The Interval is the only bar in San Francisco that makes you think about the next ten thousand years. Attached to the Long Now Foundation in Fort Mason Center, this is simultaneously a bar, a cafe, a library of 3,500 carefully curated books, and the home of a working prototype of a clock designed to keep time for ten millennia. The concept would be pretentious if the execution were not so genuinely excellent.
The cocktail program is built around long thinking: the spirits are selected with an eye toward tradition, provenance, and craft. The menu changes seasonally and tends toward complexity without theatrics. Bay views from Fort Mason make this one of the few bars in the city where the setting enhances rather than competes with the drinks. The library shelves surround the room on three sides, floor to ceiling.
This is the right bar for a date night that wants to feel different, or for a solo afternoon with a book and a cocktail. It is one of the hidden gem bars in San Francisco that most visitors never discover. The view of the bay at sunset, seen from the bar, is one of the best free things you can do in the city.
Late afternoon, arriving around 4pm, gives you the best of both the daylight bay views and the evening cocktail atmosphere. The bar is rarely crowded except during events hosted by the Long Now Foundation, which are worth attending on their own merits. Check the San Francisco cocktail bar guide for other stops to build an evening around this as a first act.
What to order
- 01
Gimlet
The house standard, navy strength and exact. The menu notes the drink's provenance, which suits the setting.
- 02
Old Fashioned
Made to the old specification without theatrics. Drink it slowly next to a clock built for ten thousand years.
- 03
Irish Coffee
The daytime order. The cafe side of the room takes its coffee as seriously as its spirits.