and nice place to go.
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Review from Maitai N.
San Francisco, CA
1/8/2012
Great place for multiple purposes, dancing, drinking, smoking, and just hanging out.
Love the live music they have. Good for a large group because of the big rooms they have. -
Review from Diana G.
11/30/2011
If you're into Havana nights then you'll enjoy this place! I'm not really into cigars and/or second hand smoke. I'm also not really into their Hanky Panky drink that was undrinkable (it was super bitter) or their sorry excuse of a mojito. I live in Miami, I know my mojito's!
BUT this place still gets 4 stars because of its ambiance and impressive live music performances. Also, after I told them what I liked and didn't like the bartender got the next drink just right. For those cigar aficionados, they have an outdoor courtyard where you could enjoy your cigar and/or dine as you inhale smoke, yum?!?
For those of us wishing to preserve our lungs (like moi), we could enjoy the indoors which has the bar, some tables, and live music! Dance your little hearts (and perhaps lungs) to Latin music here! -
Review from Veronica S.
Fremont, CA
10/2/2011 1 Check-in Here
I really really like this place. Great drinks, nice staff, large open indoor spaces that has both a bar, lounge-y area, and dining tables, and then there's a courtyard in the outdoors area where you can enjoy a great cigar.
The live Latin music is also a blast and complements well with the energy here...
Would certainly come here again with good company, what a fun spot! And the cocktails are reasonably priced...$8-$11...Their Elderflower Cocktail is yummy! -
Review from Noah C.
10/2/2011 1 Check-in Here
I'm the type of person (much to my poor wife's chagrin) who doesn't really care about the cost of food at most restaurants, unless there's something on the menu so egregiously overpriced that I'm almost insulted. A good example - a Korean restaurant in Orange County that I hit up frequently has a bottle of Charles Shaw marked up to ten bucks. TEN BUCKS! Total crap.
So imagine my surprise coming to the Cigar Bar for dinner and drinks and having to do a double take at the menu. Eighteen bucks...for a rib-eye steak? That just...can't be right, can it? I don't think, outside of crappy chain restaurants, that I've seen a rib-eye listed for under twenty bucks, and certainly not at a cool little place like the Cigar Bar is. But no, I wasn't seeing things, nor did I have too many drinks: the rib-eye was eighteen bucks.
Intrigued, I run my eyes all over the menu. The rib-eye is the most expensive item on it. Risotto is twelve. Ribs are eleven. This makes no sense. I am tempted to run back outside and make sure I'm in SF.
Okay, fine, prices are reasonable. But how does everything taste? Well...good. Really good. The rib-eye, which I just kind of had to order, was cooked well, seemed to be properly rested, and was seasoned simply and well. My wife's risotto was delicious, and the rice itself wasn't stuck together and retained that proper al dente texture.
Some of the appetizers were kind of pedestrian, such as the average hot wings. But still - good, cheap drinks on tap accompanied by a totally worthy, affordable menu? Winner! -
Review from Vanessa S.
Oakland, CA
11/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
I went here one night with a friend to finally try this place out. We got a couple of cigars, some drinks, and a lot of food. My friend got braces that same week so I was basically eating for two. We ordered the bruschetta, which was pretty good. Can't say I've had bruschetta with spanish chorizo before. My friend ordered the risotto and I the scallops. The scallops weren't anything special, but the risotto was excellent. I highly recommend it.
I will most likely come back here again. It's a cool, chill place. I'm not much of a smoker and don't mind a cigar now and again. I do think this is a great place to go for just that, a drink and food. -
Review from Jennifer S.
San Francisco, CA
1/7/2012
The place is nice and big with an outdoor area for smoking. For people who don't like the smell of smoke, the smoke gets pretty intense. The garlic fries are amazing.
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Review from Nique F.
9/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
The Cigar Bar is a lot like life in general: at some points thrilling and pleasurable, at other times: a total let down. And in the midst of trying to figure out whether it's good or bad, all you're left to do is shrug your shoulders and take it in, moment by moment.
