El Trebol Bar No 3

This may just be the ONLY BAR in the Mission that hasn’t been invaded by hipsters and techies.
As a matter of fact, me and the boys stumbled in here after some Urban Putting and we were instantly transported to Tijuana. We were literally the only ones who spoke English up in here.
This is a working man’s bar. What you wanna order here is their made to order MICHELADA. Basically a beer cocktail with clamato and spices. You have your choice of beer but to do it legit, get it with a negra modelo. I think it was around $ 6 each? The waitress does everything tableside.
My crew didn’t fit in at first but by the 3^rd michelada and 4^th game of pool, all our heads were bobbin to that bass from the tuba from that Banda music playing. I mean afterall, Filipinos are a lighter shade of brown.
I’ve been to my share of Mexican dive bars and this one is probably the most legit.
(
)

please bring one of your friends that speaks spanish if not even a little spanish it will help you immensely. Upon entering slight odd stares from several of the patrons and staff haha, might be because we are the only pacific islanders in the whole bar hahhaha. Ordered michada im probably spelling it wrong, but it consist of modelo, clamato, and something else, in a large glass with salt all around the rim, reminds me of a bloody mary minus the pepper, the clamato mixed with the modelo in an ice cold salted glass was delicious even more so was the presentation of the drink and how it was prepared =)
Michada in hand with some pool and trumpets in the background blasting hell yes this is a place to kick it with some of your friends. The odd stares became less noticeable after few drinks, became more smiles then anything else. oddly there was a security guard in the back of the towards the end where there were a few gambling coin up machines, world cup 2014 up on all screens, to play pool is $ 1 in quarters, no time limit
no one is dancing, but the bartenders are all smiles and very helpful even though they don’t speak english. don’t go alone bring a friend maybe 2 or more
drinks **** michada personalized at your table =)
service **** very helpful, again bring a person that speaks spanish
price $$
ambiance *** loud, beers on tap, several tv’s, you literally have to be ear shy close to hear anything

i love this place TREBOL BAR like Botanica El Trebol has excellent service and great drinks friendly people NOT SURE IF SAME OWNER or just popular name for latinos but love service friendly people thank you Laura will came back. seems to be the tebol wich means lucky clover has good reputation jejeje

This place cracks me up. At one point I made it a little mission of mine to see if I could one day have them serve me a beer. I think my particular brand of whiteboy-​ness makes me a liability to go in there, especially since Id only go solo since I live right next door. Either the bouncer wont let me in, or if I make it in the bartender won’t serve me because they say Im drunk. No shit I’m drunk how else would I have the balls to walk my white ass into ok coral with a bunch of cowboys mean mugging me?! But seriously I cant recall being denied a beer anywhere else even when I was way drunker… but I regress and give them a second star just for getting me out of harms way
I did finally get a beer one day but it took me bringing in a exotic girl with a huge rack. The next time I was denied again at which point I flicked them off and called them racist. Probably a bad idea cuz I walk past the place everyday.
PS…I once saw a fight pour out of this bar, about fifteen guys going at it in the middle of the street, and no joke about ten of them were swinging nun-​chucks smacking the shit out of each other. If you are an aspiring latino ninja, this is your spot.

These reviews seem borderline prejudice. As a Spanish-​speaking person I felt totally safe at this bar. It was a dive-​bar nonetheless and West Coast Latinos were initially shocked that non-​indigenous Latinos even existed. Went bar-​hopping in the Mission with the goal of seeing what a Spanish-​speaking neighborhood was like out West… I’m from several in NYC. Was a little different seeing all South Americans/​Caribbeans replaced by Mexicans/​Central Americans. For what it’s worth I drank more beers here than any other place in my journey.

