8 SF & Oakland Spots Winning with Cocktails AND Food
These new spots or new menus cover the gamut, from Filipino-Mexican to Peruvian. Alongside my full restaurant reviews this month — for Aphotic, Daytrip Oakland, Coho Mill Valley, Palo Alto’s Naschmarkt and Ethel’s Fancy, Juniper and Starter Bakery — these eight (and a bonus 9th bar) are well worth visiting. Last month’s standouts are here (as always, I’ve personally vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed):
One of the Best New Drink Menus in Town: Heartwood, SF
Heartwood is the most realized of the new bars-with-food in town, thanks to bar director Casey Carr’s impressive lineup of complex but crushable cocktails and a stellar service team. It was opened April 4, 2023, by industry vets Arnold Eric Wong, Tristen Philippart de Foy, Phil West and Steve Werney, who are collectively behind SF bar treasures Third Rail, Treasury and the Beehive. The 1907 brick-and-timber space is modern and inviting with a silver oak bar, tin ceilings and artist Leah Tumerman’s sunny murals featuring California poppies, trees, Chinatown pagodas and the like.
With “flavors derived from plants, fruits, herbs and spices,” the bar is happily inspired by the plants and trees of California, while chef Byron Gee turns out elevated comfort food, including Treasury’s Pigs in a Blanket, cured salmon green cabbage salad, Mexican street corn dip and a tough-to-resist beef patty melt oozing caramelized onions, Swiss cheese and “special sauce” on sourdough bread.
Tasting most of Carr’s 11 drinks — there are also seasonal slushies and a few highballs — yields numerous standouts. Leaf Water is an immediate hit of herbaceous green, mixing tequila, jasmine green tea, honeydew shiso cordial, citrus, shochu. Street Maize is a spirituous stunner of mezcal, reposado tequila, cilantro and roasted corn balanced by Palo Cortado sherry.
Pulp Fiction surprised me compared to hundreds of mango cocktails tasted over the years. Most mango cocktails are quite sweet with dominating juiciness, but this understated play on mango is due to Carr using unsweetened pulp, letting the fruit’s natural tropical brightness shine. This drink combines a blend of Coppali Rum, Bacardi 8 Rum and Mount Gay Black Barrel rum infused with clove, vanilla, nutmeg, cassia bark, lemon peel, makrut lime. It’s a crusher. As is the subtly savory mezcal Oaxacan Highball, backed by the fermented joy of tepache pineapple brine. Spirituous Trade Secrets also surprises with its rye whiskey, vermouth blend given nutty whispers from amaretto, chocolate earthiness from Sassafras Cacao Bitters and the smart add of silky lemon oil to brighten the whole thing. This is one of the best new cocktail menus in town.
// 531 Commercial Street; www.heartwoodsf.com
Filipino-Mexican Mashup: Señor Sisig Oakland
I’ve been a fan of Señor Sisig since it launched as a food truck in 2010 from high school friends Evan Kidera and Gil Payumo. Their Filipino-Mexican food mashup was oh-so-California (two of its deepest populations) and an immediate hit. They opened their first brick-and-mortar in San Francisco’s Mission district in 2019, more recently a Ferry Plaza Building outpost and as of April 14, 2023, their first Oakland location… with booze.
There are a few cocktails at SF’s Ferry Plaza Señor Sisig, but a more extensive, agave spirits-heavy bar in Oakland. Fun drinks on draft include four different margaritas plus highballs. Filipino nods include calamansi lime in their classic margarita, a lovely guava grapefruit, popular tamarind chili, and my favorite, a subtle pandan pineapple margarita with zippy tajin rim. There’s also a purple Ube Horchata featuring mezcal and wonderfully grassy Mexican Paranubes Rum, likewise a hit at the Ferry Bldg. The smart, curated collection of tequila, mezcal, a bit of raicilla and sotol, includes additive-free and women-owned brands like Mijenta, which I reviewed here.
A roll-up, garage-like exterior makes the space breezy and open-air, while a mural from LA-based artist Aaron Kai colorfully showcases Bay Area and East Bay legends, from M.C. Hammer to Digital Underground’s brilliant Shock G (R.I.P.). There are all the Señor Sisig favorites you love from Chef Payumo, plenty of vegan options, a range of tacos, burritos, nachos and fries, and his better-than-ever, recently updated tocino pork.
