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Categories: Jazz & Blues, Dive Bars
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill"What a great dive bar. Small, crowded, friendly, lots to see and people to meet. Every time I roll into San Francisco I hit this bar. Have…" read more »
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Yelp needs various classifications to differentiate star levels.
Case in point; The Saloon. If you have never been here and saw my 5 stars you would wonder what the hell was I smokin/drinkin. Well that is none of your business!
I have a history of loving dive bars, just all the character/characters of most of them, and like The Saloon, many have oodles of historical significance. The legend states that this bar survived the fires caused by the 1906 earthquake because there was a brothel upstairs and the firefighters didn't want to lose such an important, ahem, business. It is also the longest continuously running bar in the city. See its a historical landmark, how much more credibility does one need?
Ok, and now on to my last visit on Sunday 11/15/09, arriving around 6:00 for some live blues. Again, love dive bars but on this occasion I have the lady friend in tow. I did give her a little bit of a heads up on what to expect as she is a polite, sophisticated lady in her 50's, but didn't want to scare her off either. I remember playing up the historical thang to peak her interest.
This particular visit did not get off to a great start. Frikken Hells Angels milling about outside the door. LF tugged on my jacket..."are you sure about this"? Oh yeah, they are a friendly bunch, cmon!
Place was packed but we found 2 empty stools near the door. 1 stool spot had a pack of smokes and a beer bottle on the bar. LF sat and the occupier of said stool came up behind me and grabbed his smokes and bottle, "sit brother sit"! Turned around to give thanks and it was one of the Angels! See honey, what'd I tell ya. About peed my pants, don't tell her that though.
Well, the band was great, the crowd drunkin and friendly, met an interesting bloke from New Castle UK that was traveling the world, and the drinks were cheap. Service great as well, plus it was the btenders bday and cake was passed around to all.
Oh yes, the bathrooms. Phew! Sitting near the door was a good thing. The men's room appeared to have been recently cleaned but 100+ years of missed targets cant be washed away.
Great time again at The Saloon. Hopefully this doesn't start the LF on the road to ruin......
Hey, at least it doesn't smell like barf, the way the Irish bars out in the Avenues do! What's a little piss among friends?
This is where to loosen your tie and/or corsets and just have a good ol time.
Enjoy!
my favorite dive in the city, and it has the best consistent (and nightly) blues in the country, IMHO.
re: the smell...i believe that 10% of all women who enter have a gene that triggers an I-can't-stand-the-smell-of-this-place reaction. it's funny to watch them: they walk in, crinkle their face, hold their nose, and walk out.
oh yeah, don't forget to check out the Reese Witherspoon autograph in the men's room.
I still really love this place. Great live music, no nonsense crowd and cheap drinks.
I have it on good authority that this place is indeed the oldest bar in San Francisco. If you're into that sort of thing. Which I am.
Old time saloon with a lot of character. Cheap drinks, live blues and a little bit older crowd… Read more »
Was it me? or did it smell like tinkle as you walk in here?
Bleh, who cares. I love my bars that way...nice and wet. The bartender here was this older lady. She explained why the drinks were cheap (CASH only) and that they get more expensive after 9:30pm. Fine with me since it was only 9pm. Had a beer, listened to some band tune their music and left. Great hole in the wall once you get passed the smell.
i was told that this place is the oldest bar in the city and back in the day there was a brothel upstairs. i thought cool. old dive bar filled with the ghosts and whores of Charles Bukowskis'. i just had to check it out. especially, since i'm a fan of dive bars. so i dragged along my sister and friend.
as i walked up to the door, the ghost of some old gold miner sat quietly at his post. he didn't say much to me, nodded his head and signaled me to go in like i was some child being lured into the greatest place in the world. he smiled behind his large beard and didn't charge me the $5 cover posted on the door. when i turned around he was gone.
i didn't make it too far in. I didn't get eaten by wolves, or take a bite of that delicious red apple. i made it as far up to the bar and that's when i saw my sister holding up a scarf to her face. yep she was gagging and so was the girl who came in after us. now me, i was taking it in like most do dive bars, but the sister and friend wanted out. pronto. and out we went.
dark bar. yes. cheap drinks. i'm sure. good music? i imagine so. but man, this place smells like straight up funk. piss, sweat, tears and blood collected throughout the years. my sister and friend will never come back here. as for me, maybe. i think after a certain amount of time you kinda get used to the smell. i wouldn't dare use the restroom though. maybe i'll come back when i am pretty drunk already and the smell doesn't bother me a whole lot. it is a neat looking bar. i just wish it didn't smell THIS bad.
