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Categories: Breweries, Tapas Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: SOMAMon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sat. 12:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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First stop for 3-guys night out. Food was killer.
Drinks were small but big on flavor. Great beer with coffee; can't recall name.
Must return.
Thirsty Bear smells like a mushroom patch.
Which makes everything taste and smell like mushrooms.
Then I feel like a truffle hog.
That makes me feel like a pig.
So I lose my appetite, even for beer.
Lame.
First, I have to say this review is based solely on service and not on drinks or food (we didn't even get that far).
Now, I'd like to think I'm a pretty darn tolerant person when it comes to most things, but this was just too much. A few friends and I walked into the Thirsty Bear for a couple of drinks last Friday evening, early, about 5:30pm or so. Thirsty Bear was a little crowded, but not insane. There were still quite a few open seats and such.
So, we walk in and see a table in the bar area with 2 seats and we asked one of the staff walking by if we could move a chair from another location to fit all of us at the table. He said we couldn't even sit down without talking to the host.
Okay, so we walk all the way across the room and ask to be seated. The host looks at us as if we're crazy and says, "uh, it's self-seating." Now, we had assumed this originally since it was bar area seating, but were told otherwise. Okay whatever, we go find a different spot with 3 chairs and sit down.
We begin perusing the drink menu and had decided what we wanted after about 10 minutes of chatting and kind of looking at the menu. Still no service though. We wait a couple of more minutes and see a waitress walking near us, and ask if we can order drinks. She literally grunted at us and kept going. No joke.
We then waited about 5 more minutes, with still absolutely no attention or service, and then walked next door to Two to grab some drinks there. Sorry Thirsty Bear, I will not be coming back.
Can someone please tell me how a tapas place got a name like Thirsty Bear, or how a place called Thirsty Bear started serving tapas?
Had it not been for my friend suggesting this place, I would've always walked past, laughed at the name (my nickname is Bear) and just never gone in because I would've never looked closely at the sign and thus never knew that they served tapas.
We ordered the:
- poti-poti, which was a seared ahi tuna, and I wasn't a fan of the flavor. It was kind of meh, and I'm really sad to say that Elephant Bar and the Cheesecake Factory serve up better ahi tuna. YIkes.
- empanadas fabadas. This was a yum status, because the outside was perfectly crispy and flaky, and the inside was a great texture balance of mashed-up beans and chorizo (wow, could I have made that sound more unappetizing?).
- grilled flank steak. I didn't eat this because I was full by this point, but it looked pretty darn good, and I made a mental note to try this next time.
- bocadillos. I was trying to figure out what the meat was (I'd forgotten what the menu said by the time the food came), and I decided that I'm not really a fan of chorizo. This was like a 2-star dish for me, since it was kind of sweet but not really, and there was a definite kick to it. I suppose to the normal average person this would taste good, but the flavors just weren't for me.
Overall this place is, as Yelp says, A-OK. Not great, but not bad either. I still can't get over the name of the place. Bonus points for their chalk drawings of the beer names.
Here is review on a couple beers from ThirstyBear from the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival! See the whole post at http://www.biteandbooz... and follow everything on twitter @biteandbooze!
The ThirstyBear Restaurant and Brewery, a San Francisco Brew Pub, provided the libations this time around. They had their Polar Bear Lager and Valencia Wheat on tap for us to imbibe upon. The Polar Bear Lager is a pilsner style beer though it tasted more like German of Belgian pilsner than an a macro-brewed American one. Its hue gleamed with gold while the head was nothing serious, but enough to leave a bit of foam around the lip of the glass. The Valencia Wheat was in similar style to the macro-brewed Blue Moon or possibly even Hoegarden. It was a Belgian-style white beer with a hint of orange and coriander. The flavor balance was nice and the beer had a refreshing aroma and taste on the tongue. But enough about the mass quantities of booze that I consumed (for now). Let's get on to the street vendor food!
Only been here for lunch. Close walk from the office. It's actually a tapas place, and I have consistently enjoyed different items on the menu.
Decent sandwiches, delicious flat bread choices. You can smell the paella from across the (large) room. Yum.
Friends, Tapas, Beer, & Sangria = Good times!!!
BONUS- It's directly across the street from The Gold Club (a fine gentleman's club).
