I will be visiting downtown San Francisco (with no car) soon for a Warren Haynes concert. A few questions: 1) what part of town is most "happening" for night life, bars, restaurants, etc 2) are there any breweries worth visiting downtown san Fran? 3) where are the best craft bars? Thanks BA you guys are the best, cheers!
Just my quick answers: 1) SOMA, Financial District, Mission, along the Embarcadero 2) Cellarmaker 3) Toronado, City Beer, Mikkeller, Public House
Cellarmaker (this is a must visit - if you skip it you are an idiot ), Mikkellar, City Beer Store & Toronado are my top 4 in the general vicinity you describe (although Toronado is def not downtown).
Thanks guys! So where should I stay if I wanna be able to walk to a bunch of cool bars/restaurants (preferably craft beer places)
Union Square area (Westin, Sir Francis Drake, JW Marriott...) or SoMa (Marquis Marriott, W, Mosser...). If the show is at the Billiam Graham then that will be walking distance from all of those places as are Mikkeller, Cellarmaker, and City Beer.
When I was in SF for work earlier this year I stayed at the Holiday Inn - Civic Center on 8th Street. Short walk(5 minutes) to Cellarmaker and City Beer from there. I also hit up a spot called The Beer Hall that wasn't too far off that had some decent taps and bottles.
Actually Nob Hill, a walk up the hill from Union Square. Good place close to there for food & California beer is Hopwater Distribution.
Nob Hill is one of the nicest neighborhoods in SF. You'll really just want to avoid the Tenderloin and accept that most of SoMa smells like pee.