Great place to hang out on a Sunday night. Listen to a bit of Jazz from a live band and have a few drinks. Nice atmosphere has the old dive look and feel, mainly because this is the real mcCoy! I agree with the other post of a strange smell inside, but I figure since it is the oldest bar in SF and used to be a Whorehouse as well, the whole thing add character funky smell and all. :) It is a must see.
I get it, The Saloon is a SF staple, a landmark, blah blah blah...and ya know, I enjoyed my incredibly stiff drink. But it smells like pee in here and maybe it's the "Marina" in me but I just can't deal.
From the outside this spot has a total biker bar look to it, but once you get in you realize that it is more of a 55 year olds getting drunk and dancing sort of spot. This fabled watering hole is one of the oldest in the City, and didn't burn down during the fire/earthquake of 1906 because the firemen wanted to save what was at the time also one of the City's favorite whorehouses.
Although the whores are gone, the bar is still here serving $3 well drinks and having live, mostly blues, music every night. Make sure to check out the stained glass windows near the front. Last night the bartender carded my friends and after they explained that they were carded at the door, the barkeep answered, "By who? That guy doesn't work here." So what if the crowd is old, smells a little, and is usually shit-faced drunk, the Saloon might just be the bar that all other dive bars are trying to emulate.
WOW... That's all I can say. I have never seen a straight up put up or shut up kinda place like this. This place is old school blues bar. Tobbacco Road has nothing on this place. The crazy thing is that the musicians are freggin good.
So, do not take your first date there. actually wait until you are married for 20 years to take her there. Because 95% of the people there are over 55, drunk and smelly. But I promise you will have a good time.
Oh, BTW the bartenders are deaf but the will pour you a Man's drink for 3-4 dollars.
Hey Alexa...stay away...Zeitgiest has a spot for you and your skinny jeaned boyfriends..
With that said, The Saloon is a great little spot to hit ANY night of the week and find a really cool, dark little watering hole with a live band. The bar itself usually has a door guy checking ID's...go inside and find a bar, a small dance floor and an area for the band....
Its dark, pours a good drink, has a bathroom (which like all in SF are small dirty and full of grafiti...in other words perfect)....there is dancing, live music and a very diverse cool crowd....Im a fan
Just a great dive bar. A nice break from the usual around North Beach. Cheap drinks, good music, and an eclectic mix of people that are all friendly and interesting to watch to say the least. I don't get everyone complaining about the smell and the decor and the bathroom, it's an old dive bar. There's no bells and whistles so this place is of course not for everyone. But I think that's ok for the rest of us that can appreciate such a spot.
Not for the faint of heart. A San Francisco staple that stays original.
Bring friends who like blues and grungy places. Avoid it if you're looking for something clean, trendy, or uplifting.
How we got here, I don't know...
What a joint, immediately we meet several locals each having their own history of the bar. Dubbed as the oldest saloon in SF, probably has not been cleaned since it's Grand Openning. One of the stories was that it survived the Great SF fire of 1906 because it sat high on the road and that the above hotel was a brothel. The night of the fire a bunch of navy men on liberty were using the facilities and help stave off the fire by pour buckets of water around the saloon to preserve their favorite brothel....Anywho, Harry comes of of the place and says "bro you have to use the men's room" weary of glory holes any other surprises local to SF I said hell no, I don't have to pee. He insisted that this will be a memorable visit. By memorable meaning getting raped, forget it. After bribing me with drinks, I finally checked it out. What a cluster f#$% of a rest room. As you open the door, it is filled with graffiti, you have to go down seversl steps, navigate low hanging pipes, and survive the stench. I come out of there saying man that's a bitch to get out off, then Harry says imagine if you were in a wheel chair!!!!
There were no shortage of freaks going in and out, walking by and just hanging out. There was this thing about 6'4'' and had high heels and cheap make up. Looked like Dee Snyeder in an evening dress, after seeing this thing it was time to go.
What an experience.
I'm the kind of girl who orders whiskey neat. This whiskey neat is more of a pint of whiskey neat. Holy shit.
Most phenomenal blues any night of the week.
I love the patrons here- they break up the monotony and drone of all other bars/clubs in town.
Authentic. Laid back. Older, steady/daily drinkers line the bar counter. It is filled with characters to observe and talk to. This place is for people who don't have sticks up their butts, people who just want to have a few and bullshit with people. Live music Monday nights. Go in, have a drink, and I bet you'll make some memories.
