Whitechapel SF

So, first off, I am not a fan of gin. So much so that the thought of it can make me feel like gagging. I was meeting up with a friend who had never been before and she really wanted to check it out so I obliged. Our server was AMAZING! (I wish I remembered his name…) I told him my apprehensions surrounding gin and he took excellent care of me. I had two drinks that were fruity, tart and not too sweet. They were perfect! I had the Popular Delusion, it was so good, passion fruit, cherry gin, lemon, so yummy. Then I had the Coco Con Ginebra, it was refreshing and slightly sweet. We also shared the farmers cheese and nan, both made in house. They were delicious!
The ambiance, the service and the drinks were all superb. And guess what? I now like gin! At least ways here, I still don’t trust any other bar. :)

Good little after-​work bar in the Tenderloin.
Modeled & named after a stop on the London Tube, Whitechapel is a cool space. Its moody lighting and underground feel makes the bar unique and cut-​off from the outside bustle.
Gin is king here, and the menu is nothing short of expansive — I’m talking tens of pages of different gin drinks!
Skip the ever tempting punch bowls & stick to their tastiest of cocktails, The Lamplighter’s Story. It’s the perfect mix of sweet, spice, and tang.
While drinks & bites are great, service is in a sad, sad state!
Unfortunately one of our drinks came out with a insect floating in it (and to add to the misfortune, that insect wasn’t discovered until after a few sips.) When one of us discreetly returned the drink to the bar not even requesting another, our server loudly slammed said drink back on our table sans insect (did she fish it out???) She insisted we needed to keep the drink & that the insect must have flown in from outside.
Uhhhhhh… What???
Needless to say, the weird service put a damper on our experience along with our memory of Whitechapel. Not sure if we’ll be returning anytime soon.
With so many amazing bars in the city NOT forcing insect-​laden drinks on you, it’s tempting to look for other local options.

I had forgotten about gin since my just out of college days, but this place has definitely put it on my radar again.
The whole place has a speakeasy feel. The outside is very nondescript and the inside gives you the London Underground station feel.
I really liked our first waitress. She was nice and funny. The second one that we had really irritated me. She looked over at my empty glass (both cocktail and water) like 5 times and kept walking. Finally, she came over and asked if I wanted another cocktail after I pushed my glass to the very edge. After that round, she came and asked if we wanted another. While we asked ourselves, did we want another? …SHE WALKED AWAY!!!
I ended up trying 3 cocktails. ²⁄₃ were good. The Whitechapel Fruit Cup was kind of gross. Italian G&T, which is not on the menu anymore (but they still make it) is super good!
Also had the naan and cheese. SUPER TASTY!
Would def recommend trying this place out.

I really like this bar. It’s designed like a London Underground station. They do make the connection work– very dark, tunnelly and classic looking.
The drinks are all gin based– but there are other options too including beer.
I had a lot of different gin cocktails the last time I was there and I don’t remember the names of them. But they were all very drinkable! Want to try the Singapore sling the next time, as I was surprised to see that on the menu.
The food here is a bit pricey, and the place itself is generally expensive. But they’ve done a great job making it look pretty and it’s a nice addition to the area, which has little nearby.

This place has great ambiance and amazing drinks.
Why a one star review then? Well, I had ordered a drink «White Rose» and may be the Rose attracted a fly later while the drink was about ¹⁄₃^rd done or at least that’s when I noticed it. I was with my friends and I didn’t want to make a scene so I walked to the server very discreetly to inform her about the fly. I didn’t ask for a new drink and just walked back to my table.
About 5 mins later, the server walks back with the same drink that I had given her and told me that she has removed the fly and I can buy another one if I need a drink. What??? Did she use her finger to take the fly out??? Yikes… But wait, she continued by saying that the flies come in when the door opens so they cannot do anything about it.
At this point, I was just plain surprised so I said, sorry you can keep the drink and no I don’t need another one. Hahaha… I get it! This is an authentic underground train station experience. Flies, Roaches, mice, and practically everything else is what they offer.
Our check was $ 150 dollars in case you were wondering and we left a solid $ 30 tip after they decided to take the drink off the check. However the experience was long ruined before then.

