I really think that the days of douchenozzle bouncers is over. Or should be. Last night I was out in the Mission with some friends and patronized a few bars. The door guys at 500 Club, Doc’s and Bender’s were all their laid back, cool Mission hipster selves but the guy at Laszlo’s was totally out of place.

A friend told us to meet him at Laszlo’s but to go in through the Foreign Cinema door, so we did. As we were walking down the hall the bouncer came running after us (in his dress pants and white running shoes no less) and started yelling at us about going the wrong way. We complied and went back the way we came in and then proceeded to go in the Laszlo door. He stopped us and said we had to pay a $5 cover. It was 1:30AM and we were flabbergasted. All we wanted to do was say hi to someone and leave and we explained this to him. He was really rude and pretty much turned his back on us. There was no way after that we were going to patronize a business that wants to be represented by someone with a bad attitude.

Why is it that some bouncers think it’s necessary to act like a complete ass to people that aren’t causing any trouble? I thought they were there to keep out the riffraff and to manage any issues that arise with unsavory types. I’m not saying that he should have waived the cover charge, I’m just saying that we were not purposefully causing any trouble, and there was no need for him to be a jerk. Due to that experience at least 4 people will never return to Laszlo’s again and maybe others that read Yelp reviews like my buddy Andrei’s and will choose to not go there.

Your experience at a bar starts with the doorman and if they are total jerks then why bother going if there are a lot of other choices, especially in the Mission.

Noc Noc

When my friend told me he wanted to meet up at Noc Noc, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I didn’t think anything of it until I started asking around to see if anyone I knew had been there before. I started to get really excited.

I wanted to know what this cave-like burningmanesque bar located in the Lower Haight that only served beer, wine, and sake was all about.

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Tonight! Check out Brainstormer’s Grand Pub Quiz at your local pub!

Click the link above for more info and to register your team!

Brainstormers have weekly quiz nights at bars all over SF. I’ve been to the one at Elephant & Castle over in the FiDi and it’s loads of fun!

This week-long tournament begins tonight! So head on over to Valley Tavern, Blackthorn Tavern, Fishbowl, or Monaghan’s, and while you’re at it, go ahead and order up a round of shots of Patrón or Cazadores for your team! Celebrate Cinco de Mayo and get your game on tonight!

Greetings dear readers! I’m happy to present to you a weekly addition to SF Metblogs! Every Wednesday, I’ll pick a bar to write about and present my take and experience in hopes of giving you options for your everyday after-work Happy Hour needs so that you can effectively “Party Like it’s Friday!”

Comments are always welcome and please feel free to throw some suggestions my way! I’m an equal-opportunity drinker and always looking for new spots to check out! As this is a San Francisco blog, let’s try to stay within city limits. Although, I’m no stranger to the East Bay and would love to venture out that way on occasion.

Beale Street Bar and Grill

I was first introduced to Beale Street Bar and Grill when my roommate invited me to a thing his co-workers were having one night. Working in the Financial District in San Francisco has taught me never to turn down an invitation to a bar I’ve never been.

We’re so limited to what bars there are to go to in the area that it seems we tend to flock to the same ones repeatedly after work. I do get it; certain people have certain tastes. That much is… well, certain. But, I’m the type of guy that likes variety. I tend to not have a favorite type of anything. The Financial District seems to provide a certain specific type of venue for your happy hour needs. Sure there’s variety, but like any district in SF, it’s pretty limited. In the Financial District, there are mainly pubs and bars catered to those hard working people we like to affectionately (and sometimes not so much affectionately) call Yuppies.

I tend to really like dive bars. It’s not a preference in the sense that I’ll be opposed to go anywhere else. It’s just that I feel like they have an environment that’s much more comfortable than any stuffed up fancy place can provide.

Beale Street provides the happy medium. It’s still the Financial District and even their slogan says it’s “The Financial District’s Neighborhood Bar” and that tells me they can provide that comfortable dive bar experience you may want.

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We have a follow-up to the news about Bourbon and Branch‘s Todd Smith stepping down from his management position…

Smith’s successors are Joel Baker and Yanni Kehagiaras (pictured above), a couple of local comptetion-winning bartenders (or as B&B calls them, “Bar Chefs”), both who have been working at B&B for a while now.

As mentioned previously, Smith remains connected with Bourbon and Branch’s Beverage Academy, participating in upcoming classes Cocktails 101 and A Taste of Absinthe.

Rumor has it that Bourbon and Branch is polishing up a new “secret” room dubbed “Russell’s Room”, occupying a space that was formerly J.J. Russell’s cigar shop during prohibition in the 1920’s. Hm, how many secret rooms can a speakeasy have?

Photo courtesy of Bourbon and Branch

Todd Smith, one of the founding fathers of the speakeasy-style bar Bourbon and Branch, has announced he will be leaving the bar to pursue new ventures, possible opening his own bar in the future. Although he is leaving the bar, he plans to stay connected with the popular Beverage Academy program there.

Smith created many signature cocktails at Bourbon and Branch, including the Aperol Sour, pictured above. Bourbon and Branch is one of the bars that paved the cocktail revival in San Francisco within the past few years. You can find the recipe for the Aperol Sour, as well as read all about the cocktail revival in the Bay Area in this very excellent article in San Francisco Magazine.