Ooooof. In some ways coming here is almost a sociological research project.
Or maybe more to the point this is one of those ways one might go «looking for trouble».
So we had a Memorial Day BBQ sort of thing and during a lull in the afternoon festivities, one of those odd hours during the shift change between the early birds and ones looking to tie one on, our buddy Dennis recommended we go hit the ol’ El Trebol. After all, we’d only born witness to the drug dealing, street fights and brandishing of machetes that occurs outside of here on any given night, so why not go inside for a change?
It was crazy enough that it might work. After all, it was still sunny around 5pm and we had about nine of us gringos and other non-​Latin types that we figured if we ducked in for exactly one beverage it might not be the worst thing. The hilarity ensued as the bouncer (calling him a security guard would be a euphemism; this guy is here to boot some fools out) stared at the parade of us queuing up at the door with disbelief. I got in with little resistance or searching, though I’ll thank my Mexican last name for that one and the fact that the lot of us looked like some crappy pro wrestling team just without all the weightlifting, chiseled jaws and steroids.
Outside of the pool table near the fron door, the place was populated with odd pockets of far too many Latin dudes gathered around tiny tables. I made a beeline for the bar and figured we should get this over with. En route a gentleman told my Filipina friend «Konichiwa». She smiled accepting the comment as ignorance rather than malice. I bellied up and ordered 4 Negra Modelos. It came to $ 16 and paying with a $ 20, the bartender adamantly waved at me that I had forgot my change and she seemed flabbergasted when I told her this was for her. An incredible stench of bleach and testicle sweat wafted in the hot air. I turned to hand beers to my cronies but I could see the ball busting was already in progress. I’m sure maybe some of the dudes here flip coins to see who wins the job but this one was pretty persistent. The ball buster is the one guy here who comes and hassles all the people who look out of place to some unknowable degree of his own satisfaction. Unfortunately he had three of my friends in his grasp, asking them various questions, making awkward conversation that was a mix of Spanish and English. He seemed intent on including me on his «to be hazed» list however he served me up a meat ball, an easy question, and after I was able to reply to him (in Spanish) he promptly left me alone. The few females in our group went to the bathroom and promptly returned, offering that after viewing said lavatory, they decided they could hold it until we were done. I chugged my Modelo, watched soccer and made conversation with my friends, looking around to make sure everything was ok.
Was it fun? Yeah, I’ll admit it was. Everyone in my group let out in concert «Let’s never go there again». I was kinda on the fence.
So let’s recap.
You should come here if:
–You have a penchant for $ 4 bottles of Mexican beer
–You have an excellent command of the Spanish language
–You enjoy an aroma that is a mix of old booze, bodily fluid and powerful cleaning product
–You don’t mind feeling like you may be shiv-​ed at any given moment

Careful now.
(And no beers on tap)

A friend punched me in the arm and exclaimed «That’s where most of the Mission gang bangers hang out» when I told him I drank here. Duh, hence the SIX armed security guards. See my previous review. Just watch your back.

On a quest to try new places with friends we found this place on the Unilocal map of bars that were close to the area that we decided to be in for the night. When we walked up it sounded like a mariachi band was live in the bar. We ventured in for a drink and the place was ok. People were polite but it smelled like a men’s locker room at the gym.
I am almost willing to try a place more than once. So if the opportunity ever presented itself again we will try again. When that time comes I will rereview

I’m pretty sure the women who work here are prostitutos, or can be for the right price.
They serve cheese pupusas which I’m pretty sure were extra tasty because Lord Corona had me in his brazos.
Everyone is friendly, but my Spanish is comparable to that of a 4 year old’s, making it very difficult to understand people through the sounds of coronas and norteños.
For those who play pool, they play «last pocket» here which means you have to put the eight ball in the pocket where your last ball fell. Not speaking spanish made this very difficult to understand. Needless to say, I lost $ 10.

Even though I am half Latino I was cautious walking in here, and I knew someone was staring at me as I walked to the bar. After sitting down all was ok and I ordered a Heineken (and just keep to yourself for awhile). I noticed a lot of these guys drink Pacifico as well as Corona, and mostly the rest Budweiser.
One waitress kept bumping her leg on mine every time she picked up an order at the bar-what’s up with that? Am I missing something?
What was cool was that the women working there in skimpy outfits were getting buckets filled with Ice and bottles of beer and bringing them to the guys-​my kind of place! This was on a friday so you know this is a working class guys hangout. I had never been to a place like this so it was quite interesting-​Latino dive, who would a thunk? If you don’t have latino in you and you want to check this place, just keep it on the down low-​very low.

