I love the Saloon. I've been traveling to San Francisco on business for over a year, and I always make it a point to experience a city's local flavor, searching out restaurants, c...
Not sure how to compare but its no Chicago blues club that for sure. Is OK for a few beers but I wouldn't go just to hear blues. Set up is terrible. Not a place to take a dump...
As the oldest bar in San Francisco--it opened during the Gold Rush and survived the 1906 quake--Saloon has had over 150 years to get its act together and it still isn't even close. Cracked barstools, a dusty wooden floor, and a huge, ornate wooden back bar are the nicest looking things in here; best to just stare at your beer, lest a friendly regular wearing a bathrobe and no shoes hits you up for a drink, or one of the grizzled, bloodshot-eyed bikers demands one. If that does happen, at least the beers are cheap ($2.50), the cocktails just as strong as they are poorly mixed, and the nightly live music lures in tourists whose obvious discomfort may draw the attention of the more malevolent patrons away from you. Good times.