B Restaurant & Bar has been a bright cocktail oasis in Old Oakland for quite a few years now. They've got a new cocktail menu these days, and the concoction below is one of the highlights — a mixture of tequila, sage, lime, and habanero shrub, making it kind of an herbacious, spicy margarita. more ›

Not to confuse you after we posted a drink from new Oakland restaurant Haven the other week, but another brand new restaurant opened its doors last month, this one in the Lower Haight, called Maven (598 Haight). It's a concept by two guys with a bunch of restaurant experience around town — think Michael Mina, Saison, and Beretta — and behind the bar is a vet from Michael Mina and Wexler, Kate Bolton, who's been featured in this column twice before, and whose drinks are balanced, interesting, and go down easy. more ›

Over in Oakland, chef-restaurateur Daniel Patterson has just opened a fourth new restaurant, after just recently opening Plum Bar next to his one-year-old Plum at Webster and Broadway (he also owns the Michelin two-star Coi in North Beach). Haven is a New American bistro of sorts with an emphasis shared dishes, and the chef is the talented Kim Alter, who won some raves for a brief stint earlier this year at Plate Shop in Sausalito. more ›

So, check it out: There's a new restaurant in central SoMa, directly across Mission Street from the 9th Circuit, and it's called AQ (1085 Mission Street between 6th and 7th). They're taking the frequently heard "seasonal" thing to an extreme, swapping out decoration (lighting, bar top, foliage on several 'trees' in the space), glassware, the whole food menu, and even the servers' uniforms as each season changes. But just this week they launched their cocktail program, from the mind of bar manager Tim Zohn, and we already have a favorite beverage on the tight, ten-drink list. more ›

What better time of year to do a little hotel-bar drinking around Union Square than December, right? It's about the only place in the city that feels truly Christmas-y, if you ask us, and the hotel lobbies are all decked out with enormous trees, and gingerbread structures, and whathaveyou. So we checked back in at the newly revamped Starlight Room, atop the Sir Francis Drake, and found this delicious new punch on the menu that's perfect for the season. Bar manager Joel Teitelbaum infuses his own apple-cinnamon gin, and adds a few more fall-wintery-spicy things to create a deliciously balanced little drink. more ›

Over in Oakland an exciting new cocktail option is opening tonight: Plum Bar (2214 Broadway), from the minds of chef Daniel Patterson and bar star Scott Beattie (Artisanal Cocktails). The place is right next door to Plum, the casual restaurant Patterson opened over a year ago. more ›

What do you know! There is such a thing as a piña colada that isn't thick with Coco Lopez, clocking in at 1000 calories and sickly sweet! Brooke Arthur, who's created drinks and tended bar at two of the city's more high-profile establishments, Range and Prospect, has just started work as the bar manager at Charles Phan's new Wo Hing General Store -- a Chinese concept in what was once the original Slanted Door space, at 584 Valencia Street. more ›

Opening tonight in Hayes Valley is a new wine bar/cocktail bar/cafe/book exchange called Two Sisters Bar & Books (579 Hayes Street). The sisters in question, partners in the business with one of their husbands, modeled the concept on "an incredible bookstore in Krakow; a quintessential coffeehouse in Vienna; a neighborhood bar in Paris; the young, urban, do-it-yourself restaurant scene in Brooklyn; and our Northern California roots." And the vibe is very Europe-meets-Brooklyn, with a tight small plates menu of comforting California food, and a cocktail list which is -- of necessity because they're waiting on a full liquor license -- all vermouth- and beer-based at the moment. more ›

Yes, we're getting a bit of what we consider summer this weekend. It won't be hot, but it will be nice. Drink it up while you can, kids, and while doing so, drink up! One appropriate tipple would be this drink, the Endless Summer, on the menu currently at Plate Shop in Sausalito -- where the food side is being covered by former 1550 Hyde guys Peter Erickson and Kent Liggett. more ›

Closing out SF Cocktail Week on Sunday was a party over in Alameda at the St. George distillery, in celebration of the release of their three new gins which we mentioned vis a vis our last SFist Drink. The gins are so good and noteworthy, that they get another mention here with what was our favorite cocktail of the bunch at Sunday's party (which was also a mini competition of sorts for a bevy of East Bay bartenders, all challenged with creating a drink with one of the three gins). more ›

