Best-of list · Craft Beer
The best craft beer bars in San Francisco, from Toronado's cash-only taps to City Beer Store, Magnolia, Barebottle and Southern Pacific Brewing.
The short answer
5 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
San Francisco was the West Coast craft beer reference city, and the scene has thinned out lately. Social Kitchen and the Phoenix are gone for good. The five below are the real beer rooms still standing, ranked by what is in the glass, not the buzz. Bottle shops, brewpubs and one cash-only institution. The names that got cut were closed or never craft beer bars to begin with.
Toronado has poured the Lower Haight since 1987 and still runs around 50 rotating taps, heavy on Belgians, sours and West Coast hops. It is cash only, loud, and proud of it. A regular bought the place in 2026 and reopened it in June with the program intact. Go early, ask what just kicked, and carry a sausage in from Rosamunde next door.
Full listing & hours →City Beer Store is half bottle shop, half bar, open noon to ten daily on Folsom in SoMa. The coolers hold more than 400 bottles by style, and 15 rotating taps lean hard on IPAs and sours from Cellarmaker, Barebottle and the like. Build a mixed six to go or crack one at the counter. Quiet, knowledgeable, no attitude. The pick for drinkers who want range over scene.
Magnolia brews on the corner of Haight and Masonic and reopened in December 2024 under new owners after a short dark spell. The house beers are back as the brewing program ramps up, with a fuller bar and cocktails alongside. Smaller plates now, not the old gastropub menu. Go for a house pint in the front room and skip the weekend Haight Street crush if you can.
Full listing & hours →Barebottle runs a warehouse taproom on Cortland in Bernal Heights, 20 to 30 of its own beers on tap under string lights and high ceilings. The lineup turns over fast and leans experimental, with Detroit-style pizza to soak it up. Dogs and kids welcome, which tells you the crowd. Best on a weekend afternoon. Order a flight, grab a long table, and stay a while.
Southern Pacific Brewing fills a converted machine shop on Treat Ave in the Mission, a two-story warehouse with a big patio and house beers on tap since 2011. It runs more restaurant than beer-geek shrine, but the room is the draw and the pours hold up. Go for the space and the outdoor seating on a warm night. Gets loud and group-heavy after eight.