El Trebol wins the prize for the best bar I will never enter again.
This is one of those rare honest to God dives where I feared for my safety as I passed the threshold. They have a security guard, who is not afraid to frisk people if needed, stationed at the door whenever the bar is open for business, which is a very clear indicator that I could not pass up the opportunity to have a beer or two here, seeing as I love a little danger with my Corona.
You don’t have to drink Corona. They have many Mexican beers to choose from, and you can purchase them in bucket quantity. A lovely young Latina lady will even come around and open them for you as you move from one beer to the next.
If you are not Latino you will undoubtedly get stares as you enter. This is a Latino working mans bar, plain and simple. If you do not belong to this group of people it will be glaringly obvious and somewhat uncomfortable when you walk in.
If you are female I challenge you to find another woman in the place outside of the ones serving the drinks. These women, despite some suggestions otherwise, are a look, don’t touch addition to the atmosphere and most are working hard and sending money to their families back home. If any of the men try to touch Mr Security will open a can of whoop ass on them and Señor Policia will come cart them off, which for some means back to another country, so they tend to follow this rule.
You will have the opportunity to be hustled at pool if you choose to play on one of the two tables here, and more likely than not you can find someone at the bar willing to talk to the Gringos and buy them a beer or two for not running out of the place as fast at the nasty looks from most of the clientele can carry them. I do recommend the bar because you will also be served up some Jicima topped with lime, salt and hot sauce… yum!
I learned that the international sign for «I am one of a few that is okay with you being here» is beer, and me and my male companion had many bought for us. I also learned that the international sign for «I am a hooker» is to come into a place like this without a male companion. I have not done that, thank God.
So, this is not a place for ladies, except the ones working behind the counter. But, depending on the day, they may humor a Gringo and his lady companion as they explain the ins and outs of this place.
Much respect to Miguel, who is my favorite regular at this place. I may see him again, walking down the street, but the best way I can repay his generosity and hospitality is to leave him his watering hole to be enjoyed with his amigos.

This is a totally sketched out Latin bar in the Mission. My coworkers and I descended upon this place one Friday afternoon, because we were getting a little tired of the Napper Tandy, up the street.
The first thing we were met with was a surly bouncer who actually didn’t frisk me; although he did give me the silent stare that communicated, with no questions about it, that I was not to make trouble without suffering severe consequences. So mellow was I …
The crowd was, predictably, very Latino. I am convinced the bartenders (all female) are ‘working’ in other capacities beyond just slanging booze. But, in terms of pouring booze, they are good at it. They were very attentive to our table, replenishing our buckets of Corona when they got low.
The pool tables (2) are decent, but packed with dudes on the hustle. One guy was playing one handed … strange. The juke box is stacked with Latin hits, if you like Los Tigres Del Norte, you’re in luck. Men: the bathroom is a trench, with a nice window looking out to the bar. Smile.

Yikes! The only place I’ve ever been to where I’ve received a full pat-​down for weapons. Once inside, I was the only Gringo in the place. Three guys started giving me the stink-​eye, and the scene at the pool table looked like it could’ve erupted into a mele at any moment.
Bar fights are usually preceded by something of a subtle five-​minute warning. In this instance the clock was ticking. Hard stares followed me out of the door as I left with three-​minutes to spare.
El Trebol? Try «El Trouble». Trouble indeed… not recommended for white-​boys who want to avoid it or can’t *habla-​espanol* their way out of it.

This is no place for bougie or wanna-​be dive bar patrons… REALLY
My friend had a switchblade drawn on him while I was tinkling and he’s from Chi-​town you know what I’m sayin’ ?
Let’s back away real slow and leave this bar to the patrons who probably did not find it through Unilocal