Golden Eye Social

High-Tech Dart Bar Golden Eye Social Opens in San Francisco With Cocktails and Deviled Eggs | Eater SF

"Opening Wednesday, May 7 at Third and Folsom (311 Third Street), the preview featured Mayor Daniel Lurie popping a yellow balloon with a red-and-black dart, confetti raining down, and various city representatives presenting certificates of honor the night before the big opening. The 6,500-square-foot venue is built for nightlife entertainment with two bars and augmented-reality dart boards scattered throughout; the darts were described by an influencer on preview night as "like the popular bar game TopGolf, but with darts," combining actual physical darts with zany customizable backgrounds, accompanying noises, and graphics—"Jackbox-like ridiculousness"—via a system in the vein of the 501 Fun Augmented Reality Darts. There are six reservable dart lanes (90 minutes: $45 for up to 6 players; $60 for up to 8), and lanes are available starting at 4 p.m.; the spot is open Tuesday to Saturday, with food service ending at 10 p.m. and beverages at midnight (reservations through OpenTable). The food aims to make an impression with small bites and sit-down meals including $2 oysters with tosazu mignonette; pickled eggs with piparra peppers and salted pretzels; a seven-layer tuna tartare with chive sour cream, roe, chopped egg, shallot, nori, and breadsticks; a seared mushroom “steak” with onion rings; a hefty burger topped with thick-cut Gruyere; and an olive oil cake with pistachio butter for dessert. Beverage program built by assistant general manager Mike Schwindt, who spent a decade at neighboring District, offers classics and signatures such as an espresso martini made with coffee-infused vodka, coffee liqueur, Baileys, Frangelico, and Kahlua, plus a barrel-aged mezcal Manhattan of pineapple-infused mezcal, Capano Bianco, mole bitters, and orange bitters; boozy cocktails run about $15 and nonalcoholic options (including a phony Negroni) about $12. This is the sophomore collaboration between Proof Positive and Stag Dining Group (they previously worked together on Thriller Social Club; Proof Positive also recently opened Morella in the Marina), and the team sees potential for corporate buyouts and conferences—"Between full rentals and workers headed to the office, business has returned to Thriller," Jordan Grosser of the dining arm Stag says. The operators remain bullish on the area: as co-founder Kingston Wu observed about downtown recovery, “There’s been a lot of cleanup downtown that the public doesn’t quite realize,” Wu says. “Third Street is remarkably clean and busy. I can attest to that.” The place leans playful (plastic birds appear on drinks and the James Bond video-game nod is acknowledged without leaning heavily into the Ian Fleming canon), and while it "might end up being the site of the worst first date of your life," it offers a loud, amusement-focused option for nights out in Yerba Buena/SoMa." - Paolo Bicchieri