Brewpubs in downtown San Francisco?

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dummkauf

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So I'm going to be spending a week in San Francisco in May, and am looking for recommendations on brewpubs to visit? A quick google searched revealed the following near my hotel:
- Rogue Ales Public House(I WILL be visiting this one!)
- Thirsty Bear Brewing
- Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant

Any other recommendations, or reviews on those 3(or the last 2, I'm already sure I will love the beer at Rogue's) :)
 
21st Amendment
Magnolia
(not brewpubs)
The Toranado (and the sausage place next door)
The Trappist (in Oakland)
 
Yeah, and then drive north to Lagunitas, Moylan's, Bear Republic and Russian River. That area is like a Mecca for beer. The places north will probably require a hotel outside of San Fran.
 
Definitely Magnolia, Thirsty Bear, 21st Amendment(in that order), but I would skip Gordon Biersch altogether. Beach Chalet's beer is ok, but it's a great place to eat and it's right on the water. If you can get on a tour at Anchor Brewing, it's one of the best, but you have to make a reservation WAY in advance. Laguinitas is a great tour too, and you don't need a reservation, but its about 30-40 minutes north of the city. Doesn't matter which direction you go in the Bay Area, you won't be far from a good brewpub or brewery.
 
Anchor has a good tour.

If you can spend a night up North and hit some of those places, I like the Courtyard Marriot in Santa Rosa. Pretty Cheap and easy walking distance to RR. Easy drive from Santa Rosa to Healdsburg and Petaluma.
 
Thanks for all the recommendations. Don't think I will be heading too far out of downtown as I am "technically" there to work and my days are pretty booked already, just looking for someplace near by to unwind at the end of the day.

Though I think I will see if I can score a tour on Saturday as that's the one day I'll have with nothing to do :D
 
If you have never been to SF and you are in quasi-reasonable shape, walking from the Anchor tour to Toronado is a good way to sober up and get ready for more. It's a good couple miles or so but you get to see a lot of the city (outside of the financial district or north beach which I assume is where you will be working).
 
Before or after Rogue, take a walk on Columbus and have dinner @ Brandy Ho's. My all time favorite Chinese restaurant.
 
I'll have to remember a couple of these for my upcoming trip. Keep in mind that the anchor tour books way in advance and may be sold already for all of May. I called in January to book for April 23rd and was told that they were already booked for every friday through May. Also, Rogue is a great stop for beer, but the food is not good at all (from the 3-4 times I've eaten there). Just FYI
 
If you have never been to SF and you are in quasi-reasonable shape, walking from the Anchor tour to Toronado is a good way to sober up and get ready for more. It's a good couple miles or so but you get to see a lot of the city (outside of the financial district or north beach which I assume is where you will be working).

This is actually a great idea, especially if the weather is good.

Also, the walk from Toronado to Magnolia (best brewpub in the city, IMO) isn't so bad - 15 min or so. You could end your day up there. If you go on a Tuesday, most beers will be $3!
 
Yeah walk from Anchor to Magnolia for dinner and stop at Toronado to rest before climbing the last part of the hill.

You also might try The Page (on Divisidero and Page) which is a block out of the way on the short trip from Toronado to Magnolia. They have a good beer selection (though definitely smaller than Toronado) with 100% less attitude than Toronado.

At this rate you will never get any work done.
 
I'll have to remember a couple of these for my upcoming trip. Keep in mind that the anchor tour books way in advance and may be sold already for all of May. I called in January to book for April 23rd and was told that they were already booked for every friday through May. Also, Rogue is a great stop for beer, but the food is not good at all (from the 3-4 times I've eaten there). Just FYI

That's ok, I wasn't visiting Rogue for their food anyway :mug:
 
Yeah walk from Anchor to Magnolia for dinner and stop at Toronado to rest before climbing the last part of the hill.

You also might try The Page (on Divisidero and Page) which is a block out of the way on the short trip from Toronado to Magnolia. They have a good beer selection (though definitely smaller than Toronado) with 100% less attitude than Toronado.

At this rate you will never get any work done.

The attitude at Toronado???

That's Ok, I have half a day Monday, plus all day saturday for myself since my flight doesn't leave til Sunday afternoon. So I've got Friday and Saturday night, though most of Friday night will be at the vendor provided conference(free beer & food) so I'm not sure if I'll be getting out too much on Friday. Plus I've got to eat dinner somewhere during the days I'm actually working anyway :D
 
The attitude at Toronado???

Haha ... yeah, it depends on who the bartender is. They're all a little grizzly, usually nice, but some can be pretty snarky and attitudinous if they're in a bad mood.

Put it this way: it's not the bar to go to if you want to meet chicks.
 
Haha ... yeah, it depends on who the bartender is. They're all a little grizzly, usually nice, but some can be pretty snarky and attitudinous if they're in a bad mood.