If you like blues, booze, a little bootie shakin, and you're not a choade . . . then, I highly recommend gettin yourself on over here.
Cool, dark bar with requisite divey bathrooms. Amazing live blues band.
What surprised me the most was hearing a booming deep blusey voice belting out some blues . . . all of that was coming from an older, tiny, geee-tar playing, Asian woman. . . dressed like she just came from her office cubicle. Not only did she rock singing the blues, she is a bad-ass guitarist too! She even sang a blues song that she wrote while in Japan . . . and sung it in Japanese. She got a lot of people (even me) to get out there and shake what their mama gave em'.
I truly thought that a dad getting a hooker for his son on his birthday was one of those things you heard about but didn't REALLY happen. I haven't met anyone yet who can confirm that this is how they spent their sweet 16. They just know someone who knows someone from the back hills of Montana who lost his cherry somewhere in Reno after a long road trip and some quality bonding.
At least that is the story I had until I came here and saw it with my very own two eyes. Except the son was 21 and still hadn't been laid and the dad was getting himself a piece of the action as well.
This is the sort of random scene you might stumble upon at this worn down hole in the wall that's has been around long enough to see it all. You never know exactly what you are going to get, with the exception of a strong drink and some kick ass live blues and jazz. Its just that sort of place. Full of surprises while providing a consistently interesting time each time you walk through the door.
Dark and dingy, with cheap drinks, and great live music. This place is chock full of friendly regulars and the bartenders are really nice. There beer list is pedestrian but the ambiance is really worth a PBR.
I can't wait to come back here... what a joint!
scallywaggin' barkeep, stiff, cheap drinks, loud ass fantastic live blues music, interesting crowd, endorphin and vodka fueled dance party- in short, a fantastic time!
Scenario: Too many people at Maggie's so my friend showed me this place.
Product: The live blues was unexpectedly phenomenal. The beer was cheap. What more do you need. Too bad there was a cover, but it was necessary that night, being so packed.
Service: Ha!
Atmosphere: Where the hell do I start?!? It's a saloon. No really, a SALOON. The patrons are baby boomer age. The chicks look like biker chicks. The dudes look like biker dudes. The guy at the door could be Willie Nelson's half-cousin. The bartender's voice was rustier than a Pinto. And that other guy at the bar was eyeballing me somethin' fierce like I was gonna take his beer or something. There are signs around letting you know you shouldn't park you motorcycle in the alley. It was crowded, which is unusual according to my friend.
Uniquity: Good music, or good bad music. Either way you're golden. And $3 Bud with a very laid back crowd. I told my friend if I brought a girl here some day and she liked it I just might marry her.
Holy shit, what a find. Jacqui, thank you. What a joint - we walk into a live band playing James Brown, the bartender is f**cking hammered, they have Busch on draft (yet the bottled beer is still $3.50?), the person taking i.d.s looked like she was on a meth bender - all of these things I look for in a dive bar (one more Canadian Club shot for the bartender - oh wait, look he's doing one right now). Back to the band - solid. Funky. And the drummer was singing most of the joints, pulling a little Phil Collins-Don Henley shit. Nice work, I expect to be back at some point.
This is a taste of the "old" San Francisco. You know, back in the day when my forebears would have gotten their asses beat if they wandered out of Chinatown in and into North Beach. Not like today's North Beach with non-Italian Italian restaurants and Chinese businesses deep into North Beach. Still, I don't appreciate paying a $5 cover for a band that didn't play.
As I walked in, I was assaulted by a sight and a smell. The sight, an old man passed out sitting on a barstool in a corner. My liver felt sympathy pains for his cirrhosis. The smell was like the smell of a urinal, not quite piss, but there was a smell of chemicals (like urine cakes) trying to clean and or mask the smell.
But the drinks are insanely cheap for San Francisco, and it was a delight to see cracked out bartenders pour more whisky on to the bar than into my glass.
Yes, this is authentic, old-school San Francisco. But sometimes the past should just remain in the past.
A great hole in the wall for *REAL* Blues Lovers that don't bother real messy places!!!
I loved it!
One of the two men behind the bar is deaf on on ear: you need to waive your hands like a crazy if you want to catch is attention!
Great music and athmosphere.
The first time I came to The Saloon, it was on a date with this guy. It didn't end up working out for us, but I heard later that he used the same three step process for all of his dates. Meet a girl at a classy wine bar in North Beach. Take her across the street to Firenze by Night (where he is conveniently friends with the owners) for dinner, and then take her to The Saloon for some blues music, where he can show off his fabulous dancing skills. Hey, I can't knock his method. It worked on me!