I really want to give this place 5 stars. The décor is crazy cool. I love how it feels like you stepped into a Steampunk version of the London underground. They have «beat up» subway tiles & pipes filled with bubbling green water. Everywhere you look there is some other cool décor. The drink menu is also amazing! They have some really incredible craft cocktails to chose from. They also have a really nice food menu. I am a very dedicated follower of Smuggler’s Cove and awaited the opening of Whitechapel with much excitement. They didn’t disappoint with the care that went into the décor and menu.
Why can’t I give it 5 stars? The service was terrible. All night the servers were hanging out and talking to each other. It was impossible to get their attention. I literally had to walk over and push my way into their circle to get someone to pay attention to me long enough for them to get my card and close us out. We were there celebrating my husband’s birthday and enjoyed two drinks (one each) before calling it a night. We definitely wanted to order more drinks and a dessert, but after 30 minutes of not being able to flag anyone down, we left. I would’ve really understood if it was a busy night, but to have them all standing 10 feet away was just frustrating.
We aren’t giving up on Whitechapel. We will be heading back with some friends who are gin aficionados who just moved to town. They didn’t have the full menu out when we went so I plan to have the full menu on my phone ready to go. Fingers crossed for a better night. Whitechapel, I REALLY want to love you!!!

I’m impressed and surprised with the décor and ceiling of this hidden place located in the TL.
They have refined cocktail drinks and their food is of the British bar food kind of norm.
Served in bitable portions and presented with colorful toppings to make it appealing on the eye, their dishes compliments the drinks offered.
There is a rustic kind of demeanor to this place that makes it enjoyable to step into this place and be.

WOW, that’s what I said as soon as I walked in, and then I said it again. They re-​created a British train station and it’s a bar, very cool, yeah it’s a bit theme parkish, but hey even adults need to escape reality sometimes, right? Great drinks, prices on par with everyone else, food a bit pricey but good, service very friendly, atmosphere, hey I liked it! Started with The lamplighter’s story, loved it then tried an Audrey rose, it was a little too floral for me, we dubbed it a granny drink it kind of tasted like cough syrup. Also got the biddie fries they were really good but $ 9 was a bit steep. All in all it’s the drinks and ambiance that got me.

Went back and still love it! I prefer Whitechapel to Mr. Tipple’s.
Their drinks are pricey but carefully crafted and the ambiance/​experience is top notch, unique, and refreshing.
They’ve modified some of their food items and I see a huge improvement. The cheese & crackers — $ 9 — super light and airy crackers that remind me of pita chips with a nice creamy house made spread.
Their «fries» was also wonderful — potatoes made in two ways (some sliced and fried and some were baked) — also $ 9.
Overall — I look forward to returning and bringing out of towners to Whitechapel for an all-​around awesome experience!

I love Gin. Like really love it; it’s a complex alcohol that I know isn’t for everyone. It has so many beautiful botanical notes that can be herbaceous, floral, and even a little citrus depending on the distiller. I think it’s a fantastic booze that can be elevated beautifully when someone knows what they are doing. Whitechapel felt like I died and went to hipster bar/​gin heaven.
Almost all the drinks on the menu have gin in some form in the signature cocktails. The bartenders know their stuff because these aren’t run of the mill cocktails. I was blown away where to start so I asked about a couple and settled to start on the Singapore Sling. A herb aromatic drink with a but slightly sweetened from the bitters. Beautiful drink that was booze forward.
Price points are average for going out $ 10 – 14 for a drink. So not a highlight for me on that note but I’ll take the price tag when the décor is a replicated underground London tunnel complete with imported tiles. Details are legit and ambiance shines from the TLC that went into crafting not only the bar menu but the décor.
If I lived in SF this would be my downfall. I’d be broke from being here way too much trying it all. Love love love this spot!