BooYa! ;-)
Great beer, loved the vanilla. Also, tapas was great. Had the tapas of the day with bacon , squash and blue cheese. Also had chorizo burgers, olives, potato quiche kind of thing, etc. Good service too.
i need to qualify my review... it's only for the beer because i've never eaten at thirsty bear... usually restaurant brewed beers (i.e. gordon biersch) taste like woodchuck, but the beer (dark ale) here is pretty decent and powerful (i.e. the alcohol content is pretty high)... after drinking 3 and working on the 4th one, i had to draw the line about trying to drink a 5th one... h-100...
my god, this place has to be one of the worst eatery experiences I've ever had. The beer is nothing special, the food wasnt even worth its weight in paper money or coins....
spare ribs, my dog wouldnt even be satisfied with an order since it looked like someone already took a couple of bits out of it! Nothing was left over, sampler order had no flavor and clams were the size of tic tacs.
I dont know what kind of concoctions they were making in the kitchen but nothing really tasted good or tasty
I can go on and on and on but you get the point.....
Thirsty Bear makes you thirty for more but once you look at your $50/person bill you just want to get the hell out of there, forget your experience, go to another restaurant because your starving, and go home write a nasty review!!!! Thisrty Bear I hate you.... der I vented!! now I can go to sleep in peace
I saw a lot of crappy reviews for this place, but had always wanted to try it nevertheless. Stopped by for a late dinner with my boyfriend and his parents who were visiting from Oregon.
We loved it. I thought it was a great place for a group. Beer was alright, not superb but decent. The food was delicious for the most part even though it's a little annoying that the tapas are portioned for 3 people and not 4 - if you really like something it forces you to order two plates of the same thing.
Their ribs - delish. The accompanying mashed potatoes were creamy and rich.
Empanadas - yummy! Love the kale, white bean and linguica/chorizo combo.
Dessert - carmelita with vanilla gelato along with an espresso hit the spot. I couldn't complain about the churros with hot chocolate either - satisfying.
I'd come back again. Dinner for four, including beer & dessert was less than $150.
Thirsty Bear, I have no reason to hate on you but you're not giving me any reason to love you either. Your beers? Oh boy, the golden vanilla tasted like Coors Light. The stout? Way too bitter. The food? Don't get me started. Okay fine, I'll start:
Flat bread - cheese and tomato one tasted like salt on matzo bread
Calamari - did you even try?? poorly breaded and soggy
Empanadas - tasted like they were from the freezer section of Costco
Fritas - meh
Spare ribs - tough
Paella - possibly the only saving grace of the meal but still, not impressed. besides the shrimp, all other seafood were tiny and unfulfilling.
Of all the options for a brew pub in the SoMa area, 21st Amendment takes the win, Gordon Biersch comes in second, and Thirsty Bear is dead last.
Cool hang out for happy hour and conveniently located in SOMA/Financial District. It's got a laid back bar-feel to it. There is private space on the 2nd floor for groups and parties. They don't have the best happy hour menu, but a couple beers on tap from what I remember. The food is tapas-style and the dishes were delicious.
Meh, a real corp after work spot. The beer wasn't that good and the food was so so.
On top of that I found a black rock in my olives! Glad I didn't chip a tooth. The manager said he was getting us a round but since my buddy picked up the tab I'm not sure he came through.
Did meet some good peeps though and followed them to the bar next door.
Lunch isn't ideal here, the specials are usually sandwiches and the team and I tried out different items on the menu and it seemed that the pork needed a little more cooking.
There's room and you don't feel crowded, the beer selection was good and the staff was nice. It's a short walk from Moscone and can easily be missed.
I'd recommend it for happy hour where you don't go there for the meals but the halfway spot on the way to dinner or after dinner to go to a club.
This was an interesting place. We went here for a friend's birthday dinner the other night. I liked the ambiance with it's dim lighting but lively people. But I was not impressed with the wait staff or the food. We had a group of about 8 people and the waitress would consistently take an order at one end of the table then leave without checking to see if the rest of us wanted anything. With all the noise you couldn't call out to get her attention so you would have to wait till she came over to your end of the table. Kind or annoying.
The food was decent but nothing spectacular. The patatas bravas and calamari were fairly flavorless. The flat breads and paella were tasty, even if a little over priced.
I have to give it a star for good beer that was decently priced. I had both the Golden Vanilla and the Valencia Wheat beer. Both were very enjoyable, but of course I liked the Belgian styled wheat beer the best.
Cool place, very nice, and huge!! I went during lunch hours, and it was a semi empty, probably about 40 people there? Anyways, my Friend is a cocktail waitress there, and I wanted to visit her!
The beer is very good, I got this beer called Wet Ale. I forgot the name, but it was very smooth and high in alcohol content, so 4 of these got me going good! I just had Beer and Calamaris I didn't try anything else but the Calamaris is very good!
