Mark’s Bar

GOOD ENUFF.
Mark’s Bar fits in this weird semi dive-​y limbo. It’s a dive bar. The drinks are cheap, it’s shaped weird, and a strange upstairs, and was clearly a diner or something to that effect in its previous life. Some of the lightbulbs are out or missing covers or both. Yet, it also has a fancy wood bar, fancy ish wood benches, and some higher shelf beer.
I like the duality and it’s like whoever was putting this place together stopped halfway and was like «good enough» and just stopped.
It’s also enjoyably not super crowded.

With a thriving bar scene in SF I wanted a place where I could get a word in edge wise when talking to girls. This place is cozy enough and quiet enough. The beer selection is just okay, but priced just as steeply as its happening counter parts. Good if you need to catch a sports game and not be botherd. Not so good if your out trying to socialize and meet the crazy cast of characters SF has to offer.
Two and a Half Stars.

Friendly staff, and a great place to go when all the Polk Street bars are full and bouncing!

This is a really fun bar with some tasty drinks and happy hour specials. Don the bartender was SUPER friendly. Chatty without being nosy, and he pours a good pour.
I was sitting at the bar, having a heart-​to-​heart with my friend Lindsey, and he must have heard about my shitty relationships woes. He poured us a couple of shots on the house. Aw! So sweet!
And the drinks were absolutely yummy: Pineapple Upside Down shots! They consist of cake vodka, pineapple juice, ginger ale, and grenadine. Think a Shirley Temple, but with vodka. It’s a party in your mouth.
The place was surprisingly hoppin’ while we were there (4:00−5:30pm). We were just waiting for Thai Idea to open up so we could chow down on some delicious vegan noms, but this was a more than satisfactory place to waste a little time.
The music is a bit poppier than my general taste, but I feel like a certain someone I know might like it, since they play a lot of Ke$ha, Katy Perry, and other pop tarts. He shall remain nameless, but I think I’ll have to drag his butt over here sometime.
It’s kind of a trek from the place I work, but I could totally see myself coming here more often for Happy Hour. This is a major contender for my favorite bar in the city.

This certainly doesn’t look like a place that would or should charge $ 6 for a pint but that is what they do.

Stopped in for a quick beer with my friend after dinner. A nice, quiet little place that would definitely be my neighborhood bar if I lived in the neighborhood. At first impression, the bartender seemed a bit green or unsure of himself but I’m sure it was just because they’d finished changing out the register.
I could hear my friend as we talked so I totally appreciated the relaxed, quiet atmosphere. There’s a large picture window on one side so you can watch the cute passersby.
Next time I’m in SF and especially the TL, I’ll stop by.

My favorite local bar hands down. No jerks, no high maintenance bar folk mood swings, good ambiance, good people. Bar itself is interesting, big windows too. Great for watching outdoor freak show. Gay clientele, lively but not crowded everything is just right. Interesting furnishings.

A cozy and relaxed bar in the Tenderloin. Good beer and friendly bartender.

small, but wanted to sit down and grab a drink. CASH ONLY! when we were there, the ATM was being stubborn. good place. I’d return if i was in the area.

Was in SF yesterday with some friends of my girlfriend. We wandered about going to bars and such, when we found this place.
Unfortunately for me, we didn’t stay too long, because it was my kind of place. Dark, music in the background (but you can still actually talk and hear people at a normal level of speech), and it wasn’t packed with douchebags. It was probably my favorite of all the bars we went to. Too bad we didn’t stay long.
Also the bartender, was super nice and appreciated when I turned in a bag that I found under a table.

Starting the night of SantaCon here! A relatively small bar, at the corner of the block.
Has the modern jutebox available for your musical entertainment! I loved while we were there, they played good Hip Hop & Rap. Everyone was just having a great time.
Have your ID ready, they have a bouncer right out in front.
They got a pretty good Happy Hour for example — Tequila and Tecate combos!
The drinks here aren’t overpriced, thank goodness!
Bartenders are super chill and awesome! They were really fun, they’ll have a convo and drinks with you, so cheers to that!
+ the bathrooms weren’t atrocious. they were actually relatively clean!

Let’s just say I came here twice last weekend and both nights a friend of mine ended up throwing up on their front steps. In my opinion thats a good night.
We were aimlessly walking pass when the security guard told us he’d give us half off on our first round. It seemed quite so we headed in. With half off, it was only $ 3.50 for a can of beer and a shot of 1800. The nastiest combination after a long night of drinking and the final nail in the coffin of my friends stomach. Halfway through chugging the beer, he was spewing his dinner on the entry way of the bar.
Mission Accomplished. It was the best birthday of his life.