So yeah, there's some cool things about Cigar Bar. Happy hour, decent cocktail list, live music on the weekends, AND the fact that all the European men in SF seem to flock here to puff away on their cancer sticks and talk passionately into their cell phones in the outdoor courtyard. A very welcome break from the hipster-ridden bar scene.
The food is just okay. We had the ceviche which turned out to be a plate of tortilla chips with some soupy raw fish in the middle. Sad. The carmelized plantains almost made up for it - they were pillowy soft and perfectly decadent.
When it came time to pay with our "coupon" (which we mentioned to our waitress as soon as we sat down) the guy behind the bar made a big, extravagant fuss over it. We were like...."Ummm, is he okay?" It seemed like we really ruined his night with that little coupon. Awkward to the max.
Did I mention the hoards of well-dressed, Mediterranean-sun-kissed business men? Redemption is a beautiful thing.Listed in: Live Music around the Bay, Cocktalin' SF
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Review from Bailey D.
San Francisco, CA
11/16/2011
I've had 3 happy hour events at Cigar Bar. All have been reasonably smooth and very successful. Negatives for large groups include their insisting on splitting between no more than 6 cards, even for very large groups, and slow service.
But the drinks are good, the atmosphere is peppy, there's a nice outside area, and they have great deals for happy hour. Last time I was there, a rum sponsor was handing out lots of free rum, which was a fun addition and big money saver.
Overall, it's easy and they'll always have an area for me to reserve, for a range of party sizes. -
Review from leena k.
Oakland, CA
9/15/2011
I don't smoke cigarettes -- but give me something better to smoke, like an Irish Cream and white chocolate truffle cigar, and hell yeah, I'll inhale that ish!
Aside from containing such combustible offerings, The Cigar Bar is a nice spot to hang, with a bar that serves wonderful drinks, a heated, Euro-style patio, and a separate indoor area with live music and salsa dancing. I went on a Friday night, and it wasn't too hard to find a table on the patio after just a few minutes of hovering. It gets crowded to a comfortable level, and there is eye candy for a variety of tastes.
My only gripe is that food is not served very late, and I'm more interested in eating than dancing. The website says food is served until 11pm on Fridays, but I swear we asked to order something at around 10:40 and the server was like "Um no" and was kind of a bitch about it. Also, you have to go up to the bar to purchase cigars rather than be able to order them from the patio, which somehow detracts from the diva experience one might like to have. Also, there is sometimes a cover -- $7 when we went.Listed in: Being Fabulous in the Bay!, California Leisure &…
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Review from rew c.
Santa Rosa, CA
Updated - 10/12/2011
Love this place - it's one of the premier cigar bars in San Francisco and really one of the best places in all of Northern California to smoke cigars, cigarettes, have a drink and also has great food.
I've been here several times since my last review and I love it again. The bartenders are cool and personable, great selection of cigars and there are so many places to sit, chill, smoke, and hang out w/ friends.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/19/2011
Great Venue for smoking with your buddies -
The drinks aren't cheap and they measure out a shot!!… Read more »
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Review from Kimya P.
San Francisco, CA
10/26/2011
Cute decor - very spanish feel and architecture. Great music and outdoor patio with a fountain. Plenty of space for big groups. $5/beers :) If you dont smoke and/or don't like the smell of cigar smoke you might be miserable people are smoking everywhere...
There's a pool table in the back. Also, they make a great Hot Toddy! -
Review from Eric P.
San Mateo, CA
10/10/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Review for HH only!
So I've been here 4 times now, and there is one consistency: very very slow service during the happy hour. Now, it's not like the place has bad staff... I do see them working hard, but it's just awfully slow here. Come on owners/managers, hire more people because the place is clearly understaffed!
I was here last Friday for HH... joined my friends who were already there and the server came relatively quickly to get my order (just a draft beer). About 10 minutes later, my friends ordered another round of drinks... 10 minutes after that... nothing. 10 minutes later, my friends get the round of drinks they ordered... but nothing for me :( We informed the staff of my situation and the girl apologized for the delay and said that she'll "get it right away". Another 10 minutes pass by, and my beer finally came.