Their crunch-a-dillas are hard to beat — think a massive, stuffed quesadilla seared on the griddle and loaded with meat or vegan meats, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole. The tocino version is so my jam. I also appreciated Oakland exclusives: build-your-own lechon kawali pork belly tacos with shrimp chips, house barbecue sauce, creamy habanero salsa and pickled red onions; and lumpia-meets-taquitos made in partnership with The Lumpia Company, a beloved Oakland institution owned by chef Alex Retodo and none other than rapper E40. For an SF institution, this sunny, delightful new Señor Sisig feels so Oakland.
// 30 17th Street, Oakland; www.senorsisig.com/oakland
Peruvian Spirit: La Mar Bar, SF
I’ve been visiting and writing about Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio’s La Mar Cebichería Peruana since it opened in 2008 as his first North America restaurant, loving the heavy vegan/vegetarian offerings added last year. In March 2023, La Mar unveiled brand new La Mar Bar. What used to feel like a waiting room to get into the more open, breezy restaurant now feels like a bar destination in its own right. Back bar windows have been opened up, allowing a lot more light and the ocean blues of the Bay to peek through the bottles. New design is sleek and sunny, inspired by fishing villages of Peru. A giant, handwoven wicker squid from Peruvian artist David Goicochea dramatically hangs from the ceiling, now the centerpiece — and conversation piece — of the bar.
La Mar chef Victoriano Lopez has crafted new bar bites, including his delightful Peruvian nigiri showcasing Peru’s unique Nikkei (Japanese Peruvian) cuisine, local Dungeness crab taquitos in a purple corn tortilla shells and an unusual, crave-worthy Peruvian fondue of Gruyère, Peruvian sweet corn and queso fresco, scooped up with purple chips.
The new cocktail menu wins with easy-drinking Chilcanos, Pisco Punches (a San Francisco creation in the 1800s) and two standouts out of the six drinks I tasted, namely their Punch variation: Golden Gate Punch (La Caravedo pisco acholado, spiced pineapple cordial, lemon and a welcome bitter hit from Fernet Branca) and the Ojo de Tigre, their Bloody Mary variation using fresh, savory leche de tigre broth from La Mar’s ceviches with local St. George’s Botanivore Gin and a garnish of octopus and shrimp.
// Pier 1 ½ The Embarcadero North; www.lamarsf.com/la-mar-bar
(Still) One of the East Bay’s Best Bars: Hotsy Totsy Club, Albany
Back in 2012, I interviewed my friend Aurora Siegel (and other bartending greats) at the Bay Guardian where I was food and drink critic, as she long bartended at over 80-year-old Hotsy Totsy Club. Recently returning to the bar that blessedly employs a heavily female bar staff run by owners/partners Jessica Maria and Michael Valladares since 2009, I’m happy to say the Hotsy, as it’s affectionately known, is as fabulous as ever. It’s retro, 1960s divey in all the ways I adore: jukebox, kitschy black velvet mid-century paintings, neon signage and B-movies of the same era on the TV. The Hotsy’s regulars — some of them daily or coming for over 50 year, many of them dogs — make it that kind of colorful, welcoming, all-ages bar worth writing stories about.
With friendly bartenders, the Hotsy’s drinks are well above “dive:” in fact, they’ll please cocktail geeks. Michocan Monk is case in point, a light green mix of Uruapan Charanda Anejo Rum, Green Chartreuse, pineapple, lime and a misting of absinthe. Most exciting on my recent return was Mutha Smucka, a playful combination of slivovitz (plum brandy), Austrian Monopolowa Dry Gin, lemon, honey, salt and a grape jam and roasted, crushed peanut rim. It blissfully shows off rarely-featured-in-cocktails Eastern European plum brandy in a dry, bracing way, while the PB&J rim runs nutty-sweet for delightful contrast.
Food here is a partnership vs. in-house. Parked outside, Tacos El Autlense’s truck keeps those drinks properly partnered with tacos, including their beloved al pastor off the spit. I wish the Hotsy was in my neighborhood, though I’m blessed with another 1941 dive legend around the corner, the great Zam Zam. But I’m so grateful we all still have the Hotsy.
