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Dive Bars in San Francisco

El Rio

20s / 30s / 40s / 80s Music / ATM / DJ / R&B

Party Earth Review Part live music venue and part DJ haunt, El Rio in San Francisco also hosts film and art showcases, comedy acts, burlesque routines, salsa nights, karaoke, impromptu jams, and loads of neighborhood fundraisers, making it a go-to spot for a crazy quilt of San Francisco’s eclectic populace. Old regulars with ... more

3158 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

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Skylark

90s Music / Budget-friendly / DJ

Party Earth Review In business since the mid-90s, Skylark prides itself on being one of the only hip-hop dives in the city, hosting DJs nightly who specialize in urban beats with a little bit of disco, reggae, R&B, and soul thrown in. As the sun sets, this joint draws a vast clientele of pop lockers, beat street bad boys, kids from the East ... more

3089 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

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Li Po Cocktail Lounge

20s / 30s / 40s / 80s Music / ATM / DJ / Pop

Party Earth Review Apart from its cave-like exterior and the big carved Buddha in a niche behind the bar, Li Po Cocktail Lounge is far from an ancient Chinese shrine. It was, however, formerly an opium den – at least that’s the rumor – and bartenders often spook visitors with tales of drug-addled ghosts showing up when people forget to tip ... more

916 Grant Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94108

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Delirium

20s / 30s / 80s Music / Barbeque / DJ

Party Earth Review 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 ... more

3139 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

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Kozy Kar

20s / 30s / 70s Music / 80s Music

Party Earth Review It’s conceivable that someone could walk into Kozy Kar and never notice the Lite-Brite sign, the waterbeds, the Ford and Chevy truck grilles, the shag-covered benches, the mirrors, the pinball and arcade machines, the back room with its vinyl van seats, or even the wall-sized sunset beach scene... ...but even the most hard ... more

1548 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

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Specs’ 12 Adler Museum Café

30s / 40s / Anything goes / Folk

Party Earth Review Frozen in a state of perpetual disorder, Specs’ 12 Adler Museum Café is a chaotically-themed little dive where North Beach’s historic Beat vibe lives on. With its ramshackle furniture and disorganized collection of city history, Specs’ is a bohemian paradise that’s worlds away from the porn peddlers and strip joints just ... more

12 William Saroyan Place
San Francisco, CA 94133

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Trad'r Sam

20s / 30s / ATM / Anything goes / Rum

Party Earth Review It may get cold and damp on the city’s west side, especially way out in outer Richmond, but it always smells like sun-drenched pineapples and rum at Trad’r Sam, a tiki-themed dive that’s been serving up big bowls of sugary sweet drinks to a party-happy young crowd since the 1930s. Surfboards, palm fronds, life preservers ... more

6150 Geary Boulevard
San Francisco, CA 94121

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Toronado

ATM / Anything goes / Artsy / Beer

Party Earth Review 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 ... more

547 Haight Street
San Francisco CA 94117

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The Knockout

20s / 30s / 40s / 90s Music / ATM / Bands

Party Earth Review Although far removed from the Mission’s pulsing nightlife center, The Knockout offers a packed schedule of live entertainment bound to appeal to a variety of true dive lovers. From the logo of a hard-boozing Mexican wrestler out front to the kitschy interior strewn with neon signs, random photographs, and vintage album ... more

3223 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

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Buccaneer

20s / 30s / 40s / After Work / Casual

Party Earth Review Anchored among a slew of Polk Street bars, the Buccaneer is a tiny watering hole that’s as casual as they come during the week and packed as a powder keg come Fridays. It doesn’t take long for patrons to notice the inspiration for the venue’s name, as the walls and ceiling resemble the cabin of a colonial-era pirate ship ... more

2155 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

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Phone Booth

20s / 30s / 40s / Average Joes / Chill

Party Earth Review Located south of the heaviest Mission drinking scene on a largely residential stretch, Phone Booth may have a cream-colored façade that’s as understated as, well, a phone company’s, but the similarities end there. Open since the 80s, the name stems from a long-gone Pacific Bell office that stood across the street, when ... more

1398 South Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94110

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Casanova Lounge

30s / ATM / Anything goes / Artsy / DJ

Party Earth Review Whether the name is meant ironically or in reverence to the famed womanizer is anyone's guess, but what’s irrefutable is that Casanova Lounge has one of the most varied DJ lineups in town – as well as one of the cheapest drink selections in The Mission. Reminiscent of a 1970s bachelor pad, the space features red-orange ... more

527 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94105

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All dive bars in San Francisco →

SF Dive Bars Overview

El Rio - Dive Bar | Live Music Venue in SF

Finding a San Francisco dive bar is easy for two reasons. First, the city is actually quite small (barely seven square miles), so you physically can’t be that far away from one no matter where you are. And second, there are a ton of them crammed into this tiny city, because denizens love them some SF dive bars.

A great place to start on a San Francisco dive bar hunt would be The Mission, and probably the best known Mission dive is Zeitgeist. Born as a biker haven, Zeitgeist has evolved into an institutional dive that attracts everyone from Harley loyalists to skinny-jeaned bike messengers with its mix of surly bartenders, solid beer selection, and expansive graffiti-laden courtyard.

Casanova Lounge is another great Mission dive, and whether the name is meant ironically or in reverence to the famed womanizer, what’s assured is this steamy lounge has one of the most varied DJ lineups in town – as well as one of the cheapest drink selections in The Mission.

Toronado over in The Haight is an SF dive bar with a phenomenal beer selection – so much so the place literally reeks of beer – while Chinatown’s Li Po Cocktail Lounge was (reportedly) once an opium den and is (allegedly) haunted by drug-addled ghosts who wish they could get in on some of Li Po’s barebones cocktails.

Those looking for a sugar-fixed dive need search no further than the tropical paradise that is The Richmond’s Trad’r Sam, and anyone in need of Lite-Brite signs, waterbeds, Ford and Chevy truck grilles, shag-covered benches, and acres of laminated boobs should hit up Kozy Kar in Nob Hill (Seriously, go, it will all make sense).

There are a ton of San Francisco dive bars catering to budget-minded drinkers of all persuasions. Now do as the San Franciscans do: get on your bike and go find one!