Sadie’s Flying Elephant

this place was great, really captured what a corner bar, with no other ambition than to be a corner bar, should be like

Ok, Sadie’s was great, and 2 blocks from my house. Now that it’s closed, I feel a void. Here’s hoping that Whiskey Thieves people make it a destination, but not so much, because I really like to be able to amble in for my nightcap and not have to wait for a drink.

A solid bar for sure — I’d head back! Of course its divey, plus some for the biped feline with a fuggin cross. That is bizarre son.
Good happy hour deals — $ 3 drafts are a nice thing. Do the popcorn thang with the sweet azz toppings. I know. You never have put tabasco or worschester on your popcorn, but you really should. Particularly after a couple/​several beers.
They have Speakeasy (nice!) but could use a cooler tap selection — a lot of stuff is sort of ho hum. Nice jukebox. Could you believe I found the Breeder’s CD on there? And its not one of those intarweb jukebox posers… its the real deal yo. Though I was drinking a beer, I caught a glance at the bar — looks like it had some good options… I know I caught Hendrick’s for gin. Playing sports on the TeeVee. Not really my thang, but I know a lot of you punks like it. Parking was a piece of cake!
Its not packed full… but its also not full enough (i.e. EMPTY at times!) So, that could be weird… but we were there on a fraking Tuesday.
In general, it seems like this place had a few solid selections with a lot of normal stuff. But hey, you are paying $ 3 a beer! (during happy hour). That is solid as hell. I’d go back if I was in the area for sure, not sure if I’d make a special trip over there though… Noe has a klassy selection of dive bars as well.

the fact that I can stumble home drunk from this place and not worry about getting a cab is a plus for my hermit like self. One of the few places where I’m not afraid to order one of my girlie drinks (oh margaritas and malibu&coke, a pox on you!) all reasonably priced too.
Never gets super crowded in here, and the jukebox is alright. I would have given it a 5, but the last time my bf and pals were here, there was some mission hipster asshole being a total dick for no reason. I hope this place won’t become overrun with trash like that

For some reason I associate this place taking smack, which is odd seeing that I’ve never had any reason to believe that people do, in fact, shoot heroin on the premises. This place is icky-​charming. The bottles of booze strewn in no particular order makes one think, «Hey, let me drink all of those bottles.» Or maybe it just makes me think that.
I haven’t been there for over a year, but it is the last place that made me vomit. 5 car bombs, evidently, should not be topped up with a shot of fernet branca. But that’s not the bar’s fault, and nothing about the scene there made me feel awkward for ambling outside, exocricising the demons, returning, bellying up to the bar, and ordering another drink. Yum!

I always was intrigued with the name of this place, and pictured it perched high on bernal hill where flying pachyderms could land
and rummage for peanuts.
But it’s on flat portero close to SF’s main hospital.
But i venture in anyway, and am met with a certain drabness. I usually welcome divey dives, but still something’s a tad ‘off’. It was a hot afternoon, so maybe a cool bloody mary will pickup my spirits. The bartender gave me the stinkeye when i asked for my b.m. Okay, i order a tecate instead… it came without a lime, maaaaaaaaaan.
My eyes spy a popcorn machine. Oh goody, just like the one at Lucky 13. Some dude reprimanded me and lectured me on how to dig out popcorn.
A friend of mine was spinning and booked some bands, where’s the stage i ask him… by the crapper. Hmmm.
I heard that they have a rockin’ bingo night — too bad i like parcheesi.
Sadie’s Flying Elephant — i salute your name but you are only getting three peanuts.
UPDATE! — after another visit i am upping to four peanut/​stars b/​c their bloody mary’s are delish!!!

i love this bar. yet when i attempt to describe its greatness, i don’t know what to say! i guess it’s the lack of pretension, decent beer, laid back patrons and a nice nook in the back with a pool table (that’s either awesome or terrible for playing depending on how drunk you are cos it’s rather dark at night due to the minimal lighting). i think the tables used to be 50 cents, but 75 cents is still damn good in my book.
ok… just went back and they fixed the pool room lighting!

A discreet little hole in the wall. This place is a needle in the haystack of dive bars.
OK, so San Francisco has a local bar for every resident, a place anyone and everyone can call their juke joint or their local watering hole.
Sadie’s is a classic watering hole for the mellow and righteous ‘local’ boozer.
I was very impressed with the eclectic music collection in the jukebox .
They have a good modern selection of booze.
The pool table was busy but not packed full of hustlers…
I have been here when it was backed full. buzzing and when it has been a low key on a Friday night… either way they seems to be cool behind the counter and not to snobby.
This place has a calm swanky vibe… do NOT bother dropping in if you are looking for a crazy club scene or if you are looking for some 16^th and Mission action.
BUT if you are looking to get your booze on in a cool spot this if your place!
Cheers!