At the end of the HH, we waited 10 minutes to get the check, and spent another 15 minutes waiting because they charged us for a wrong bottle of wine.
When the drinks do come, they are good, and the food's pretty good as well. I like the fries, yum. -
Review from Nick B.
San Francisco, CA
9/17/2011
It was a typical story - boy meets girl, boy asks girl out, girl says she is going out with friends; boy offers lamely to go wherever she is going in attempts to hook up and promises to bring his nice friends for her...
...and that is how I ended up at the Cigar Bar Friday night after listening to my friend promise me this girl would have pretty friends and how badly he needed a wing man.
So here we are. At a cigar bar. Ooooookay.
It felt a bit like I was in Europe with the high density of Euro's in the room. My poor friend seemed oblivious to the fact that the girl he wanted to meet would more than likely be ogling the dusky men with accents.
Oh well, off to the humidor! We didn't leave him flying solo, but quickly a few of us decided drinks and cigars were top priority and if the ladies wanted to join us that was fine, otherwise damn the torpedoes!
A bit later some funky Latin music started vibing from the band that was playing. Apparently my friend brought his "A" game that night and convinced the ladies that we would entertain them. Soon enough I was on the dance floor shaking my hips and doing Shakira proud or thoroughly embarrassing myself. By then I was 3 cocktails in and having fun.
But after a while the smoke started getting to me and kinda brought my mood down. It reminded me a bit of Vegas where after a while everything smells like smoke. So it was a little good, a little bad, but nothing really ugly (except this one guy sporting a HUGE V of chest hair - wow). -
Review from Maggie K.
Los Angeles, CA
This place is one of the reasons I anticipate my visits to San Francisco. Just a beautiful place with a latin feel.
There's a live band accompanied with acoustic guitars, and well-dressed patrons that are there to socialize and have a good time.
Great place to have a quick bite and enjoy the drinks and cigars.
I'm personally not a cigar smoker, but boy did I have a great time puffing my Montecristo! The staff is upbeat, very likeable, attractive, and very helpful when trying to figure out what you want.
A great place for a good time! -
Review from Anne Marie B.
Manhattan, NY
8/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
So close to home, why did it take me so long to get here? I really enjoyed the vibe at Cigar Bar on a Thursday night. They have a lot of space, which is really nice considering all the people who like to cram into San Francisco bars, and having the options of multiple rooms, bars, patios, and seating was a huge plus.
We spent some time in the main bar area, tried our luck at the pool table, enjoyed a brief sojourn in the patio, but mostly used the time to catch up with out of town friends.
In terms of the drinks though, I only had 2, made by two different bar tenders. I went with my standard Dark and Stormy first and it was not good at all. It was strong, but that wasn't what I was going for. The flavor was not doing it for me. The second time around I tried my luck with the Pomegrita (pomegranite marg) made by a different bartender and it was much better. Not phenomenal, but definitely enjoyable.
So it seems like you come here to enjoy the atmosphere of the music, cigars, and various seating options. It'd be nice if all their drinks were as impressive as the rest of the venue, but I would definitely go back since an n of 2 is certainly not statistically significant. -
Review from Tina L.
San Francisco, CA
10/21/2011
What a cluster....
I came with 2 friends and ordered quite a few entrees and drinks. The polenta bars were decent but not stellar. The risotto was not a risotto; it was rice al dente with a heavy orange sauce. I was nervous to eat the scallops b/c they smelled very fishy and food poisoning was the last thing I needed.
We also were not aware that each entree and drink came with a different server. We literally had 8 servers rotating through our table. Because each server didn't know who was our last, they would ask us the same questions or bring us the wrong order.
To make our dining experience worse, the 8th server didn't know which tab was our bill. After 30 minutes waiting, we decided to head to the server station to find out what was going on. Of course, the bill was double what we really owed with another table's charges combined with ours.
