San Francisco Brewing Company– brewpub
CLOSED 11/2009
North Beach
155 Columbus Ave, @ Pacific & Kearny (Google Map)
Official Site | BeerAdvocate | Yelp
House microbrew: $3.50-$5.50, $1.75 for happy hour, but it’s still not worth it.
Open Sun-Thu noon-midnight, Fri-Sat noon-2am
MUNI: 1, 9X, 9AX, 9BX, 10, 12, 20, 30, 41, 45, 82, 91.
I do not mean this site to be a review service; there are plenty of other sites that can do that for you. So please, do not set foot in this dump expect me to sully this post with my lowly, ignorant opinions. (Seriously, though.)
The location of SF Brewing Co. is quite lovely, sitting in the shadow of the Transamerica Pyramid and the Coppolla Building. The space itself is actually pretty nice too. The nautically-themed, saloon-ish front room is all dark, well-worn wood, and pictures of the old Barbary Coast adorn the walls across from the bar. There might be a few people sitting at the bar, but the tables tend to be empty. In fact, it’s a lot like the bar in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (not the club where Jessica sings, the really depressing one where Roger almost gets Dipped in front of “a bunch of drunken reprobates”). Going around the bar and past the ladies’ room (men, you go downstairs near the entrance to wee), there’s a back room that’s a bit more lively, with the chatter of some of the young, urban professionals from the nearby Financial District. There are a smattering of tables arranged around one of the copper brewing tanks, and large windows look out over Columbus and Pacific avenues. There is a TV present, but considering it was off during the NBA Finals, I shall assume it is broken, and has been for some time.
Service is adequate, if a bit on the slow side, and the food is adequate, if a bit on the pricey side. Beers, according to the menu, are $5.50 a pint, but $1.75 at happy hour. I paid $3.50 for mine. (Don’t ask me, I only write the blog.) Food is very standard American fare- burger, chicken sandwich, fried calamari.
The beer is mostly named for ghosts of San Francisco past, such as the Barbary Coast and the infamous Emperor Norton. They usually have a half-dozen beers on tap, with no guest brews. They also offer a scant selection of standard liquors. One thing they do have up on most other places is a variety of options for beer-to-go. They offer growlers, cubes, and kegs. And for a mere $1250, they’ll custom brew a tank (10 kegs) for you. Though why you’d ever want to…
While you’re in the neighborhood…
La Trappe, 800 Greenwich @ Columbus & Mason
Church Key, 1402 Grant @ Green
Rogue (GGBB review), 673 Union Street between Powell & Columbus
Seriously, go to any of these three. They’re all better. Even if they’re closed.
For reasons I could explain, but won’t do so on here, this is actually my favorite of SF’s brewpubs.
I’d love to hear about that some day.
Oh no! That is Michael Savage’s home sttoian, too… Although there are probably lots of sttoians he could broadcast from….
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