Hmm…
There’s no elephant. I wanted to see an elephant, damnit! And a FLYING one, at that. Who is this Sadie woman and where is her flying elephant?
They have an elephant at the 540 CLUUUB…
It doesn’t fly, though.
Well, maybe it does. Who am I to say what happens after they finally kick my ass out and pull the curtains…
Hmm.
But, I can’t believe I’m about to say (type) it – this bar is otherwise every bit as cool as the 540. It’s like… Imagine that the reason the women’s toilet at the 540 sucks so bad and is always leaking and stinking like shit is because there’s really a hidden vortex underneath it, and if you sit on it for just long enough, and flush just right, you’ll get sucked in a la Trainspotting, and you’ll travel through a shitty black hole and pop out on the other side of town — a warmer, sunnier, perfectly-​parallel-​universe side of town known as Potrero Hill — in a bar that’s ALMOST the same, but not quite. A la that one Seinfeld episode where Jerry and Elaine and Kramer keep running into their almost-​selves on the street… What was that one again?
Anyway, you get it. This bar is really cool. I compared it to the 540. It rocks.
So does Trainspotting.
So does Seinfeld.
BIZARRO 540!!! (Thanks, Ed to the M…)

I am outrageously cheap. I have been known to climb into dumpsters and obtain free goodies. I enter contests religiously and won a free vacation once. I steal pens from my office.
That said, I way dig Sadie’s extra-​long happy hour Wednesdays ($ 1 = one tipsy Asian girl!) as well as bottomless free popcorn + Tabasco sauce. Plus, it has a way classy interior (mannequins! pool!) that helps people I’m trying to impress forget that I’ve encountered dumpster juice.

I am ready to fly on the Flying Elephant anytime you’re ready to call me.
I really love Sadie’s. It’s lowbrow and «cool» without the need to send out smoke signals indicating its capital-​C «Cool» status to the rest of the superficial hipsters. In other words, it’s not the Phone Booth, not the Beauty Bar, not Pop’s, etc. The juke spans the decades with enough funk, punk, indie rock, and [whatever] to satisfy anyone whose tastes have evolved beyond the selection found at Best Buy. The bartenders have always been extraordinarily nice (although perhaps a little *too* chatty when you need a drink and they’re being nice to other people). And there always seems to be at least one other person who’s so drunk that they think they know the secret link between 1981 California punk rock, «The Matrix,» pagan gods, the color mauve, and whoever is mayor at any given time in San Francisco.
In other words: free entertainment.
Also: free popcorn.
And: if the bartender’s being *super* nice, maybe even free shots!
Two pool tables, dark walls (one with a madcap Travis Bickle cutout), and cheap drinks make Sadie’s Flying [Pink] Elephant a joint with smash and panache.
I only wish they still allowed you to chalk your thoughts on the poolroom walls…
Should I tell you about the time the brogue-​heavy Irish bartender regaled us all with the tale of his arrest in Germany… for busting the metal logos off Mercedes-​Benz smugmobiles in Berlin? A man after my own heart!

A few of us came here after the Mighty event on Wednesday night. Sadie’s is a neat little establishment with pool tables (two, to be precise), free popcorn, and a South Park pinball machine. There was plenty of street parking that night. Ed M. was DJing that night, so the music was good, too.
Oh yeah, they’ve also got $ 1 well drinks on Wednesday nights. Yup, you heard me right. $ 1 drinks. Strong $ 1 drinks. Totally awesome $ 1 drinks.
*plonks down a $ 20 bill* That’s right, I’m a high roller. bling bling, baby.

Yes, the real reason it took me an extra day to write this review is that I sort of forgot about coming here post Elite event. I spent the better part of yesterday napping on the couch between water and aspirin, praying I would not die and asking myself «Did I ditch my plus one, or did he ditch me? Gee, need to call him, see if he made it home okay.»
So, anyhoo…
I have been here several times, but never on a Wednesday. Apparently the drinks are a dollar on this night. Though I don’t remember ordering any dollar drinks I am pretty sure I drank some, and I know that there were definitely some strong beverages in my system. So, I am going to say, with some level of conviction, that the dollar drinks are as strong as any other drink I have ordered here at full price over the years.
Cool neighborhood spot. The pool tables are level and have good felt, because even in my inebriated state I was able to rock the regulars and conquer (or maybe they just let me win).

Everyone is all over reviewing Mighty today… me? I want to review Sadie’s Flying Elephant.
Because that’s where we all ended up last evening.
Here is what I have to say:
1. I hate Unilocaling about cool dive bars (as I have said previous) because I am terrified that they will become the new «it» place to hang & be forever destroyed for those of us who like charming, divey, semi-​quiet, cheap drink servin’ dive bars.
2. BEST jukebox EVAH
3. Wednesday nights? Well drinks are $ 1 between 9 pm –12 am and HOLY COW! Are those $ 1 well drinkies HELLA strong, people??? Yes, yes they are. Strong, strong — mouth puckering, nose hair burning pick you up and shake you around like Ed M. strong… did I say strong?
I blame all of my questionable decisions later in the evening and my wretched hangover which has persisted through-​out this long-​ass «AEE» (that would stand for «After Elite Event») day on Cute Chris the Wednesday night bartender…

One dollar well drinks during Wednesday Happy Hours (9-​midnight). That’s really all you need to know.
Oh, that and I get extremely touchy feely when I’ve had too much to drink. So if you’re ever in the mood to get sexually violated, you know when and where to bring me.