I would go back but only if my girl Jenn is working lol Shouts to Jenn!
Not bad! I enjoyed a few Howard Street I.P.A drafts on my trip to San Francisco this past week. I thought they had a nice set-up in the bar and plenty of room for dinning in the back. There is a loft where you can host a party/function, but be careful to note that the only bathrooms are upstairs. You might have some unwanted guests in your party.
I am giving three stars because I thought the Beer was good, not great and I didn't get a chance to sample the food.
Introduction:
I'm no expert in Spanish Cuisine but I love this place. The only reason I can't give this place 5/5 stars is because every time I fall in love with an item on the menu, it falls off. As loyal patrons, we care about change because it makes the place interesting and fun to visit. But if anyone is asking me what dishes to recommend, all I can say is "try to paella and empanadas" because those are the only two items that remain relatively stable.
Food 4/5 Stars:
Tapas are the best things to eat here. I've been here a few times during lunch but it just feels overpriced for what you are getting. Mostly sandwiches served on big plates. Dinner time is a whole different story. They have an excellent micro brew and if you like ESB's they've got one of the best. My personal recommendation is the Brown Bear. For EVERYONE going for the first time, try their sampler; their servers are more than happy to explain each drink and introduce their seasonal selection.
Atmosphere: 4/5 Stars
The restaurant is generally very busy but the service is always there. Some places fall apart when they get packed but Thirsty Bear feels like they are use to it. The best time to visit would be Sunday Night. They have GREAT Flamenco Dancing and there is no cover to watch. My only recommendation is showing up an hour early if you want to catch the 7 PM performance. The later performance is less packed.
Service: 4/5 Stars
I want to give 5/5 stars because I truly believe they take care of their costumers but they don't allow reservations near the stage. You can make reservations but no matter how big your party is, they won't let you specify where you want to sit. As luck would have it, my party of 6 didn't have room near the stage even though we made reservations days in advance. Pretty much my own problem, but I still wish they would allow customers that option.
Golden vanilla beer. Birthday boy told me to try it. And so I did. I dont know how to feel about it. I dont know if I like it or if I dislike it. It smelled good and it tasted pretty good. But it had a weird aftertaste...
I got to sample some appetizers. I tried their calamari. It was okay. Its nothing to go apeshit over. No, seriously. I've had better. The fried lemon was really good and the aioli sauce was quite tasty. My boyfriend ordered some flatbread and these itty bitty chorizo burgers..err bocadillos. It was weird tasting. i didnt really like it. . However, the flatbread was really good! It was topped with some MOTHERFUCKING HEIRLOOM TOMATOES! It was bomb, yo! See thread: http://www.yelp.com/to.... Hilarious!
One of the bartenders was a total douche. He was kinda mean to me. But whatever. Despite Mr. Douchetender, I actually had a good time here. It was my friend's birthday and we had the whole top floor to ourselves. We played pool, watched the Giants game and drank beers all night. It was pretty awesome since no one came to bother us. The only time people went upstairs was to use the restroom. It would have been sooooo easy to sneak in alcohol! Maybe next time....
3.7 stars for GOOD TIMES! Happy Birthday Romes K.! =)
Great for beers and happy hour
I'm giving this place 4 stars just on the grilled cheese sandwich alone! I was a little bummed when I went in there because this is the only meatless meal, but the sandwich was so good! Not your ordinary grilled cheese. I didn't try any beers, but my husband did. There was a vanilla beer he seemed to like a lot due to his nature afterwards.
I can guess the reason behind the 'thirsty' in Thirsty Bear, some of the dishes are on the salty side, making you drink. I found this in the Patatas Bravas - fried potatoes with aioli sauce and with the Calamari Fritos - fried calamari with aioli sauce. Seafood flatbread was a bit bland for my palate. I enjoyed their Heirloom Tomato flatbread (wish I had that one all to myself!) and the Empanadas - filled with manchego cheese, corn, mushrooms, and red peppers with salvitxada sauce. Good selection of beers and cocktails.
It's a spacious place for groups. It gets noisy, so you've got to lean in to hear conversation (unless you'd rather tune out and think about your grocery list.) Book the upstairs for private events, they have a pool table and dart board. All-in-all, it's a good place to go for a lively happy hour vibe. Mix of professionals and tourists. Great service.
I've been hear like 12 more times since the last time I reviewed. This place is solid. The portions are small because its TAPAS people. TAPAS. sheesh. But always an awesome meal.