Needless to say, my friends and I will not be coming back anytime soon unless we don't have any other place to go and have about 4 hours to spare for dinner. -
Review from Minas K.
San Luis Obispo, CA
1/19/2012 1 Check-in Here
In town for a football game and ended up here. Place had a very nice vibe. Nice courtyard in the middle of the complex to hang out and talk, while you smoke a nice cigar. Drink prices were average for the city. The only down side I saw was that there was a cover charge to get in.
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Review from Nina Y.
7/17/2011
Happy hour with our team from work. Since one of the partners was paying, I really didn't pay attention to prices of anything. We got so many drinks and so many plates of food for all of us. There were about 50 or so of us there drinking and having a good time together.
The drinks were pretty cheap - not too bad if I remember correctly. The atmosphere is really nice. They have some live music, some of my coworkers even danced to it. I stayed there until about 10. Apparently I smelled like cigars though. Oh well, it happens when you're standing close to the center part of the bar that allows smoking. It's pretty nice if you want to do all that, if not, it's a pretty cool place to hang out and talk with friends. Definitely a place to go with friends and have some fun!Listed in: Happy Hour
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Review from Johnny V.
Pleasant Hill, CA
8/18/2011
Went to the Cigar Bar & Grill on a Wednesday night for a mixer.
It was a pretty good turnout and there was plenty of space to accommodate our group.
I was not familiar with the beers on tap. The bartender was very helpful in helping me chose the right one. I can't remember which one I got but it was very good and worth going back for.
I could see how this place can get very crowded. Lots of tables and open areas, along with some comfy chairs for people to mingle and just enjoy themselves.
Look forward to coming back here again. -
Review from Shannyn B.
San Francisco, CA
10/2/2011
This place may be great for a late night scene but I came here for an after work drink around 5pm.
The service was great, the food was very average, the cigar selestion is kind of limited, and the drinks are awful! The soda's they use in mixed drinks were "flat" (not sufficiently carbonated). -
Review from Brian K.
7/31/2011 1 Check-in Here
We came here on a Friday night at about 10PM. PACKED and for a good reason - what a cool vibe.
We sat on the patio and enjoyed some $10 cigars. Very nice. Live music, great people watching, and reasonably priced drinks.
Some math for the guys on a budget:
$7 cover per person
$10 cigars
$10-$15 drinks
Assume you and your lady friend each have a cigar and 2 drinks - you're looking at about $75 minimum. No different than most other places. -
Review from Richard T.
San Jose, CA
8/17/2011
Based on service, cleanliness and prices alone, I would have to give this place an easy 5-star review. The wait staff was friendly, attentive, and gave me a free beer when they mixed up my order.
The sliders and fries were awesome. Excellent for the price point. The fries were skinny and crispy.
I had to take a star away for the crowd here. The people seemed nice enough, but at the same time pretty nerdy. The people you'll find here on a friday night is full of 40-somethings and tech people. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I like to drink with people who are actually social.
I will come back again. -
Review from Elvis A.
6/14/2011
After picking up the cigar habit from a visit in sin city I was looking for smoke friendly places. I recalled this place from the good old days when I use to reside in SF. The drinks are better here and the mojito is one of the better one's in the city (read strong) I even tried the one with top shelf rum (forgot the name) and I think it was not an upgrade over the regular version. I haven't tried any food there but did go through the cigars they have I guess they are priced ok for place bar. The think I like about this spot is they follow instructions so if you are picky about how you want your drinks this place is good.
The entry fee for the LIVE band is a cash grab IMO as all the people are not here from dance and music. -
Review from Hyung L.
