San Francisco Brewing Company

September 6, 2008
The beers here were very good on avarage, definitely the best overall that I found in the region. Service was quite slow, I thought, the guy at the bar wasn’t very friendly and the girl on the floor was very nice, but not fast and there weren’t many other people in the place. The prices are high (it’s San Fran, baby), but during Happy Hour you can pick up 10oz glasses for $1.75 (I think it was), which allowed me to try most of their beers. The food was pretty good, not too badly priced, I’d definitely go again.

August 17, 2008
Wow! I don’t know what you guys experienced. My buddy and I visited a half-a-dozen brewpubs and bars that weekend and SF Brewing was the best overall experience I had. SF Brewing is my local pub every time I visit San Francisco now.

August 11, 2008
The atmosphere is laid back and inviting a welcome change from a lot of the pretentious places that seem to be popping up everywhere. Great place to just sit and kill time even when you have other places to go. James was a cool bartender with a great dry sense of humor.

July 31, 2008 [ Updated August 1, 2008 ]
...what a complete shithole. I remember this was the laughing stock of our brewery tour in San Fran. We ordered 2 beers, and out of three of us, could not finish either of them. When we were laughing, and told the idiotic bartender we didn’t want to try any more, he got pissed and ripped our money back out of the cash register, and slammed it on the bar. We let them keep our $3, they need it more than we do, with the shit they serve. Don’t go here, ever. Maybe just scream fuk you as you walk by to a better brew-pub.

June 2, 2008
This place is basically a well-located dive. The beer is pretty mediocre and priced accordingly. Be careful if you have to hit the head - it’s down a rickety staircase.

April 30, 2008
Horrible, this is probably the first brewpub I went to. 1994 or 95, thought that it was OK, then had a chance to visit Real Brewpubs including 20 Tank, Magnolia’s, etc. and other great spots and realized how bad the beer at SFBC really was. Have been there as recently as 2007 and was full convinced that the beer here is miserable, flavorless, and in some cases tasted contaminated. Save yourself the disappointment and go the the Rogue tap room up the block, they don’t have $1.50 beers, but then again, you get what you pay for.

January 2, 2008
Strong dive bar feel, but once your acclimatised its actually got a great atmosphere and a sense of history that a lot of north american bars lack. The food is passable and inexpensive, and they had eight beers on tap at time of visit. Service was friendly and attentive.

November 11, 2007
Just a bit funky. The men’s is down old windy steps (like so many English venues in large cities). There is a white tile trough (about 6 wide and 1 deep) at the very base of the old bar (spit? spills?). The wood of the bar and the structure holding the glassware and taps seems very high quality and old. Apparently a bar of some sort has been here for about 8 or 9 decades. Didn’t try the food. Had two beers (unpasteurized and unfiltered) which were aromatic and flavorful. A lot more grunge and it could be McSorleys. Probably take another 50 years.

June 27, 2007
Stumbled upon this place while walking through Chinatown on a Wednesday afternoon. Place was kind of a hole in the wall. When we walked in there were about 6 people sitting at the bar, all covered in tattoos, and it seemed like a punk bar at first, at it was kinda dirty and grungy. Probably not as noticable on a night, but in the afternoon, it pretty much looked like a dump. There was only a bartendar, but she seated us immediately and brought us our samplers within minutes. She was very friendly and seemed to know her stuff fairly well. The beers were okay. They were served warmer than I would have liked, but they were good. They weren’t the most flavorful beers (my wife even commented on that), but nothing was horrible. Apparently they have food, but I didn’t see anyone eating (it was 3 PM or so) and didn’t see a menu. The beer prices were fine, about as expected. This was a place I’m glad we stumbled across and went to, but I might have been more disappointed if we went as a destination.

June 16, 2007
Seemed kinda run-down inside. Most interesting part was the serving temp of the beers...cool, far from cold...and styles made for quaffing. I was impressed by this and found the beers themselves pretty enjoyable (though my companion found them dirty tasting). Service was ok but not that knowledgable on the beers (was told one "was like an ale style"). Small selection but as I said, they were enjoyable and served at a wonderful temperature. Worth a stop, though ratings seem to be somewhat polar so YMMV.