Very cool ambiance modeled after the London underground. I hear the Whitechapel is a bit of a sketch area in London, in which case, it’s quite appropriate for this location to be named after that.
As for drinks –
Norman Conquest: easiest to drink and tastes almost like orange juice; the gin really combines well with the other flavors
Audrey Rose: of course I had to order the drink that was my namesake! This tasted a bit like cough syrup at first, but it got better as I kept drinking.
Penny Dreadful: you can definitely taste the smoked islay peat in this drink. Very smoky flavor that has pretty strong taste of whisky if that’s your thing.
Poffertjes were pretty good — nice and soft but also round; kind of like round pancakes. They were especially good with the orange marmalade.
One food item that really has me curious is the Haunch & Flagon 36oz ribeye that sells for $ 120! Looks like the online menu lists it for $ 95, so they must have raised the price. It looks like it could feed four people though, so I might still be willing to try it…

Whether or not you are gin fan, Whitechapel is a must have experience in SF. This charming London underground themed gin bar saved me after last minute venue changes for a party of 20+ people for my SO’s birthday. It was my first time and took a chance on Whitechapel.
I see mixed reviews for this location, though my experience was positive. But first, the food.
We had a few different starters at the party where pub food meets Bollywood. I really enjoyed the house made naan and farmer’s cheese and a huge fan of the Bengali poutine. Had a bite of the SO’s burger, which was on the smaller size, but quite tasty. The one thing I bit into but could pass on was the head cheese (deep fried with pig’s head?). Anyway I think the menu changes. Overall everyone in the party enjoyed the cuisine.
The real star of course was the almighty gin. I’m not a gin person, but they practically have a gin Bible with an insane gin selection. I stuck to their condensed gin selection from their food and drink menu. I tried the Narc Angel which was a refreshing lemonade drink. The SO had the signature Whitechapel gin on tap and it was quite tasty. They also have a few wines and craft beers.
The bar was dimly lit and had a cool vibe. It’s a good spot for different sized groups and dates. We came in the late afternoon and since we had a big party we had our own little section. I understand it gets über busy much later. Most everyone in my party raved about the aesthetics and seemed to be impressed with the business concept.
I was seriously happy with the service. They were so accommodating, and were flexible with split checks in small groups or individual payment. People had the choice to order from the server or the bar directly. Also, the service staff and management didn’t jump to conclusions when one of my friends had a medical issue arise. They delivered great service and were straightforward.
Price wise, they fall somewhere $$ to $$$ spectrum depending on order. I find it to be a unique location, and that it was well worth it. Note that they have a $ 3 per person cake cutting fee. I brought cupcakes for the SO, so they cut the price substantially for that.
Whitechapel is a great spot to try, at least once. I plan to go back and even try another gin cocktail.

Friend and I met up here a couple nights ago to catch up. We got here around 8:45pm which was the perfect time to be seated immediately. It’s not too early and empty nor is it too late so you’re not standing around waiting for someone to leave to pounce on their table.
Whitechapel is probably the coolest bar in the neighborhood. If you dig the London underground theme, you’ll absolutely love this place.
We were seated in the back room at the back table where if you’re my height, you won’t be able to see the other person’s face unless they are taller because there’s a table top in the way. We later moved to a table with big plushy chairs. Much better. This area is a bit more intimate than the main bar area, looks like there were quite a few people on dates.
By the time we left, it was a totally happenin’ spot. Next time I’d probably enjoy sitting in the main bar area as opposed to the back, seemed more fun.
Also, the Bengali Poutine is delicious. Wish there was more curry, though.
Do note, Whitechapel is a gin bar. If that’s not your jam then they have a limited selection of other spirits. I’m sure you can find whatever you fancy.
I’ll be back. I live practically a stone’s throw away!

I dropped by for a friend’s birthday for a round of drinks on Saturday, January 30^th around 8:45pm. We has just come from a boozy dinner, so I already had a few drinks in me. My time at Whitechapel is a little hazy.
My friends found a table and I was handed a Gin cocktail. I’m not a huge fan of gin, but this drink was good. Granted, I had a bit of alcohol in me already, so I can’t quite remember the distinct flavors. But I remember it being refreshing and I enjoyed it. I believe someone also ordered the Brains & toast: 130 year sourdough, white anchovy, spicy pickles. The pic I took doesn’t quite look like all the others, so I’m not sure if that’s what they ordered, but it looked like it had sweetbreads on it.
Apparently the décor resembles an underground train station. I didn’t notice this at all. In fact, when I told a friend about going to Whitechapel, he asked me if that was the bar that looks like a train station. I said no, but after reading the reviews, I realize I was mistaken. It was dark. I was a little drunk. You can’t really blame me for not noticing the décor, right?
Although I don’t remember the specifics much, I had a great time. And for a girl who doesn’t really like gin, Whitechapel’s cocktail might have just made a gin fan out of me.