// 601 San Pablo Avenue #2, Albany; https://hotsytotsyclub.com
Tropical Haven: The Kon-Tiki Room at Palmetto, Oakland
Since tiki/rum bar The Kon-Tiki opened in 2017, I named it one of the top new Bay Area bars of the year at Time Out. In 2021, the same owners, Christ Aivaliotis and Matt Regan, opened The Kon-Tiki Room at Palmetto, a smaller version on a busy intersection of Telegraph across from the Fox Theater. I used to write about Aivaliotis’ drinks back when he helped run Holy Mountain in SF. He and Regan have kept the hospitable fun alive with blessedly full-on tiki decor and, at this intimate location, themed nights around cartoons, Star Trek or The X Files (one of my girlhood favorites), complete with themed drinks and episodes on the TV.
Food is basic, childlike fun — think chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks — while drinks from beverage director Jeanie Grant and team keep it playful. It’s hard to resist their Frozen Disco Banana Daiquiri touched with cinnamon and lime, showcasing the grassy funk of Hampden Estate’s Rum Fire and Tres Rivières Blanc rhum agricole. Shattered Glass is a more subtly complex cocktail served up in a coupe of Japanese ume (plum) whisky, Brazilian cachaca, bianco vermouth, lychee and bitters. While it’s borderline too sweet with lychee and plum, the finish is layered and complex, tropical as it is grassy. Service is friendly and the vibe chill when it’s not packed, making both Kon-Tikis appealing for different reasons.
// 1900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland; https://palmetto-oakland.com/the-kon-tiki-room
Late Night Japanese & Chinese-Influenced Cocktails with Sushi: Dragon Horse
I wrote about Derrick Li’s new Blind Pig Speakeasy late 2022, a special new Chinatown bar, hidden upstairs off Grant and California in the massive, historic Cathay House space. Sadly, Li and his creative Chinese cocktails are no longer involved. But you can find his new Japanese-influenced cocktail menu at brand new Dragon Horse in SoMa, which he just opened with Mins Group, where he is bar director. With easy parking in the evenings and late night hours (5pm to 1am, Wednesday through Monday), it’s a win for food/drink industry and beyond for late night eats with highballs. With a wood-lined and Chinese-lantern-dotted space, private dining/karaoke room (no per person minimum!), friendly staff and bartenders, it’s a welcome hangout.
The food is solid, with a range of sashimi, sushi rolls, nigiri and izakaya skewers, even if Li’s cocktails are the biggest draw (toro, chutoro and otoro nigiri/sashimi cuts are highlights when available). Thankfully, a couple of his Blind Pig hits are here: the mushroom-tinged Smoke Umami and tart-yet-lush TP Gimlet. New standouts include Drum Tower, an Angel’s Envy Rye whiskey-based cocktail served in a striking silver dragon mug, unfolding with subtle layers of Cherry Heering, beet juice, lime, grapefruit and happy whisper of Wu Jia Pi baijiu funk. Food-friendly Kagoshima To Oita is a vegetal, savory, yet silky and light cocktail highlight. As a clarified (clear) milk punch, it rolls out with layers of tequila, 21 Seeds Cucumber Jalapeno, Iichiko Shochu, tomatoes, basil, celery, Chareau aloe liqueur, lemon, Gifford Rhubarbe liqueur and hot pot paste for subtle heat.
// 917 Folsom Street, www.dragonhorsesf.com
Books, Music & Booze: North Light, Oakland
Open since January 2019, cozy North Light in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood is my kind of bar. It’s an all-day cafe and bar, but it’s also a fab, tiny but smartly-curated book and booze shop (read about owners Dan Stone and Lee Smith’s arts backgrounds and vision here). They feature different writers, from Patti Smith to locals like Michael Pollan and Daniel Handler, and brilliantly, a shelf from each author of books they recommend. They sell a few small producer spirits and line the walls with vinyl, while playing a winning record selection (classic soul and R&B on my last two visits). While I prefer the intimate front bookshop/bar, there’s a roomier covered patio out back, ideal for groups larger than two.