St. George Spirits, the Alameda-based distillery best known for Hangar One vodka and a very expensive but very delicious absinthe, has just come out with three distinctive new gins. SFist had a chance to taste them at a Cocktail Week preview event a few weeks back, and we can report that they rock, and they aren't like any gins you know. Though juniper is generally the dominant botanical flavor in most gins, it plays more of a background role in each of these. (You can taste them for yourself at St. George's closing event of Cocktail Week, next Sunday, September 25.) more ›

Trace just opened over at the W Hotel on Third Street, replacing XYZ and bringing some new design cred to the space -- it was designed by acclaimed residential architect Stanley Saitowitz, who used as his inspiration an Ambrose Bierce poem that describes San Francisco as "a point on a map of fog." more ›

Harry Denton's Starlight Room reopens at the top of the Sir Francis Drake after a brief renovation next Tuesday, and for this week's Friday cocktail we bring you a new creation from newly hired bar manager Joel Teitelbaum, most recently of Zero Zero fame. more ›

Tomorrow marks the third annual San Francisco Street Food Festival, and now that we've already told you what to eat when you get there, allow us to suggest what to drink. more ›

Last week marked the opening of a new watering hole in the Tenderloin named after Jasper O'Farrell himself, called Jasper's Corner Tap and Kitchen (the former Ponzu at Taylor and O'Farrell). Among the new bars that could easily have been in contention for one of our top ten favorite $10 cocktail spots, this is definitely one, and bar manager Kevin Diedrich hails most recently from Burritt Room, where he created a great cocktail program and sophisticated vibe. more ›

As you know, we here at SFist enjoy a stiff drink, and quite often we enjoy the kind of stiff drink that involves some heavy muddling and straining, esoteric tinctures, and housemade bitters. No, we're not cocktail geeks or snobs exactly, but a decade or so in this town has a way of raising your standards. more ›

You may have heard about this vaguely (but not explicitly) Muppet-themed bar that just opened in Mission, in the old Baobab space at 19th. It's called Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. They have late-night, drunk-friendly food options, Fernet on tap, and a cocktail menu with a growing signature list. Bar manager Mark DeVito today shares with us his favorite of the bunch, the eponymously named Mayhem. And yes, it does have Fernet in it. Just a touch. more ›

Some of the best drinks are the simplest, and while the artisanal cocktail thing has tended to leave vodka drinking to the amateurs, the fact remains that it's an easy way to to turn a few fresh ingredients into a cocktail, without the addition of too many extra flavors. What's that you say? You like layers of complexity in every cocktail? Yeah, well, sometimes we just want a vodka lemonade, alright? more ›

Brand new North Beach eatery Bottle Cap (1707 Powell Street), with food from a former chef at Sens and a former chef at Blue Plate and drinks from Bourbon & Branch alum Pete Gowdy, just opened its doors last night. Already Gowdy sees a popular favorite in his twist on the classic Negroni — this one with Pür Likör Spice, a blood orange liqueur from Germany that's available online and at fine liquor stores like K&L. more ›

Just open this week at 1 Yerba Buena Lane (that alleyway next to the Four Season between 3rd and 4th, on Market) is Bluestem Brasserie. It's a big, airy space with a great upstairs terrace, overlooking Market Street. In addition to their lunch and dinner menus, the place has a growing cocktail program form bar manager Matthew Michel-Cleeve. more ›

The newest cocktail bar in the Mission is at Delfina's Roman offshoot, Locanda (577 Valencia), where bar manager Michael Sager is mixing up a bunch of fun drinks, often under the auspices of "bartender's choice." (In general, San Franciscans are pretty game to just drink whatever's handed to them. Also see this new slideshow of the whole food menu over on Grub Street.) On the short list of cocktails is this fine aperitivo called the Archangelo that's a nice, balanced summer refresher. more ›

Have you been to Rebel yet? It's fun. It's the new motorcycle-themed bar that took over the Triple Crown space, once upon a time the Octavia Lounge, and with an already pretty active gay fan base, the space on that otherwise quiet stretch of Mid-Market/Mint Slope is seeing more traffic than its had in years. During the day and early evening hours (until 9ish) Sneaky's BBQ serves food out of the kitchen, and we hear it's pretty good. We've only been there for beverages, and one simple and good concoction they've got on the menu right now feels about right for a sunny Friday afternoon. It's from bartender Sean Roland, and it's called the Hell's Angel. more ›

Since it's now, surprisingly, already Memorial Day weekend, you might as well celebrate the passage of time and the dawn of summer with this twist on a traditional English country summer refresher: the Pimm's Cup. The version at Range, created by bar manager Jeff Lyon, features the addition of a ginger snap liqueur for added spice notes, but it's just as refreshing as the original, long beloved classic. Try this and a bevy of other inspired, market-fresh drinks at one of our favorite restaurant bars in town. more ›