This bar comforted me when I lived at 22^nd and York for a few months, having moved back to the Bay Area from Key West, Florida, of all places. What was I doing there? Guess.
This joint is low-​key, in possession of local flavor, something few bars have, in my opinion — of course a few in the Bay means dozens. Each room is a room unto itself, with a view unto itself. You can even go out back on the concrete patio and smoke a cigarette, away from the noise of the street, not that I smoke. But who smokes anymore? (he says, cigarette in mouth)
Anyway, this bar is for real — people know each other here. I don’t care what anybody says. This bar comforted me – moving back to the Bay can be a harsh experience, even when you’ve got lots of friends. Of course it’s always well worth it. Nothing comes without a price, right? Well, pretend this bar is an angel connecting Potrero Hill to the MIssion, and you’ve got just enough money to buy a friend two rounds of beer.

My brother flew in from Philly last Halloween weekend, and on our way to my place from the airport, I realized I’d never had a legal beer with him. He was 21 years old now, you see, and I hadn’t seen him since he’d come of age. So I decided we’d stop into Sadie’s, which is right around the corner from my place.
I go there for the good beer selection, friendly service, pool table, comfy sofas and most of all the great jukebox.
Well, my bro and I are chilling with our beers, and he asks me if I have any chronic at home. I tell him sadly no, that I haven’t smoked in a while. A little later, a young guy sitting nearby says, «Excuse me. I wasn’t listening to your conversation or anything, but I happened to overhear that you’re looking for some herb. Well, my friend’s about to make a run. You want some?» A brief back and forth and we make a deal. The guy’s friend sets forth… on his bike. As in bicycle. The guy tells us it may take a while. We’re not in a hurry.
A few minutes later, he politely chimes up again. «Hey, I don’t know if you noticed, but those two girls over there have been checking you guys out since you came in.» I look up to see two very cute girls, much younger than me, which means just right for my brother. We walk over, introduce ourselves, and spend the next few hours playing pool, drinking beer and choosing tunes from the jukebox with them.
The guy’s friend eventually comes back with the chronic, and it looks good. 2am rolls around, and we bounce out onto the sidewalk. «Well little brother,» I say, «it’s decision time. Are you coming home with me, or going with the girls?»
As if I had to ask. Conveniently, his bags were still in my car, since we hadn’t actually made it all the way to my place from the airport.
Just another good time at Sadie’s. And a big thanks to whoever that guy was.

It shocks me that people think of this as a «seedy dive.» Where are you people hanging out?
Not only is this the best name for a bar, it’s totally not a dive bar. It’s very clean. Possibly one of the cleanest bathrooms I’ve ever seen. The crowd is generally well-​dressed (hip) and they have all the top shelf liquor you could want. I think to be a «dive» bar you have to have some crusty old dudes permafixed to some stools at the end of the bar, and a pervasive smell of beer vomit. Sadie’s has neither.
They do have comfy furniture, a couple different rooms conducive to hanging out with friends, they’re generous with the pour, and a round of three drinks is like $ 12.

I haven’t been to Sadie’s in over a year since I moved away for grad school, but I wanted to write a review of it anyway. Originally I had written the following:
«Sadie’s is the kind of place that made SF a cool place to live before it was completely gentrified. I love it here and hope it stays around for a long while to come. For me, this is the ideal spot to go to after work with some friends and just kick it on a weeknight. They’ve got comfy old sofas and soft chairs, a good jukebox, free popcorn, and two back rooms: one with a pool table and black painted walls that you can draw on (they have a bucket of colored chalk provided), and the other with couches, a coffee table, and even board games. The unselfconscious laid-​backness of Sadie’s makes me feel more at home here than just about anywhere else in town nowadays.»
Of course, after writing the review I read what everyone else has been saying and learned of the horrible change in ownership. They took away the board games? And, horror of horrors, they painted over the chalk wall??? How stupid can they be? These are the very things that made Sadie’s what it was.
It is sad and ironic that the one sentiment I had as I wrote this review (the hope that Sadie’s remains what it is) is precisely what has NOT happened in the brief time that I’ve been out of town. I’m heartbroken. I would lower my 5 star rating out of disappointment, but I have no idea what to change it to…

Prolly my favorite bar in the city. Just thought I’d share that.
Plus I love the movie, Dumbo. I wish I had a copy so that I could watch it right now. WHO WILL COME BRING ME DUMBO!!! I’M ON MY DEATH BED HERE, PEOPLE!
oh fuck it. nobody cares. i might as well take a hot bath with a blow dryer.
5÷29÷06 Edit: I just had my birthday party here and you couldn’t celebrate your birthday at a better place. Bartenders are a total delight and actually THANKED me for bringing in business and gave me free birthday drinks. they completely tolerated my 6 birthday cakes (no lie. cake is awesome!) and ridiculous drunken shenanigans. Best Quality.