6/19/2011
I've been here several times before but this Friday we had a little birthday happy hour for my gf and it was a great time. So why the 5 stars you might ask. The staff was incredible. I've been to restaurants that are supposed high end white table clothe places and have servers that couldn't hold a candle to the people here. It was busy, really busy. Despite the bar being busy hardly ever too long of a wait for a drink. I had a tab and no hassle ordering from the bar or the server who was helping serving us outside. Lots of confusion over tabs but no attitude just smiles and "no problem". We were all a bit tipsy so I'm sure we were asking left and right for stuff but she was so patient with the group. Drinks are poured stiff. They serve food and we got some appetizer combo deal with quesadillas, polenta, bruschetta and wings. Awesome. Calamari was delicious.
They sell cigars but didn't even partake in that although many others were. We were too busy having many many coctails and celebrating. As it drew close to 10 pm they started to play salsa music. Apparently they have salsa dancing in the evenings. Pretty cool. -
Review from Jenna K.
7/31/2011 1 Check-in Here
So awesome. I got to smoke my first cigar last night, and I loved it. It feels so wrong, because you feel like you are in the bar, but in actuality you are outside.
They also have Oatis...which is so YUMMY! A wheat free beer, let alone A GOOD wheat free beer is hard to come by in any bar. I will definitely be back... -
Review from Jade W.
Updated - 7/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
After the owner contacted me and gave me VIP passes I decided to bring a good sized group here. We ate a little and drank a little grenacha and had fun.
I had so much fun I had forgotten why I had even gotten the passes or gave the low score. Then I took a sip of my mojito and I remembered the mojito tasted average with limp bright green mint. Now I remember!
The service, ambience and food were better this time around but those mojitos can be improved.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/8/2010
I can't stand covers, I mean I have to pay to get in and then pay to drink? wtf kinda logic is that?… Read more »
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Review from Nick P.
9/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
Actually, in many ways, I prefer the Occidental cigar bar in SF which I visited last night. But this place is much better to visit with non- cigar smokers. The courtyard is very pleasant. I wonder what they do when it rains???
I would happily bring my wife here.
Again the humidor was limited but had good cigars. I brought my own ( a fabulous Arturo Fuente Hemingway Classic) and washed it down (if you can wash down a cigar) with a glass of their excellent Malbec ($9.00)
A good live band kicked off with some Latin beats which somehow added to the cigar.
Friendly staff and nice place to hang out. -
Review from Jules S.
Monday night after an early evening downpour and the place looks empty. No matter. I just wanted to enjoy a cigar and cognac with my friend. It is Monday night. No reason for it to be so vibrant as I have seen it in the past.
I like to bring my own cigars to this place because 1) I have a good collection and 2) the selections they have are not worth the money you pay.
The service, as always, is average. But, I don't come here for the service or food. It has always been about the cognac, whiskey, and cigars, with the occasional live band and dancing to change things up. Oh, how I've missed the Latin bands, dancing, and vibe this place can roost.
Dead on a rainy Monday night, but not gone! To be continued... -
Review from Kevin A.
San Francisco, CA
5/9/2011
Stopped by after work for a beer and a cigar. Yes, a couple Speakeasy Big Daddy IPAs and La Flor Dominicana DL700 in the city of San Francisco. I can count on one hand the number of places this is possible within 60 miles! A truly unique haven for the cigar afficianado aka social pariah.
The atmosphere is intimate and open all at once. A cross between an open air cuban jazz club and an enclosed mediterranean patio. The bar staff was friendly and probably a little bored, due to the sparseness of the patio crowd on a foggy Friday afternoon. Brought my own sticks, but was pleased to see a decent selection at reasonable prices. By decent and reasonable, I mean... if you don't have a humidor at home, this place isn't going to screw the novices.
For the seasoned smoker, bring your own, hang around for a couple hours, relax, and watch the awkward transition from Happy Hour People to Night People.
Cigar guys should really support this place... the odds are stacked against them in a big way. I'll definitely be back. -
Review from Christopher P.
Santa Monica, CA
9/23/2011 1 photo
Great food, great music, and great alcohol. I had the time of my life. Only thing is the choice of cigars could have been a little bigger. Other than that the spot was perfect.
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Review from Maria G.