Put it this way: it's not the bar to go to if you want to meet chicks.

That's ok, I'm looking for good beer and good food. I'm getting married in about 6 months so I'm not too worried about the chicks :D
 
The attitude at Toronado???

I have heard this from a number of people but the bartenders when we went were very friendly. We had a very nice time there. But, really, one of the best parts might have been getting a good buzz and walking next door and having a sausage and German potato salad.
 
I've been at Toronado a lot over the years starting sometime in the 90s and the only time I've really seen that attitude is when people were rude to the bartenders. They don't put up with any crap from anyone (ie, the customer is NOT always right!), which I can understand. In my experience they can be a touch surly but if you're not an ass to them and are genuine then they lighten up. Bear in mind, it gets very busy in there. I've enjoyed a number of entire days in that place and heartily recommend it.

Anyway, it's my favorite beer place there. It's great because they don't just carry one brewery's stuff. They have something like 46 taps, and they only carry good stuff, no taps wasted on Bud or the like. Lots of local stuff represented. Unlike brewpubs which usually only carry their own beer, Toro's will have Lagunitas, Bear Republic, Speakeasy and other local stuff with a good cross section.

The Anchor tour's pretty great if you can get in.

Magnolia's is very close to Toro's but when I was there like ten years ago the beers were mediocre. Maybe they're better now, I don't know. But for me at that time, it was a waste of time. They didn't suck but were nothing special. They could have a new brewer or more interesting beers now, though, dunno.

Also, I used to regularly make the drive from Portland to San Francisco, hitting all of the brewpubs on the way. This is a while ago, also. But from my memory those Moylan's places (he had two breweries from what I remember, with two names) were not interesting. The beer was great, but they were in strip malls from what I recall and the space itself was nothing special. Bear Republic has a much nicer pub and great beers. If you manage to do any road trips, I'd hit that place. I can't say about Russian River as they were part of Korbel in the old days and I don't remember them having a tasting room. But their beers alone would be worth the trip.
 
The attitude at Toronado???

It's not that bad, but they give the distinct impression that you as a customer are inconveniencing them. Which you probably are, but they aren't supposed to let you know that.

Maybe surly bartenders are supposed to be part of the atmosphere.
 
My favorites after living here for 4 years now are definitely Magnolias (which has changed owners and I think brewers in the last couple of years, and their beers are fantastic but somewhat pricey - hey it is SF!), Park Chalet/Beach Chalet is fun but beers are just ok, Rogue has great beers but not good food. Others that might be closer to you are 21st amendment, which has very similar beers to Magnolias but more food variety, and The City Beer Store, which is a beer store but also has 4-5 beers on tap, and you can open any bottle of beer in their store for $1 "opening fee". It is a great place to try some beers that you might not have heard of before. Also, La Trappiste in North Beach is a great Belgium beer cave, and The Church Key in that same area has like a 30 page beer list. I also really enjoy Toronados - the attitude comes with the decor, and next door is a bar called Noc Noc's, which is a crazy looking eccentric small dark bar, but the upside is they have a happy hour from 3 PM to 7PM on saturday and sunday, with some decent beers on tap. Hope that helps!
 
Noc Noc's does usually have a nice selection on tap and in bottles. I think they rotate their offerings pretty often too.

It doesn't look like somewhere you would expect to find a good beer selection though. They recently added some windows in the front so it is less cave-like now.
 
La Trappiste, I forgot that place. They always have belgians on draught that I rarely see elsewhere and the mussels are good.

I'm not a huge fan of Toronado from an atmosphere POV. If I lived in SF that would not be my regular place. They do have a great beer list* and I'm definitely going to stop there when I am in town and can handle it for a few beers.

* A guy who blogs about beer here in Kansas City went there and said their draught list didn't really have anything interesting and that he had a Pliny the Elder and felt like he wasted his money because there are 20 beers just like it in Kansas City. Whaaaaaaaat?
 
I was actually going to post the same topic soon...I'm headed to San Fran in May as well. Glad to see some good info!
 
Just went to SF this weekend, but only made it to Toronado. I agree that the bartenders attitude is poor, but who cares, really. Although i didn't appreciate him yelling at us for being too loud. I mean, we were just talking and laughing, and while we may have been loud, it's a freakin bar.
 
heh. If you guys think the attitude at Toronado is bad, you haven't A) been to toronado frequently enough and B) haven't been to some of the other SF bars I've visited.

If you plan on taking the Anchor tour, make sure to call ahead. Also, it was just sold, so ensure the new owners plan on continuing tours.
 
People in most bars in SF aren't buying $15 beers.

It is what it is and I'll probably go there once every time I am in town, but the Toronado objectively has worse service than the vast majority of notable beer bars. I am well aware that there are a lot of non-beer bars with worse service.
 
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