Alex Smith, bar manager at Gitane (6 Claude Lane), created this drink to usher in the summer months with a whiff of Europe. It's kind of a twist on a Negroni, with the addition of lemon, mint, and sweet Maraschino liqueur. In place of the vermout in this case we have rich, oxidized, almost savory Oloroso sherry adding an extra level of complexity to the drink. In place of the ginger marmalade we'd recommend substituting a homemade ginger syrup, which you could make by steeping half a cup of fresh chopped ginger in simple syrup (boil 1 cup sugar with one cup water til evaporated, and simmer with ginger for 20 minutes before leaving to cool and steep overnight). more ›

Ah summer. What is it, really? Kate Bolton, bartender at Michael Mina, created this bright and refreshing drink to celebrate the season that takes a long time to arrive in our fair city. It mixes some sweet apple flavors with the herbal notes of gin and a floral touch of violet liqueur. Simple, elegant, and strong enough even for a guy to like, sans flower garnish. more ›

It's kinda summer, everybody! And even though it's not as hot as it was on Wednesday, we're still in a springy/summery mood. Thus our choice of cocktail this week is a seasonal choice and perfect for a balmy night. This punch, created by Zero Zero bar manager Joel Tietelbaum, strike a nice balance between sweet, tart, boozy, and bitter, and we can think of nothing we'd rather drink while lying in the grass somewhere, or at an outdoor party on one of many (hopefully) sunny days to come. more ›

Have you noticed that ever since SFist started doing a Friday cocktail column two years ago, SFoodie and The Examiner have both followed suit? Just sayin. Anyhow, we're grateful for it today because we've been trying to do a spring cleanse and haven't been out tasting cocktails this week, so we'll let the Ex pinch-hit this one again. Today they interview barman and former actor Erik Cummins at Colibri, the Mexico-City-specific restaurant across the street from A.C.T. on Geary, and he offers up a recipe for a tequila cocktail of his invention. more ›

Embarcadero restaurant Lafitte (on Pier 5) celebrates one year in business this month, and chef Russell Jackson remains steadfastly dedicated to his ingredients, his craft, and newly revamped brasserie menu — all, as he puts it, "with a soupçon of insanity thrown in." The place has excellent drinks, and this week we feature one on their current menu, The Strange Love, named in honor of the great film, Dr. Strangelove. It's the bomb. more ›

We love ourselves a good bitter-but-balanced cocktail, and we came across a doozy recently at the Hideout — the awesome, cocktail-nerdy bar within a bar in the back of Dalva on 16th. It's called Nobody's Dirty Business, and even though it's not on the current menu they'll still make it for you. As bartender and creator of the drink Jason Guarnieri Larsen tells SFist, it all came about because of his love of Cynar. "I have loved Cynar since the moment I first tasted it and always try to build new drinks around it. So pretty much anything new comes my way, I'm going to pair it with the stuff, and sometimes I get lucky!" He further explains that Hideout manager Todd Smith named the drink after a Mississippi John Hurt song. It's made with Batavia Arrack (an Indonesian sugarcane and fermented red rice liquor), Cynar (an artichoke-based amaro), Luxardo Maraschino (a Marasca cherry based liqueur), Bonal (a Gentiane-Quina Aperitif Wine), fresh lime juice. and topped with Prosecco. "We all know original is hard to come by these days so I like to make it easy on myself and strive for a 'personal original,'" says Larsen, but we're pretty sure this counts as original-original. Update: And such is the way in the cocktail sphere, but Portland bartender Jordan Gray reached out to point out some similarities between this drink and one he created called The Original Dirty Liver, which doesn't have the Prosecco. more ›

Have you heard about Wilson & Wilson? It's the new reservation-only, bar-within-a-bar at Bourbon & Branch where you can have an even more exclusive, more haute cocktail experience than is even available at B&B these days, now that everyone and their broker knows about it. The deal is this: two bartenders from B&B decided to create an experience where customers could interact more with bartenders, and create a list of cocktails -- including a $30, three-course prix fixe option -- with special ingredients and tinctures you won't find just anywhere, so that the cocktail geek might truly have a chance to geek out and get drunk all at once. If you go for the three-course thing, you choose from a monthly changing list of aperitifs, "mains," and digestifs, and you'll get to sample a bunch of flavor combinations you might not have thought possible before -- leather, tobacco, and cinammon, anyone? more ›