Anyway, I love The Saloon for numerous reasons. The bartenders are totally crabby, but once you're in, you're in. They bring in the most awesome blues bands, and everybody, I mean EVERYBODY, will want to get down and boogie.
Whenever I feel like dancing the blues away, literally, I'll come to The Saloon. It beats any of those crap ass North Beach dance clubs any day.
Less than impressed this time around - As a general rule I don't pay covers and I wasn't about to pay $5 just to pop in for a quick drink. Lots of "seedy" characters hanging around outside.
I suggest they let folks tip the band if they are worth a shit.
This is one of the coolest dive bars in San Fran.
I wandered in here after stuffing myself at "The…
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A good place to meet hungry out of town cougars looking for a good time. The place has a cheap slutty feel to it. No attitudes, cheap booze and live music that the cougars love dancing to.
Imagine that weekend night that happens every once in a while where you're kind of tired and don't REALLY want to go out but other people are depending on you so you kind of get yourself out of your couch cocoon and wipe the stir-fry sauce from your face. Got it? Yeah, that's what I was feeling when my friends said that they were going to "this place called Saloon in North Beach." So I drag myself out and head up there and have to pay cover? Totally lame. I mention to door guy that I'm looking for my friend, tall and blond and he says "that tall blond guy that hit me in the back and spilled my f-in' drink??" and I'm like "haha....no...." as I walk up to the blond drink spiller and give him a hug. But aside from covers and the occasional angry large person, the Saloon was an absolute blast!
I was so incredibly happy that I went. The blues band was amazing to the point where you can't NOT dance. Everyone is so happy and rockin out. The sax player is this older woman who has crazy pipes and jumps on the bar and gets the audience to scream into her mic. Everyone I was with agreed that we have to start going there consistently. It kind of reminded me of that bar in the movie "Wonder Boys" that they go to, but with a live band and a little more energy.
The bartender seemed cool. SInce it was too loud to actually communicate, I just pointed to Anchor Steam, he nodded, gave me the beer, put up 4 fingers, i gave him a 5 and he just pointed at me which I took as "you're the man" but may equally have meant "i'm going to eat your first born."
Saloon is not a place to wear clubbing clothes or anything you can't break it down in. Basically, the more you look like your parents, the better you will fit in. In a nutshell, Saloon isn't the cleanest place, but if you like to dance to blues and don't mind hanging out with the older crowd, it's the type of place you'll want to take visiting friends to show them that San Franciso is the shit.
Agreed with everything said here. This place is awesome.
Cheap cover (when they charge it) - cheap drinks and always a great band. This place is so much fun and probably the most inexpensive date in North Beach. Always crowded for a reason and it's great watching the tourists stare=ing gape jawed when the musicians walk across the bar.
Ignore the kids like Alexa, they want video games and TV monitors, this is what a real saloon looks, smells and sounds like.
Unpretentious. Unapologetic. Straight-up bar, saloon, honky-tonk dive; call it what you will. What it reeks of is authenticity. Anyone reviewing this place who gives it five stars is a good person to go out on the town with. IMHO.
This bar immediately become one of my favorites in S.F. after visiting it for the first time last night ...
The fact that this is the oldest bar in S.F. dating back to 1861 is a reason to check the place out ... the stiff drinks at half the price of many other S.F. bars is a reason to order a drink (plus, you can step up the size of a cocktail to a beer glass for 50 cents!) ... the great Blues music is a reason to hang for a minute ... and the oh-so-many characters in this place offer many reasons to stay.
From the bearded quiet guy at the door I thought might be Santa hiding out after Christmas, to the drunk bartender (the other one was sober and working double-time to compensate), to the patrons doing bar tricks, to the band nearly breaking up between songs, to THAT guy on the dance floor, to the guy who must have thought he was a professional filmmaker packing a small digital camera, I couldn't stop smiling as character after character rolled into this place.
The men's bathroom is a bit of a dungeon and I noticed a slight funk when I first walked in, but all of this is what makes this place a one-of-a-kind and truly one of the best bars in the city.
When I thought I had already found the best jazz and blues place, I was brought to the Saloon. On their website you can more or less find out that it is the only place in SF that survived both the earthquake and the fire -- the firemen saved the building to protect the hookers upstairs. That may be the root of the lingering odor reported by almost everyone reviewing this place.