Located in the Tenderloin near the Civic Center, this is a great new addition to the SF bar scene. The place has been redesigned to look like a London Underground station, plus it’s a bar that specializes in Gin: how cool is that?!
We came here on a Saturday night without a reservation so there was a wait for table seating. This wasn’t a problem, though, as the space is quite large and there was plenty of seating at the bar. A table eventually became available after about 20 minutes or so, but we decided to stick with the bar.
Apparently there is a large 19 page cocktail menu that I assume is available with table service, but there was an abbreviated one page drink menu at the bar. I got The Von Dutch Cocktail and I’ll echo other reviewer praises of the drink. The taste complexity in this cocktail is precisely what was missing in the drinks I had at The View earlier in the evening. This place is definitely going into my regular cocktail bar rotation.

Don’t understand why this gin bar has such low stars! I loved the high ceilings, quality servers, and extensive gin menu.
Came here near the end of a cocktails-​barhop with a larger group, and sat in their alcove. We had two servers who delivered exceptional service, and immediately let us know that the seated area we were in was a full-​service area – meaning food, drinks, and waitstaff included.
We already ate, so we all got drinks. I loved my passion fruit Popular Delusion, made with Dillon’s cherry gin. I’m not a sweet drinker, and I really enjoyed that the passion fruit was more flavorful than sweet. I also wanted that beautiful hibiscus flower, because let’s face it… cocktails are 50% presentation, 50% flavor. I also like my friends’ chili-​accentuated Lamplighter’s Story! It was not very bold in flavor, but reminded me of bell peppers with the chili added in the critrusy drink. The Spitafield’s Iced Tea wasn’t my cup of tea (ha ha), but I loved my beautiful order, and had fun tasting everyone else’s.
Ambiance is unlike any other bar I’ve been in SF. It’s dark and got a underlying theme to it similar to Novela in FiDi, but Whitechapel has more of a mysterious Halloween feel to it. I would totally come here for a relaxing date with friends or even a low-​key gathering. Because we came on a Monday night, I think that’s how we got lucky in seating space and attentive service. Shoutout to our friendly server who even gave us our industry discounts for working in the biz. Would totally come back.

DO YOU LIKE GIN BRO? CAUSE YOU BETTER.
I happen to be a lover of all things Gin and it’s pretty incredible what the ownership has done to procure the largest selection in the United States. Yes, all the usual suspects are there, but I encourage you to think outside the box before ordering another «Hendricks Martini». The cocktail list is almost beyond comprehension as you don’t know where to start. So, let the staff be your guide.
The Steam Burger is straight legit. Unfortunately, the rest of the food I had was rather forgettable and I had high hopes. :(Granted, the space is new and I’m sure they are still working out a few kinks, so I won’t hold it against them. I’m also giving them the benefit of the doubt that their staff is generally awesome, but I had a rather unfriendly older woman serving my drinks with a snappy tongue. Off night maybe? All good.
A rightful 4 stars. I’ll for sure be back in hopes of taking that to a revived 5.

A+ for drinks, C+ for service.
It’s cool to live in an area that can support an all gin bar with a spirits list of hundreds of gins. The menu really takes gin drinks to new levels, while making some solid traditional drinks. The cocktails here are well crafted, interesting and fun.
Some interesting things to note:
— Full menus are available on line or by request, but not handed out
— Check out the infusion of the week
— Food isn’t served until 5pm
— The space is big and fun, go early to enjoy the crowd
— The vaulted ceiling means if you sit at the bar you can hear the people at the tables behind you really well
The service here was ok, but not great. I’ve had some really interesting and helpful bartenders. For such a specialty bar, it really felt like a club, not a church to gin that I was hoping for.

I liked the décor of this place, but it being right smack in the TL and its prices makes me feel like they’re trying too hard to anticipate gentrification in the area. This place is ridiculously priced. Humorously, the prices on their menu on the site are below what’s actually there.
For drinks, I had the London Buck, essentially a gin mule. The drink was pretty standard fare. For beers, $ 9 got me a 22oz IPA from Half Moon Bay, which was pretty good.
What dropped my jaw were the prices for food. The cheapest pub fare item is a $ 13 sausage, or $ 13 for three tiny sliders, which I felt were on par with White Castle. Their tomahawk steak is listed as $ 75 on their site, but it’s actually $ 95 in the restaurant. It was good, for sure, but $ 95 for a 2-​person meal at a bar is just a bit too much.
The menu we got on a Thursday night was a highly abbreviated version of what I see on their site, as I wasn’t aware of the huge selection of cocktails they’ve crafted, but I still left very underwhelmed.

