The Phoenix Irish Bar Irish Pub / Sports Bar

Mission, San Francisco –

The Mission area may not be a sports bar lover’s paradise, but the lack of competition isn’t the only reason The Phoenix Irish Bar is so popular. True, patrons will find the game they’re looking for – from the Stanley Cup to the World Cup – on the flat-screen TVs, but they’ll also encounter a solid menu of Celtic grub and weekday Happy Hour specials that attract plenty of people who don’t know a point spread from a cheese spread.

Gritty regulars with thick brogues order up frothy pints from the long bar, as local business workers pop in for a lunch of ale-battered fish and chips or homemade colcannon.

Like at any successful sports haunt, just getting through the door can be rough if a major event is on, but even during non-game days The Phoenix tends to be loud, with an energetic mix of tatted-up Mission hipsters and blue-collar football/fútbol fanatics chatting around dark wood tables or at the window seats overlooking busy Valencia Street.

Less effluvial folks can hide out in a quieter back room, down past the beer signs and quotes from Oscar Wilde and James Joyce that adorn the yellow-tinted walls, accompanied by the continuous serenade of classic rock and Irish ballads that streams from the jukebox.

No matter the draw – be it ball games or bangers and mash – The Phoenix Irish Bar brings everyone together.