So with such a reputation to live up to, I go there. Don't be afraid of the guy at the front door -- he's management. The cool thing about this place was what I saw over the course of two consecutive nights. On the second night, everyone that was working behind the bar was on stage, and everyone on stage was behind the bar.
Seeing the sax player come into the crowd then jump on the bar, and play while the bartender rushed to clear all the glasses as she tromped down the length of the saloon was amazing.
Either you like it or you don't. 5 Stars for me.
San Francisco at its finest!!!
I've never found anywhere else in the city where you can order two whiskey on the rocks and a gin tonic for under $8 bucks total.
The bouncers at the front door looked straight out of zz top. The bartender was probably more drunk than I was, and the band was this amazing old Jazz group that probably formed during the summer of love.
It was a totally dive... and absolutely incredible. For those of you who found this place offensive... do us all a favor and go back to your yuppy martini bar where the drinks are $18.
I was dragged here the other night by some friends who were meeting people at The Saloon. My first impression... gross. The place was full of old people dressed in leather and smelled as old as it claims to be. Honestly the place just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.
That being said, one star for the jazz band playing in the back and one for being the oldest bar in SF.
I'm giving this four stars because it's the oldest bar in the city. If a band is not playing then you don't have to pay a cover (which I didn't know and some guy was sitting on the bouncer seat smoking a cigarette and I thought he was collecting money so I gave him a $20 to pay for the four of us and walked in the bar, luckily he was a nice guy and came into the bar when he got done smoking his cigarette and gave me my twenty back). There is not a big beer selection, I think Bud Light is on tap and then you can get Heineken in bottles and about six other beers in bottles. It's a good place to go have a beer and then jet onto another bar. It's a small, small bar but I hear the music is good. Before the band started a guy came by and asked for $5 if we were staying for the band but my husband and our two friends who were in town didn't really want to stay for the band so we left.
Overall, I think you should go there once and have a drink since it's the oldest bar in the city.
Even tho the bartender and patrons looked like extras from the movie "The Hills Have Eyes" - I loved it here.
We aren't from these parts and had a tough time finding out where to go where we could:
A) Avoid a cover charge
B) Get strong libations
C) Not mortgage our home for said libations
D( w/in walking distance of Broadway (checking out some strip clubs for next time)
This is the place. Don't judge the people who are drinking and enjoy your hella cheap, hella strong cocktail.
The bartender looked like a "rode hard and put away wet" Bettie Page. I'm not complaining - cuz she'd probably kick my ass. Besides, she made some pit bull mean long islands - NIIICE!
Oh yeah - there was a band playing some Rick Springfield music (or something) in any event - they were enjoyed as well!
We WILL be back. ALOT. GUARANTEED.
Being from a small town in WI as soon as I walked into this place I felt home... If you can get past the musty old bathroom smell this place is great!
Born in 1861 its been around a long time.. and the drink prices haven't gone up much at all... its a great place if you are a fan of Blues, we drank and danced our night away..
The crowd is a good mix actually of old townies and people in their 20s
As for the bathrooms... I was afraid to enter, but it was clean, and smelt better than the bar itself (I hear the mens room doesn't lock however)
....in conclusion: I definitely recommend this as a great dive bar/ blues venue!
Now this is a bar!
I will continue to elaboarate on my specific experience in just a moment here, but I have to say - I I think this may be my personal version of heaven. Not one young attractive man has ever tried to pick me up, the wine is stanky and 3 dollars and I can dance to my crazy hearts content with no fear of realistic booty bumping.
For those of you who know me, you probably also know I'm destined to become your witchy, cat-lovin, music playin, dancin in the garden sort of neighbor that avoids normalacy like the plague. I'm not so bad yet, but believe me - when a 60 year old man jumps off the bar and lands on his knees while my friend and I are serenaded by 3 white haired saxaphone cooters rolling around on the ground like siezing slugs - I wish I wish I wish I stay there forever.
I'm not sure what I was thinking when I suggested we go here. Certainly not Yoko roughing up the microphone the way she did.
The second time we went was after the BF's lovely little birthday dinner with his mum, his mum's BF and little ole me. I forget how everything in North Beach is actually just a couple blocks away from each other, but what a dense couple of blocks it is. Like that flourless chocolate torte I'm no longer allowed to think about.
The second time was good. I don't remember the band name but they were from out of town. It was real decent.
I made the boys try frente for the first time, with a ginger ale chaser. And now they both think I'm trying to poison them. Who knew?
CASH ONLY. Hate that.
Happy Hour with Spencer!
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Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Category: Lounges
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Lounges
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Category: Lounges
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