The San Francisco Brewing Company in California: A Review

I don't go out to bars much in San Francisco, because the San Francisco bar scene - at least what of it is meant for a heterosexual or a mixed crowd - is mostly split between "meat markets" for high-income people and complete trashy dives for problem drinkers and creepy dudes.

I don't get into a mood for a bar very often, but when I do, I just want a nice relaxed place, never overly crowded, with decent brews on tap. Where I can just sit and relax, not have to deal with blaring crappy music or the snide looks and loud jabbering of either yupsters or hipsters, and not have to worry about being "cruised" by some desperate old dude.

I've managed to find that in the San Francisco Brewing Company, and not only that, but they actually brew a large variety of their own beers on site, and they even have live music most nights of the week to make paying the bar premium for drinks worth my while.

The place is located on Columbus in North Beach, just about three blocks up from the Transamerica Pyramid. There's thus a pretty good amount of "tourists wandering in" traffic during the summer, but during the off season (November to May) it's usually relatively quiet. I chalk this up to seemingly not being very popular with the locals, which I personally feel is a good thing, as I really don't like most of the locals.

The bar has been in operation in one form or another for the last 100 years so it has a cool old saloon look and vibe to it. The crowd seems to be mostly older dudes from the neighborhood who just want to relax without a lot of BS, which is right up my alley.

They've usually got something like 12 to 14 house brews on hand, which are brewed fresh daily. These can be a little hit or miss, but there's some reliable standbys to be had. Personally I like the new Emperor Norton Lager, and the King of the Hill Stout satisfies when I am in a stout sort of mood. I think pints are normally something like $3.50, which is on the cheap end for a microbrew in San Francisco, but from 4 to 6 p.m. and from midnight to 1 a.m. every day the prices drop to $1 for a glass and $1.75 for a pint! Easily the best price for a house brew in this area, cheaper than what crap hipster bars charge you for a can of Pabst. The food is mediocre, but not terribly overpriced at about $5 to $8 per plate, and suits if you just want a quickie meal to munch with your beer.

The other draw here is the live music. The regular band is the Hal Bigler Group, a jazz band that plays every Monday night from 8 to 11:30, but they seem to have live music of some sort almost every other night of the week, including a lot of decent jazz combos. The music seems to almost always be jazz or rock, you get a few crappy local rock bands in here sometimes, but for the most part the music is consistently pretty decent.

So there you go - relaxing atmosphere, decent brews at a cheap price, decent music. And the traffic is about as low as it'll get in San Francisco during the winter months.

San Francisco Brewing Company
155 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94133
# 415-434-3344
http://www.sfbrewing.com/