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From Tadich Grill to Comstock Saloon, famed mixologist Josh Harris shares 5 of his favorite bars impressed by the town’s infamous Barbary Coast period.
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San Francisco’s Barbary Coast, a red-light district which lasted from the 1849 California Gold Rush till roughly the Roaring Nineteen Twenties, was one of the crucial vibrant and infamous neighbourhoods in American historical past. For a lot of the nineteenth and early twentieth Centuries, it was populated by miners, sailors, criminals and quite a lot of different unsavoury characters who flocked to the town’s bustling waterfront. The Barbary Coast grew to become famend for its saloons, dance halls, brothels and nightlife, and it set the stage for a cocktail revolution that swept throughout the nation. Right here, drinks weren’t simply seen as libations, however as a substitute acted as a type of leisure, with bartenders held in excessive regard because of their ability and showmanship.
As we speak, the Barbary Coast’s legacy can nonetheless be felt (and tasted) in lots of San Francisco’s greatest bars. This spirit of “Outdated” San Francisco stays particularly alive in elements of the fashionable North Seashore, Chinatown and Monetary District neighbourhoods that when comprised it. Related to this iconic interval of historical past is a singular array of cocktails that earn awards and reward from imbibers around the globe.
Josh Harris is the proprietor of Trick Dog, a James Beard Basis Award-nominated bar that captures the spirit of the town’s Barbary Coast days by infusing every craft cocktail with distinct flavours that echo the town’s wealthy historical past. Right here, he recommends his favorite cocktail bars round San Francisco.
![True to its name, Comstock Saloon's entrance looks like something from a Wild West film set (Credit: IMAGES@ARTIST-AT-LARGE/Alamy) True to its name, Comstock Saloon's entrance looks like something from a Wild West film set (Credit: IMAGES@ARTIST-AT-LARGE/Alamy)](https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p0gt5ddz.jpg)
True to its identify, Comstock Saloon’s entrance seems like one thing from a Wild West movie set (Credit score: IMAGES@ARTIST-AT-LARGE/Alamy)
1. Greatest for restored splendour: Comstock Saloon
Harris says Comstock Saloon supplies a charming and genuine glimpse into San Francisco’s resplendent Barbary Coast previous. First opened in 1907, it is one of many few locations that may really declare to be paying homage to the infamous period. Most lately restored to its former glory in 2010, the Comstock Saloon sits on the crossroads of North Seashore, Chinatown, Monetary District and Jackson Sq.. With its cosy cubicles and previous mahogany bar, the influential institution continues to remain true to the previous whereas carving out a brand new identification of its personal.
Considered one of their well-known favourites is the Sazerac, a mix of rye whiskey, bitters and absinthe. Nonetheless, along with the traditional cocktails and high quality spirits, Harris recommends the saloon’s signature Comstock burger and contemporary oysters. You will additionally discover stay jazz each night time that they are open (from Tuesday by way of Saturday), bringing a energetic ambiance.
Web site: www.comstocksaloon.com
Tackle: 155 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133
Telephone: +1 415-617-0071
Instagram: @comstocksaloon/
![As it proudly proclaims over its door, Tadich Grill is California's oldest continuously run restaurant (Credit: Randy Duchaine/Alamy) As it proudly proclaims over its door, Tadich Grill is California's oldest continuously run restaurant (Credit: Randy Duchaine/Alamy)](https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p0gt5dls.jpg)
Because it proudly proclaims over its door, Tadich Grill is California’s oldest repeatedly run restaurant (Credit score: Randy Duchaine/Alamy)
2. Greatest for 1800s historical past: Tadich Grill
For a style of San Francisco’s storied previous, Harris says there is no higher place to go to than the Tadich Grill within the coronary heart of the Monetary District. Positioned within the Barbary Coast space since 1849, this beloved seafood eatery is the oldest repeatedly run restaurant in California, and the third-oldest in the US.
From the lengthy bar (one aspect is for standing-only drinks; seating is additional down), get pleasure from traditional low-proof cocktails or Scotch whisky. In keeping with Harris, the Tadich Grill serves the most effective dry martinis round city, a time-honoured mixture of gin and vermouth. Tadich Grill is particularly identified for its contemporary seafood, and the cioppino, (a seafood soup created in San Francisco) and clam chowder, are two standout dishes on the menu. They solely take bookings for half the restaurant, so it is first-come, first-served for the remaining seats, which at all times go quick.
