Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco · restaurant
A cozy Haight Street institution that helped shape San Francisco's craft cocktail scene when it opened in 2006, with a low-lit bar still running off the same energy. The barrel-select program sets the tone, the Alembic curates private casks from distilleries like Spirit Works and Pinhook, and house cocktails like the Brown Butter Old Fashioned (brown butter-washed bourbon, roasted sugar, bitters) and the Hi-Dive (Iwai Japanese whiskey, red wine gastrique, lemon) are both worth it. Bar food skews high-brow: bone marrow with pepper bacon jam, local mussels steamed in pilsner, and a Marin Sun Farms burger.
Slow-roasted marrow with pepper bacon jam, roasted garlic, and toasted baguette.
Iwai Japanese whiskey, red wine gastrique, and fresh citrus. Herby and spirit-forward.
Brown butter-washed bourbon with roasted sugar and bitters, a Haight St signature.