3.5 STARS
If you remember Noble, then you remember that it put the capital «R» in Ratchet. Like, «Hi, I’m 30, still drink long islands, black out, make out with the entire I Eta Pi, and stumble out of the club shoe-​less with a hole the size of whale’s vajayjay on my fuchsia fishnets ‘ratchet’».
Enter gentrification or whatever you wanna call it but the once seedy Noble has transformed into a beautiful gin palace boosting over 400+ bottles of gin! I’m a Hendrick’s girl so ecstatic doesn’t even to begin to describe how excited I was for Whitechapel to open (opened 10÷26÷15). Even more promising that it’s from the folks of Smuggler’s Cove and Novela, and the chef comes from the highly acclaimed Uchi in Texas.
Reading through all the negative reviews, I feel bad for these Unilocalers and they have every right to be pissed. Our experience would have mirrored theirs had we come after 5:30 pm when it started to get packed. I arrived before 4:30 pm to snag a table – I know that’s super early but they can’t seem to efficiently handle a crowd, not even a small one. The doorman was cool, as was the staff but service was painfully slow and clearly disorganized, both at the bar and the kitchen. I highly recommend making table reservations in the gin palace (reserved section) unless someone from your group comes early to snag a table.
Whitechapel’s cocktail menu is longest I’ve seen with over 19 pages…17 of which are of gin cocktails ($ 11-​$ 14). Crazy right? They also have punch bowls for large groups ($ 44-​$ 9), draft beers ($ 5-​$ 9), and wine by the glass ($ 11-​$ 13).
For my first cocktail, I ordered The Ginger Rogers: botanist gin, ginger root, mint, ginger ale, lime ($ 11):
which I loved because I love ginger. The ginger is pretty potent so beware. For my second cocktail, I ordered the Ramos Gin Fizz w/​gin, orange flower water, cream, sugar, egg white, lemon, lime, soda ($ 13):
. It reminded of an adult version of soda sua hot ga, Vietnamese egg soda. It was bubbly, creamy, and boozy. It was a yolo night so I wanted a third, and possibly a fourth cocktail but only managed to order two in the 90 minutes we were there because it was hard to track down our server and because service was so slow.
I’ve heard great things about Uchi in Texas so I was expecting the fancy pants «gastropub» food to be the same caliber as Old Bus Tavern (
) where the chef came from also a highly acclaimed restaurant, Saison. The menu has snacks ($ 7-​$ 9), apps ($ 12-​$ 24), mains ($ 20-​$ 75), and late night pub fare like fish & chips ($ 12-​$ 14). Luckily, we decided to have dinner elsewhere because the two apps we ordered were expensive and underwhelming. I don’t mind expensive but the quality and execution have to match the prices. They did not…
My friend and I ordered the Farmer’s Cheese & Naan ($ 15) which was über disappointing:
. How can you go wrong with carbs and cheese right? Well the «naan» was like sliced, smashed biscuits and the Farmer’s Cheese was merely bland cottage cheese, not melty. For our second app, we ordered the Brains & Toast ($ 14):
. We enjoyed the combo of the fried sweetbreads with the salty punch from the anchovy but the bread was clearly burnt around the edges. We waited a long time for this app so the kitchen could of at least taken another 2 minutes to re-​toast new bread.
Service was equally, if not slower in the kitchen so if you’re in a rush I would think twice about ordering food. We put in our food order before the kitchen opened at 5 pm (closes at midnight) and we didn’t get our order until after 5:30 pm. For apps?!
The ambiance and décor helped to redeem the lackluster service. Clearly, they spared no expense on the remodel into a underground London train station with ornate detailing. It’s hard to put in words how awesome the transformation is so Whitechapel is absolutely worth visiting just once.
It’s obvious that people want to spend their hard earned money here so I’m hopeful that Whitechapel gets their ‘ish together. Hey, Noble may be gone but some of us may still want to put the capital «R» in Ratchet while imbibing on fancy cocktails!