Web site: www.tadichgrillsf.com
Tackle: 240 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111
Telephone: +1 415-391-1849
Instagram: @tadichgrill/
![To find Bix, wander through Gold Street (Credit: Stars and Stripes/Alamy) To find Bix, wander through Gold Street (Credit: Stars and Stripes/Alamy)](https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p0gt5dyk.jpg)
To search out Bix, wander by way of Gold Road (Credit score: Stars and Stripes/Alamy)
3. Greatest hidden hang-out: Bix
Bix pays homage to San Francisco’s Barbary Coast period with a swanky Thirties ambiance. To search out it, wander by way of Jackson Square and switch down Gold Road, seemingly snapping again 100 years in time. Inside, you will come nose to nose with grand decor paying homage to the previous, like Artwork Deco lamps, in addition to stay jazz music floating throughout the tables each night time. The restaurant strikes a stability between speakeasy and stylish saloon, providing trendy American delicacies throughout the split-level eating room. Considered one of Harris’ favorite dishes is potato pillows with caviar.
White-jacketed bartenders stand behind a gently curved bar, mixing a number of the higher cocktails on the town. Since helping the martini revival within the late Nineteen Eighties, Bix has experimented with traditional cocktails and some signature concoctions. Harris loves the BIX Sidecar, with cognac, dry curacao and lime juice, or the BIX Boulevardier of bourbon, carpano antica and St George Bruto Americano. Whether or not eating for a special day or simply having fun with nibbles and Negronis, Harris maintains that is one spot the place visitors will discover themselves transported again in time.
Web site: www.bixrestaurant.com
Tackle: 56 Gold St, San Francisco, CA 94133
Telephone: +1 415-433-6300
Instagram: @bixsf/
![Moongate Lounge is a relative newcomer inspired by the Barbary Coast (Credit: Moongate Lounge) Moongate Lounge is a relative newcomer inspired by the Barbary Coast (Credit: Moongate Lounge)](https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p0gt5f1z.jpg)
Moongate Lounge is a relative newcomer impressed by the Barbary Coast (Credit score: Moongate Lounge)
4. Greatest trendy ode to the previous: Moongate Lounge
Step into the illustrious Moongate Lounge, an ode to San Francisco’s Barbary Coast within the Chinatown neighbourhood. Since opening in 2016, “it is simply turn out to be one of the crucial charming bars to go for a drink,” Harris mentioned. You should definitely admire the velvet, high-walled cubicles, marble tabletops and restored Chinese language murals.
Discover the realm
Strolling the Barbary Coast Trail is a good way to get to get to know the realm and study its historical past. The path options 180 bronze medallions and arrows guiding guests by way of an period of gold rushers, railroad barons and visionaries.
Harris says one of many greatest attracts right here is Chef Brandon Jew’s beautiful meals programme from Mister Jiu’s downstairs. Right here, you will discover simpler-but-still-delicious variations of the Chinese language-Californian dishes on supply at Moongate, like oysters with hawthorn jelly and tea-smoked olives. Nonetheless, most individuals come to Moongate Lounge for his or her rotating cocktail menu, which is impressed by the Chinese language Lunar Calendar. Of the six home cocktails, Deimos (a mixture of bourbon, oolong, inexperienced walnut and brined black sesame honey) or Ariel (vodka, li hing mui, almond milk, pomelo and osmanthus) are simply a number of the fascinating concoctions usually supplied.
Web site: www.moongatelounge.com
Tackle: 28 Waverly Pl, San Francisco, CA 94108
Telephone: +1 415-857-9688
Instagram: @moongatelounge/
![If there's such a thing as a Barbary Coast-era dive, Li Po is it (Credit: Emily Riddell/Alamy) If there's such a thing as a Barbary Coast-era dive, Li Po is it (Credit: Emily Riddell/Alamy)](https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p0gt5f4h.jpg)
If there’s such a factor as a Barbary Coast-era dive, Li Po is it (Credit score: Emily Riddell/Alamy)
5. Greatest Barbary-inspired dive bar: Li Po Cocktail Lounge
Li Po is a one-of-a-kind homage to “San Francisco’s Barbary Coast Chinatown nightlife scene from again within the day”, Harris mentioned. Little or no has modified right here for the reason that Thirties, regardless of lots of the neighbourhood’s authentic golf equipment and lounges closing down in the course of the Nineteen Sixties. The unpretentious dive bar is about behind giant purple double doorways on Grant Avenue, marked by an unmissable neon signal it that has turn out to be one of many space’s landmarks.
Barbary 101
The time period “Barbary Coast’ comes from North Africa’s Barbary Coast, the place native pirates launched raids on close by coastal cities and ships.
Inside, you will discover distinctly distinctive inside, with wraparound bar, purple leather-based cubicles, hanging Chinese language lanterns and a golden Buddha statue behind the bar. Strangers turn out to be pleasant neighbours over flavourful Mai Tais, a home specialty, crafted from components impressed by native custom not discovered elsewhere. The no-nonsense ambiance – and what Harris calls “deadly mai tais” – charmed even the late Anthony Bourdain, who featured Li Po within the San Francisco episode of The Layover.
Web site: https://lipolounge.com/
Tackle: 916 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94108
Telephone: +1 415-982-0072
BBC Journey’s The SpeciaList is a sequence of guides to standard and rising locations around the globe, as seen by way of the eyes of native specialists and tastemakers.
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