Toronado Dive Bar

The Haight, San Francisco –

Toronado neophytes might flinch upon entering past the venue’s unassuming little blue façade – not from the hundreds of band stickers splattered across the walls or the old tap handles stuck into every available nook, but from the pungent aroma of beer.

Artsy locals with their man-bags in tow park themselves at the metal bar to lap up one of the forty-plus drafts, trying to get the invariably crabby bartenders to crack a smile. A marquee that could have been pulled from a vintage fast-food joint displays the ever-changing selection, and though there’s no food on the menu, starving college kids needn’t worry as they can just make a side trip to Rosamunde Sausage Grill next door.

Chatty groups of young professionals who left their suits at home walk past giant bottles of Duvel and Chimay as they head into the back room, where old-school beer signs hang overhead and a requisite lone, leather-clad biker is usually ensconced in the corner.

Daylight hours are relaxed as a mix of older barflies and chronically unemployed intellectuals stop in to nurse a few rounds, but the space overflows with hops-loving hipsters Thursday through Saturday nights, when heavy metal or rock blares from the jukebox and over-hydrated patrons gather courage to venture into restrooms that may not have been cleaned since the Reagan administration.

Regardless of when its guests show up, Toronado attracts them with a simple formula of good beer at great prices – and a stench that staves off any pretension.