Noc Noc

Bar

557 Haight St
San Francisco, California, 94117-3406
United States

(415) 861-5811 | map
nocnocs.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.94
Reviews:
11
Ratings:
15
pDev:
8.38%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by woodychandler:
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +4.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Is the entire block opened onto by Dutch Doors? No matter. Here, I could move. I dug the scene and the groove, man. A fellow offered me a lid on the way in a reasonable price, but beer is my scene, baby. You dig? Man, if this joint wasn't psy-ko-delik, I don't know what is. How do you quantify the unquantifiable? Place was mad wack, yo! Mirrors, odd angles, Alice In Wonderland seats and booths, bizarre sculptures and paintings on the walls, crazy tin or AL in the overhead. S**t, I should have dropped before my show-up. This was a groovin' gig, you dig, baby? Man, I was on a contact high and totally diggin' it. Scope those kah-ray-zee guitar chairs by the bar. Pass me that sugar cube. Uh oh. I'm out. Yum yum, noc noc.

Taps: Twenty (20), all decent.

Cooler: double, behind the bar with another 20 decent beers.
Nov 27, 2009
More User Ratings:
Photo of elNopalero
Reviewed by elNopalero from Michigan

3.9/5  rDev -1%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4
This place is quite a hodgepodge. Nearby neighbors the Toronado has the reputation, the attitude, and the beer to back it up. Noc Noc seems like the estranged sibling’s den room by comparison. Dimly lit, poorly laid out, and a selection that’s decent enough but no match for the main event.
Mar 20, 2016
 
Rated: 4.35 by James_Michaud91 from California

Jul 07, 2015
 
Rated: 3.94 by Spaceman_Jer from Colorado

Jun 26, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by breathmint from Florida

Aug 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by jaydoc from Kansas

Feb 22, 2014
Photo of mikebauman
Reviewed by mikebauman from California

4.21/5  rDev +6.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 5 | selection: 3
I love this place. It's vibe is a cross between Beetlejuice, Flintstones, and some weird part of Japan. The bartenders are great, friendly and will always give some good suggestions for something new to try. The music is good, the seating is plentiful, and the selection (though small) does not feel lacking. For sure a great place to visit.
Aug 02, 2013
Photo of RblWthACoz
Reviewed by RblWthACoz from Pennsylvania

3.86/5  rDev -2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4
This place is funny. You definitely won't see anything else like it around. As others have noted, the inside is totally trippy. It's worth at least a one time visit just to check it out. Beer selection is pretty decent. I've had some very rare beer in here before that happened to be on tap, but really the selection could be a bit wider. However, if you want selection, you can go to a place next door that's called Toronado. Service is chill, but I've never been here on any night that wasn't a weekday. Hey, Toronado is close enough to this spot. You might as well.
Jan 04, 2013
Photo of baycat
Reviewed by baycat from California

3.86/5  rDev -2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3
Bar reminds of Alien meet Fraggle Rock on acid. Inside of Noc Noc is interesting with dark lighting and music lightly heard in the back round. Plenty of seating but a very small bar with awkward throne style seats hard to maneuver around when placing a drink order. Bartenders are quick and friendly and the beer selection is better than average. Noc Noc is a nice place when adding a bar after or before a stop at Toronado a few doors down. No food is served here but the Tamale lady comes in every now and then. You can also bring in food or at least they never said anything.
May 04, 2011
Photo of ThreeWiseMen
Reviewed by ThreeWiseMen from California

3.24/5  rDev -17.8%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3
Stopped in here last night with a couple of friends after opting out of the ridiculously crowded Toronado.

Noc Noc was surprisingly empty for a Saturday night. We only stuck around 30-45 minutes, but it was roughly 10:00pm and bar was less than half-filled. Maybe people are just too weirded-out by this place. We certainly were. It's like Alice in Wonderland meets Beetlejuice in a laser tag arena. What. The. Fuck. The music was strange too: humming, throbbing, psychedelic-type rhythms. Unique, but very strange. Noc Noc is not my scene, that's for sure.

As for the beer, I found the selection to be sort of weak. There were only six or seven taps and a cooler filled mainly with popular Belgian and German bottles. Luckily they had Black Butte on tap (one of my all-time favs), but aside from that I didn't see anything I really wanted. I found it ironic that the beer menu read "No Bud, No Coors, No PBR", yet bottled Corona occupied two whole shelves in the beer cooler. Riiight.