Can I just say to start off, any place that has mini churros and mexican hot chocolate to dip them… Read more »
Came here for happy hour with some friends. Good chill spot with great beers and pretty good cocktails, but not so much the sangria. Service was very friendly. The food was lacking though.
- Pitcher of Sangria: not that good
- Calamari: crispy, good aioli dip sauce
- Mini Burgers: tasted weird, not a good combination of flavors. olives should not be in burgers as my friend and I agreed
Lunch is much less crowded than dinner time. However, they do have live Flamenco dancing on Sunday… Read more »
Obviously I like this place.Went to lunch on two occasions while in San Francisco.I like brew pubs but many of them are to put it mildly rather casual about food, with food ranging from unimaginative to plain bad.The food here is good and imaginative.It follows a Spanish tapas formula which works well for lunch.The beer is first rate.The wait staff is pleasant and eager to please without being obsequious.When visiting SF ,go! I'd be a regular if I lived there.
The Valencia Wheat beer was awesome!!
Pricey, but worth it if you like beer and good food.
The seasonal offerings for the beer is great, and the fact that they have cask conditioned ale makes my taste buds smile. I like suds, and this place does not fail to deliver fresh, local brew.
Food is good, too. It is tapas-style, which means you should NOT bring Spaniards here, as this is not how they eat at all. That small point aside, the food is good, and they have fun a variety of dishes to choose from. Be forewarned, this place aint cheap, but if you're looking to splurge a bit you could do worse.
I dont know if we just went on a reallyyyyy good night, but i LOVED this place. I took my dad, boyfriend, and friend out to dinner (total with tip was $150). We had the flatbread with sasage, churizo burgers, one of the cheese plates, lamb ribs (which, i will admit, did not have much meet), calamari, steak, and the potatoes. All of it was AMAZING. And the best part was the desert. Ohhhhh goodness it loved it. and our server was perfect....he explained everything very well but was not too pushy. Oh and the beer was great too!
**side note: i dont have time for spell check, so sorry! :)
I love having a place like this right around the corner from my school! It has definitely come in handy during those super stressful days when I need a quick drink after class, before heading to the library/mac lab for a 4 hour study session. I took away a star for how expensive they are... I mainly come here for last minute, "I really need a drink" moments. But $20 for a double Grey Goose and soda water is a little excessive (and I would know)!
Does a bear get thirsty in the woods? Well I can't speak for bears in various venues everywhere, but apparently in San Francisco, the "thirsty bear" likes him some hand crafted organic beers....
While attending Cisco Live last week, I was lucky enough to "tweet up" with some fellow attendees that also twitter (http://twitter.com/) We decided on Thirsty Bear Brewing Company because it was so close to Moscone and promised a cool place to meet colleagues. And I have to say, this place was A-OK. The ambiance is nothing to write home about, but the service was good, the place is clean (albeit super loud), and the beers were pretty alright.
I requested a dark beer b/c I'm a fan of stouts and such, and the server brought me out what I believe was called Black Bear something? I'm pretty sure that it wasn't the Kozlav Stout if that helps. At any rate, it was okay: smooth but didn't knock my socks off (or my heels I should say as I still have blisters from last week). I also had the brown bear which I liked better than my previous beer: smelled caramelly and had a nice flavor.
The overall experience for me at the Thirsty Bear was a pretty solid 3 stars. I would go back for a work function at Moscone, but wouldn't travel out of my way to go back.
I tend to visit Thirsty Bear for happy hour, but have been happy with dining experiences, too. (No happy hour prices). Great spot though - Lively yet not overwhelming environment; mixed, comfortable crowd; tvs in case you want to check the sports scores, but nothing that dominates the space or vibe.
Beer is great - something to please everyone from super dark stouts to paler, lighter options. Have only had small plates/bar snacks recently, but all have been great. The chorizo sliders are awesome! Patatas Bravas, Calamari, Albondigas, mushrooms, salads -- all good!
They have decent spaces upstairs for semi private meal functions, but they are not private and you may sometimes have some interlopers trying to join your party.
I'd say most of the reviews for the Thirsty Bear are right on. There just wasn't anything magnificent about it but then again, I didn't leave unsatisfied.
The cocktail I had was actually quite good, the Spring Fever. It was very gingery if you're in to that kind of flavor and it wasn't overly sweet which is a good thing. I can't stand it when drinks have a heavy syrup taste. The sausage flat bread was crunchy and the meat, flavorful; I'd say it wasn't quite as good as the empanadas we had as well, which were really yummy. I'm saving the worst for last...squash blossoms. Yah, it tastes as good as it sounds. I was not a fan of the nacho cheese-like crap they stuffed them with. It literally tasted like that cheese out of a can. Blech.