Lathrop, CA
9/21/2011
My friends and I went here over the weekend for a birthday party. We had a blast. There was a LIVE salsa band that was soooo good. The place was big and spacious. You can dress anyway you want, but of course we were dressed up and loved it. I don't know how expensive it was as far as drinks because I didn't buy one. The entrance fee was $7 which is rare in the city. I would go back and highly recommend going with live salsa.
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Review from Jovan L.
Oakland, CA
8/3/2011
This is my spot!
After moving here from Seattle over a year ago, the first thing I had to look for was a friendly place to smoke cigars.
I don't really have much to say about their food, though their sweet potato fries are really good. Whenever we come here it's usually to smoke and have a drink. Their drink prices are about average compared to other San Francisco bars. I would just recommend that you bring your own cigars though as they have a limited selection of cigars and are relatively expensive.
It is a great place to kick back with friends and family, smoke a cigar, and have a drink! I love their outdoor courtyard, very European. They have heaters for those cold San Francisco nights.
Friday and Saturday nights can get really crowded and there's a cover fee after 9 or 10; it's a club atmosphere during the weekends. If you're just looking for a place to have a smoke and drink, then I would recommend you check it out during the week. -
Review from Ben P.
San Francisco, CA
2/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
I am not normally a cigar fan.
Actually, I can shorten that: I am not normal.
It was with this firmly in mind that I walked into Cigar Bar, in the company of those more worldly and fabulous than I, a state of being that I am, by now, well familiar with. For a place whose very name is based on the notion that one could light up some cigars inside, you have to walk a long way to get to the cigar part of Cigar Bar.
One of my compatriots had brought a selection of cigars with him, and asked me which one I wanted. I asked him for the one that wouldn't symbolize me satisfying my oral fixation by chewing on a giant leafy dick---the one that even Freud would agree was just a cigar. He kinda smiled at me confusedly, so I ended up with an El Capitan Robusto Habana de Honduras Al Segundo De Mas Profundo. I think.
The cigar was nice enough, but the tray of bourbon that soon made its way out was far, far nicer. And so I sat on the deep leather couch and chewed on my giant Carribean leafy dick and drank the smooth, amber salve of the south. And just as the profusion of chemicals contained in all of the above were finally beating my emotions into something resembling contentedness, someone said "so, who's getting the girls?" The sentence took awhile to lodge appropriately in my brain, because it made no sense the first three times I repeated it to myself. Then, I became concerned: crap, was I supposed to bring....uh, girls with me? Was that on the invite? "Last names A-L bring cigars, last names M-Q bring girls, last names R-Z bring bourbon?" Had I blown it? Where does one even get girls at this time of night? And will they take AmEx?
Instead, apparently, my companion was referring to what maybe possibly is a practice of corraling one or more otherwise unattached young women to keep company with us gents while we smoked our cigars. I was not familar with this ritual, but given that my companions managed, in several passes through the bar, to actually bring back more than a few women to sit and talk with us, I am forced to acknowledge this must be a thing. Later on, when one of my companions left to walk a woman back to her car, and it took him more than a half hour, I decided it must REALLY be a thing.
The whole situation was very surreal. And I'm sure it showed---I regressed back to eighth grade, standing on the far side of the gym from the girls and dancing with absolutely no one. This whole thing makes my uncomfortable. My palms are starting to sweat just writing this, so let's wrap it up.
Thanks, Cigar Bar, for taking me back to the childhood I was using your booze in an attempt to finally kill from my mind. Also, I had to scrape my tongue the next morning. Never fun. -
Review from Ann L.
San Francisco, CA
10/23/2011 1 Check-in Here
Pretty decent food, nice staff, and good live Latin music.
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Review from Em J.
San Francisco, CA
10/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
seating may be hard... went on a tuesday and outside was nearly full.
nice warm feeling decor.
wish they had a bigger selection of cigars instead of a 4-5tier case.
Maybe rename to "The Bar Grill with Cigars..."
just had the regular manhattan, nicely done.
