Could there be a better way to spend a three-day weekend than drinking beers in the sun? (Or mist or fog, depending on how things go and your very precise location.)
Short answer: no. Consider this your seven-stop itinerary for a holiday tour of San Francisco’s superlative beer gardens, from the one with the actual sandy beach to the one that opened just last weekend.
Palooza Bar Garden & Eatery
Sonoma
In brief: Opened for business literally last week, Palooza expands on the fine-living complex known as Cornerstone Sonoma with a fairy-light-bedecked space next door to the Sunset magazine’s “Gardens + Outdoor Test Kitchen”. It’s all extremely convivial.
Order this: Definitely the new Cornerstone IPA coming soon to the menu, or a Marin-made Equator coffee if you’re driving, plus a wood-fired pizza.
Fort Point
Embarcadero
In brief: A superior respite within the bustle of the Ferry Building — as well as a generally excellent place to take a break from/hide near the Financial District — Fort Point’s taproom comes with a beer garden.
Order this: How about the KSA (Kolsch-style ale)? Or try the Export — either now or next Saturday, on a three-hour sailing tour (really) aboard the U.S.S. Potomac, from Jack London Square to the actual Fort Point.
Lagunitas
Petaluma
In brief: One of Northern California’s biggest indie beer success stories, Lagunitas pays tribute to its Petaluma birthplace by giving us a stellar “beer sanctuary” along with the taproom.
Order this: Definitely something on limited-release, like the Little Sumpin’ Hazy. As for food: This is a hot dog and grilled cheese kind of place — even if the grilled cheese comes with cheddar, Swiss and Parmesan on Costeaux ancient grain bread, in case you forgot you were in Marin.
Wilkommen
Castro
In brief: The biergarten of choice when the weather’s not cooperating, not that we would know anything about that.
Order this: The Rosamunde knockwurst, the pretzel sticks with beer cheese and SF-brewed Black Hammer beers.
The Lot
Marina
In brief: A Saturdays-only, dogs-allowed outdoor spot that’s only opened till October and is a pure distillation of everything Marina, from the rosé-centric wine offerings to the support of the SF Shared Schoolyard Project.
Order this: More SF-brewed beers (like Standard Deviation), or maybe made-for-sunny-day-drinking Jet Set cocktail, with vodka, cucumber syrup, citrus and sparkling water.
Woods Island Club
Treasure Island
In brief: A beer garden with its own sandy beach — and killer, never-to-be-equaled views of the Bay — may be the best beer garden of all.
Order this: If you’re into a floral beer, for sure try the Local Honey, with “fennel-like yarrow, the resinous bite of eucalyptus, lavender’s sweet high note of mint and berry.” The empanada-focused food menu is … limited.
Zeitgeist
SoMa
In brief: The icon, the one-and-only. A 42-year-old institution and, in fact, a perfectly Gen X style of beer garden. (Used to be snarly, now less so.) Still the best place to meet friends for a drink outside.
Order this: The burger, plus whatever looks appetizing on the frequently rotating roster of beers advertised on the big board.
This article was featured in the InsideHook SF newsletter. Sign up now for more from the Bay Area.
