Delirium Dive Bar

Mission, San Francisco –

Delirium means severe confusion resulting from illness, and seeing as how this grungy Mission joint serves up loud music and ridiculously low-priced drinks nightly, it’s not a stretch to suggest that regulars have a propensity to go off the deep end.

Given the frosted glass walls, a battered cloth awning, and an entryway crisscrossed with metal bars, one might expect a dark and dreary scene inside, but the place is actually alive with graffiti and art prints, glowing televisions tuned to no coherent theme whatsoever, and the constant yelp of pinball machines.

The crowd can be equally contradictory, with punks and emo kids slinging back barebones Happy Hour pints with blue collar Joes and budget-centric college students, as the herd of local hipsters knock around the faded pool table or pull a few old-school hits from the tired jukebox.

Things really pick up around 10pm when nightly DJs spin a wide variety of styles, drawing packs of young partiers to the lounge/dance area in back. Mohawks fly during Friday’s punk night, 80s classics fill the dance floor with festive revelers on Saturdays, and hip-hop gets due attention once Sunday evening rolls around.

The dive’s motto – “Service for the sick” – is highlighted in neon over the bar, and whether patrons are suffering from a lack of music or a lack of cash, it’s clear that Delirium provides treatment for both.