Mark’s Bar is another watering hole on the Polk Street corridor. It has a guy at the door checking ID’s later at night like the other popular places, but doesn’t really need to, because most of the people coming in here are way beyond the legal age for alcohol.
This place doesn’t get crowded like the other places, so you can come here with friends like I did, and be able to talk and hear each other.
It’s a narrow, small place, with just a few places to sit beside the bar, and a cozy little loft for a little bit of a private affair up the narrow stairway to heaven.
There are neon lights and a darker vibe, which is perfect because this is not a place to be seen, but rather to be enjoyed. Nothing special, just less crowded. It does have some rotating disco lights left over from those all silver Christmas Trees from the 1960’s, but they aren’t quite as cheesy.
If you want to get away from the young’un’s crowd after 11pm at all the other places, come here and chill with a drink and friends.

Straight up, I fucking love this place. I was staying at the nearby Civic Center Inn and wanted to visit a local watering hole after a long day of seeing touristy shit. My mother-​in-​law picked this one and so we bellied up. She and her BF had Stella in the bottle and I went with a Mai Tai. John hooked me up and oh my God. Seriously one of the best Mai Tai’s I’ve EVER had. My drinking companions wanted to check out some other places, so we went to Hemlock’s. .. and then came right back.
I can’t remember the other bartender’s name, but she was awesome. I could have watched her bartend all night. She was bubbly and funny and had a good time working. John did some shots with me and I made friends.
This place is small, but seemed like a good place to chill and to dance, if they’re playing the right music. The bathrooms were clean (a total plus, right, ladies?), and well lit.
I would say more, but John’s Mai Tai’s and those shots wiped my memory a bit, I won’t lie to you. However, I’ve been to a lot worse. This was honestly one of my favorite bar experiences I’ve ever had, just for the atmosphere.

Okay, I’m a bit biased about this place. I know all the bartenders and I have been a patron of their sister bar for years. But to be honest, the drink prices are probably some of the best for happy hour in the area. The bar is clean, bathroom is clean, the bartenders are nice and the regulars are friendly and easy to engage in.
Great local bar for all types of people. Great jukebox that also had a mobile app, so you don’t have to fight in line to play your tunes.
They will always have the Giants game on and if you’re nice, they may let you watch the A’s. :)
Oh, and their beer taps are open and they feature some great beers for the connoisseur, as well the domestic for the tame at heart!
Before you can judge it, go have a drink and say Julie sent ya! They will take top notch care of you!

Enjoyed this place — been there once. It is on the borderlands of TL to Pulk Gultch so you get an interesting mix of crowds. They have Hamm’s and Olympia which are slowly becoming the next PBRs. Mix of alcohol is similar to any bar and have some good top shelf stuff if you want to buy. Got a good jutebox with a classic mix of songs and the bartender we had that night was friendly. I’ll be back.

No beers on draft, but they do have a decent happy hour (we got two Sierra Nevadas for $ 6), a Scout Mob deal (50% off), fernet, an older/​non-​Marina patronage (at least during the day… like at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon), and a most eclectic/​random playlist of music (that was a little bit too loud considering nobody was raging or breaking it down just yet).

came during Santa-​con. Bar was ok. I think it just opened. The staff seemed a bit scattered. They were yelling over the counter they were running out of ice and change. We ordered blue moons.
I think it is a bit over priced for the location.

Well, yup, it’s a bar. And the décor is a bit sparse compared to when it used to be the Lush Lounge.
The bartender, Ken was a nice guy and I got a well G&T for about five bucks, which is a pretty fair price for the ‘hood. It would be a decent place to catch the game when other joints like McTeague’s are way to crowded with youngsters.
It’s a bit of an older crowd, and I think it’s run by a gay owner. Nothing to scare away a breeder like myself.
I vote «A-​OK», and I’ll probably be back in the near future when they get some brews on tap.

We stopped into this ‘new’ place (it’s actually in the long-​vacant space that used to be the old Lush Lounge) during this year’s Santa-​Con. Despite all the amateur night shenanigans, it seems like a decent place. After all, our old bartender at Kimo’s is bartending full time here now.
The music was too loud, and this place does seem to have the hard surfacey, echo-​ey, bright neon ambiance of a large bathroom, something like Midnight Sun back in the day. It wouldn’t surprise me if they hosed this place down after closing each night.
We’ll give it another try, but my fear is that all of these new places along Polk are starting to look and feel the same. In that regard, I’m glad it’s not like McTeague’s when it’s packed full of 20-​year olds on a Friday night. We’ll see.