The bartender was tight-lipped but efficient. Prices were alright.

This place is just too odd. I'm not a fan.
Aug 29, 2010
Photo of OBeerMeGreatOne
Reviewed by OBeerMeGreatOne from California

4.06/5  rDev +3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Oh Ho. This has always been one of my favorite spots to escape to in SF. The atmosphere is amazing, strange, psychedelic, small, tall, goofy and one of a kind. It looks like the Flinstone's cave on LSD. The music is always different and fits the look. Can get a little crowded sometimes and it isn't very big to begin with. They try awfully hard to keep you drinking but the bar is TINY. They really bust ass to keep the beer flowing though and everyone who works there seems like they like it. The selection is well picked but not enormous. They don't serve food but you can bring it in (if you clean up your mess). Great prices.
Apr 06, 2010
Photo of 1759Girl
Reviewed by 1759Girl from California

3.73/5  rDev -5.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4
Its darker than the average place I like to drink my beer in (sorry kids, this old lady likes to be able to see what she's drinking). The place looks like an art department exploded, and I admired its crazy decor, though the pragmatic in me spent too much time trying to imagine if cleaning the walls, etc was even possible.
Yes, another exciting night out with me!
Awesome selection. Not enough to rival neighbor, Toronado, but a much more chilled scene and of a sheep feel around the bar.
extra points for the beer list note that simply says "NO BUD, NO COORS, NO MILLER"
Apr 12, 2008
Photo of francisweizen
Reviewed by francisweizen from Washington

4.2/5  rDev +6.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4
This place is great, but I liked it even more when you could smoke inside! Ha! Anyways, the atmosphere is unique, cave like with bizarre psychedelic and african themes. The quality of the tasty draughts are good and hey this place has mostly west coast micros on tap...good show! As mentioned before they have some Belgian and Sam Smiths bottles as well to round things out. The bartenders here are always really nice and friendly, and even though i've only been here a handful of times in the last year or so, it's always a nice little diversion from the madness of Toronado up the road. Certainly an integral part of the San Francisco and lower haight experience...
May 21, 2007
Photo of OStrungT
Reviewed by OStrungT from California

4/5  rDev +1.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
This place is locates 3 doors down from the Toronado. If you are at the Toronado, why not just stop in and take a look. It is much less crowded. It was dark inside when I came by. There was a lot of stuff on the walls. I guess you could say that it looked slightly like an African theme. It was more than that though. It looked a little psycodelic. There was music playing. It was techno, or somethig like that, but it was not too loud.

It was slow whan I stopped by, so I dont know how fast they are in a rush, but I was happy with my service. I didnt really talk to the bar tender, so I dont know how well he knew his beer, but I am assuming he knew enough.

I think the most macro beer they had was Rolling Rock. They also had Carona, and Amstell Light. Other than that, it was micros, and imports. They had a good tap selection, with mostly local stuff. Also, they had Belgians in bottles. Some Chimay, Piraat, some Unibroue stuff. Just a decent selection.

They do not serve any food.

This place is reasonable priced. For San Francisco, any thing under $5 is good. They also have a happy hour, but I missed that.

Overall: This place can not compete with the Toronado when it comes to beers. However, if you want a little change of atmosphere, that give it a try.
Nov 28, 2006
Photo of clickpush
Reviewed by clickpush from Pennsylvania

3.3/5  rDev -16.2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5
This is a very, very interesting bar with themes of I-don't-know-what. I'm tempted to call it African, but it's really just bizarre. I've been there a couple times - they have an excellent happy hour which k'noc'ks all of their draught prices to $2.50 (Guiness to $3.00) per pint. I'd say about 60% of their taps are west coast micros and the rest are larger domestic beers and imports. No BMC here though, which I respect. The bottle prices are unaffected by happy hour - a BIG let down - but they aren't priced too badly compared to usual bar prices. They have a medium selection of Belgians, Sammuel Smith, and higher end domestics in bottles, ranging from $4-6 for 12oz.
This is a great place to stop in and explore the rich ornamentation, ranging from high-back bolted down bar stools to benches with no leg room, corner booths for privacy to cushions along the walls on the floor.
May 12, 2006
Noc Noc in San Francisco, CA
Place rating: 3.94 out of 5 with 15 ratings