Hayes Valley, San Francisco · restaurant
A French brasserie at the corner of Hayes and Gough since 1998, Absinthe has outlasted trends by staying exactly what it is: warm Belle Époque room, serious cocktails, and a menu of classics — French onion soup gratinée, duck confit, steak frites — that actually delivers. The cocktail program is worth the visit on its own; the Death in the Afternoon (absinthe and Champagne, a Hemingway recipe) is a house signature, and the Sacred Heart is the crowd-pleaser that keeps regulars coming back.