Blondie's Bar

"Blondie’s is a trainwreck of a dive bar in the Mission, and we mean that in the nicest way possible. At night, the dance floor is always packed with young professionals eager for some Top 40 under purple lights. The crowd, which tends to bleed onto the stage, is a slice of the Marina teleported to the Mission—so do with that information as you will. " - ricky rodriguez

"Depending on when you go to Blondie’s, you might think that it’s two completely different bars. During the day, Blondie’s is a dive that serves every type of martini you can imagine with garnishes from cheese-stuffed olives to sausage. The Gangster - it’s like a Manhattan, but with gin - is great, but the Meric with cucumber vodka is especially refreshing on a hot day. When the sun goes down, though, Blondie’s fills up with a lot of twenty-somethings in the middle of a long night out. It gets packed to the point that there’s a line out the door, and making it from one end of the bar to the other may require a map and compass. Which is unfortunate since part of the bar is a stage that if you’re not careful, you could fall off while dancing to whatever Top 40 song is playing over the speakers. You can still get martinis at night, but you’re more likely to get whatever well drink you usually get at a place like this." - Will Kamensky

"No one sprouts up from the earth with their preferred martini order pre-programmed - it takes time to develop a preference, and Blondie’s in the Mission is like an ’80s training montage of vodka and gin. This place gets packed at night, but during the day it’s just a quiet dive in the Mission with a chalkboard full of different options to choose from - with things ranging from cucumber and mint to ones with sausage and onions in place of olives. This place isn’t like an ice cream shop, though. When you order a drink, it comes with a sidecar so you’re stuck with it for a while, but it’s not like this is the decision to get bangs or choosing a seat at a group dinner so it’ll all be OK." - will kamensky

"Blondie’s, a favorite for UC Berkeley pizza lovers, is opening a third location at San Jose’s Westfield Oakridge Mall." - Paolo Bicchieri