North Light crafts some of Oakland’s better cocktails, a good mix of creative yet approachable. General manager Den Stephens and team craft a drink menu with crushable fun like Juice Diet (tequila, tart granny smith apples, celery, cucumber, tarragon) or Heart Remedy Tonic (aquavit, Combier watermelon, lemon, saline solution — who knew aquavit and watermelon would work so beautifully together?) I also dig the lighter, spritz An Apricot in Seville (Mommenpop Seville orange vermouth, amontillado sherry, grapefruit, clover and welcome bitter from Brucato Orchards Amaro) or subtly creamy Spice Runner (aged rum, cumin, coriander, cardamom, lime leaf and juice, coconut). The food is comfort food done well, from umami tater tots loaded in katsu sauce, garlic aioli, bonito flakes and furikake seasoning, to a filling, griddled falafel and red pepper hummus wrap.
// 4915 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland; https://northlight.bar
Drinks & Bites in the FiDi: Orafo at Four Seasons San Francisco at the Embarcadero
Hotel dining for locals isn’t our first (or even 20th draw), especially when you live in a city like San Francisco where every neighborhood is packed with so much food excellence it takes two decades eating at over 10 restaurants a week — as I have — to even make a dent. Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco at Embarcadero opened their new Cal-Italian restaurant, Orafo, on February 27, 2023, in the newly renovated hotel space of the former Mandarin Oriental.
While this isn’t going to change that hotel game, Orafo surprises include Director Of Outlets Aom Lee’s cocktails and a darker, intimate space than before with alcoves if you happen to be in the Financial District in need of a spot to grab food and drink (it’s also open for breakfast and lunch).
Chef Gunnar Planter, who comes from years cooking in SoCal, features one of my favorite Italian salumi cuts: culatello, served with burrata, pistachios, Calabrian honey and extra virgin olive oil from Umbria, Italy. A baby gems salad with anchovies is crisp and savory. Duck sugo orecchiette pasta was a bit of let down, though pastas are handmade in house. There is already an intense amount of competition in a city rife with Italy-worthy pasta, from Flour+Water, SPQR and Che Fico, even modern pasta at Sorrel. As a forgettable pasta that was neither al dente nor particularly flavorful, it was the one misstep. Their Fisherman’s cioppino is a lighter, different kind of San Marzano tomato sauce/broth compared to SF cioppino legends like Tadich Grill or Anchor Oyster Bar, but still lovely, loaded with fresh shellfish, including a nicely medium-rare fish of the day.
Lee’s cocktails are a highlight, including her Scandinavian-esque Spice Trade (Nolet’s gin, Geijer California Glogg, passionfruit, lemon, egg white, ground cardamom) or White Negroni play, The White Lotus, which is blessedly Calvados-forward (French apple brandy), partnered with Tanqueray Sevilla Orange Gin, Benedictine and Amaro Nonino. Dramatic presentation comes with Karl the Fog, a balanced Hennessy VSOP, Santa Teresa 1796 Rum, Cherry Heering, Amaro Zucca and Tempus Fugit Crème de Noyaux cocktail, smoked tableside with maplewood.
// 222 Sansome Street; www.fourseasons.com/embarcadero/dining
BONUS — Music & Sips: Harlan Records, SF
While I continue to wish a “Japanese-style” listening bar would finally open where you actually quietly listen as you do in Japan’s listening bars, Harlan Records (formerly Bar Fluxus) is a welcome music-centric new bar since September 2022 from the team behind Pie Punks, Terminus, Natoma Cabana, High Horse, Old Ship Saloon. Though patrons are far from just listening to the music, Harlan is still ideal for us hardcore music lovers. Though no food currently, there are plans for future bar snacks.
Inviting with lots of wood, art-deco-ish wallpaper and over 2,000 vinyl records, music lovers like me delight in vintage 1940s-50s radios which owner Eric Passetti’s grandfather collected, alongside badass amplifiers and pre-amps like a McIntosh 2210, AdCom amplifier and NAD 1020 preamplifier. Blessedly, even on a recent Friday night, the space was buzzing but still chill, easy for conversation while two DJs were clearly having fun weaving us through a range of records, though it seemed tunes were coming from newer speakers vs. vintage speakers in the walls.
The cocktail list rotates and was a very short three offerings or bartender’s choice on my visit. Thankfully, all were good, including a tart Gin & Juice (Roku gin, Giffard Pamplemousse, orgeat, lime) and a subtle highball on tap, Toke My Banana (Toki Japanese whisky, Giffard Creme de Banana, Barrow’s Ginger Liqueur, seltzer). Harlan is one of the best music bars around.
// 18 Harlan Place; www.harlanrecords.com