I generally write essays when I write Yelp reviews, so this'll be an anomaly.
I'm sure I'll be updating this review some time in the future, but for now, all I gotta say is the Golden Vanilla is fucking amazing. When given options, beer is often not my drink of choice (I am a much bigger fan of mixed drinks, hard liquor in general, and wine sometimes.) unless I'm at a place known for its beer.
Anyway, my coworker suggested I get the Golden Vanilla, and damn I'm so glad for the suggestion! It's worth making a trip out here just for that beer! It's very light, which I like, and you can taste a hint of vanilla, which is absolutely DELICIOUS = Tastiest beer I've ever had!
I'll be back, and maybe next time I'll try out the food, which looked pretty generic, along with the atmosphere/ambiance.
But yeah. Golden Vanilla FTW!
My wife and I ate here for a second time a few days back. There was a conference in town at Moscone and it looked like some company had rented out the upstairs area. Both the bar area downstairs and the upstairs were really crowed and quite load. The table area was OK, but you had to speak up quite a bit.
Unfortunately, the food wasn't as good as we remembered it (or maybe it was just the different selection of dishes). We liked the patatas bravas and pollito (particularly the polenta). The grilled flank steak was not very flavorful (though we liked it a lot the lat time) and the shrimp was OK, but a pretty small portion. They were out of the lamb, so we didn't get to try that. Tried a couple of different beers: I got the Howard St IPA (pretty bitter) and my wife had the Meyer (smoother than the Howard).
Great selection of micro-brewed bears and really good tapas. We went on a Sunday night and there… Read more »
So I'd walked past this place every day for about a year, but finally ate here last week. The food was amazing, and the sangria was just as good as Cha Cha Cha. I'm not that big of a drinker, so I was really going here for the food, and it was amazing and came SO fast in spite of there being about 150 other people dining and drinking.
I was very impressed by the huge brewing metal whateveritis that takes up so much space. Wow this place must be really legit.
Super-lively for a Sunday night! Flamenco performances run every Sunday night. They're spectacular to watch but all the music, stomping and clapping in a concrete warehouse of a restaurant make it damn near impossible to talk to your tablemates.
The pitcher of Sangria is a deal for a group, it's a nice hefty-sized pitcher ($28 for 5-6 glasses). Highlights included the day's flatbread ($11) and the corn bisque ($6.50). I would say it's a tad expensive for a workaday lunch, but one of the better SOMA options for a warm, lively dinner!
Visited this place for dinner before a party through the conference I attended. Nice selection of tasty tapas... two or three are enough for one person. Watch the spicy chickpeas - they are good and crunchy, but the spiciness creeps up on you a little.
Service was friendly.
Iced tea was good.
Not a beer person, so read another review to find out about those.
Only bathrooms are upstairs.
Overall, would come again. Good place for a group outing.
Went here for a work function, a group of about 20 booked the Billard room upstairs on a weekday. The pool table was nice in that it wasn't covered with stains and was actually pretty level.
But I was here for the drinks and food. There was a huge ass pan of paella was awesome! Empanadas and calamari also tasty, but I was already past my buzzed and munchies stage, so probably could have eaten free crackers and thought it was great.
I had a few beers, wasn't all that impressed. Had about 3-4 girly fruity drinks I don't remember. Bathroom was high class and clean. I wish I would have had a hot date and gotten some. But the drinks and food were free, thanks company I work for!
This is a joke, right?
Please say you are kidding me
Terrible Value
_____
I've worked around the corner for three years, and I had never tried Thirsty Bear because I'd heard it wasn't worth it at all. I put in my two weeks today, though, and I figured it deserved at least one chance. I figured wrong.
Our waiter was kind of a creppy mono-tone guy who didn't do anything more than take our orders and bring our drinks out. He didn't even deseruve the 10% tip we gave him.
Moreover, it came out to $77 for three people with just sandwiches and fries and beers. That's just not worth that kind of $$ no matter what. I think they might've jipped us by charging us the 20 oz. price for 12 oz. of beer. WTF is that? It doesn't even taste that good. No wonder it was so empty.
Neighborhood: SOMA
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: Cole Valley
Category: Breweries
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Beer, Wine & Spirits
Neighborhood: Bayview/Hunters Point
Category: Breweries
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