Rye Cocktail Bar / Lounge

Civic Center / Tenderloin, San Francisco –

Tucked near the border of affluent Nob Hill and the decidedly non-affluent Tenderloin, Rye is a cozy cocktail lounge with a name alluding to whiskey but a menu far more generous to gin.

Once inside, well-dressed mixology geeks order gimlets crafted with great care, and newbies learn fast that the small sunken bar is not a place intended for a quick drink. Often packed with blazer- and jeans-clad young professionals who know to ask about the latest intricately designed beverage specials, hipsters and prepsters alike can also order a can of beer without fear of scorn.

Little adorns the main room’s walls save for a large chalkboard in back, which is always free reign for creative types looking to compose witty sayings or temporary art above the complimentary vintage pool table.

Couples and small groups canoodle on leather ottomans and around low candlelit tables in the adjacent room, where a floor-to-ceiling wine rack covers the entire back wall, while a steel caged patio facing the street offers smokers the rare San Francisco opportunity of lighting up while still technically inside the bar.

With a vast menu of lovingly prepared cocktails and lively crowds of conversational regulars, Rye is an ideal hangout where drink snobs and novice inebriates can come together.