Brass Tacks

Cute, dark bar in Hayes Valley. Their craft drinks were good, the bartenders were friendly and attentive. The place was a little loud for me, so it made it hard to speak and hear my date. But could be a cool bar for a larger group of people- not the best for an intimate night with a partner or friend.

Not sure what happened to this place but my friends and I visited on 03/22 around 8:00 PM or so for a neighborly drink. We were greeted by a kind bouncer and were just looking to relax after a brutal week for the three of us (and celebrating one of my friends birthday.) There was a bartender that night who had a backwards cap on who harassed me immediately without me knowing who he is or without me exchanging ANY words to him besides ordering our drink and saying we are waiting for our friend. I was under the impression he was talking to someone else but he got visible aggressive towards me in a very in appropriate way. He then started exchanging words at me and my friend was visible uncomfortable and she did not want to stay. We thought to ourselves, "what is going on?" because we were so confused. I gave the bartender the benefit of the doubt and we stayed until my other friend came back from the restroom and he wanted a cocktail which I ordered for him. The same bartender came back and was aggressively exchanging words with me and told me I cant order the cocktail for him... again I have no idea who this guy is or what happened. I get that we are all working on our toxic masculinity but it was an embarrassing look to say the least. My friends decided to leave uncomfortably but I stayed to finish my cocktail...what an awful way to start the night. He then cheekily puts the check down to let me know 20 percent gratuity is automatically added. To the bartender who thinks he can come up to strangers and act like an obnoxious bully, bro you need therapy and your manager should not be enabling you at all. I am reporting this incident to the city of San Francisco. To anyone reading this, my scenario was very intense and was way out of hand (not to mention totally left field) with people around me witnessing what had happened.

Went on a Friday night. The place was nice and chill when we first got there around 11 pm and started to get crowded and lively closer to midnight. The cocktail is a bit watery. Hence 4 stars instead of 5.

Bartender was very rude... I suppose if they are getting 20% service automatically added, they have no incentives to be friendly. Average cocktails. The bouncer was kind, at least!

Love this neighborhood bar, really friendly service and amazing craft cocktails. This is a great place for a mid day drink or an evening out, the atmosphere is always perfect! P.S. the Birthday pony is soooooo good!

Finally getting around to writing about this chill cocktail lounge with it's own unique history. Pretty sure my mate told me it used to be a drag bar or something similar; evident by its glass condom lights haha. We started out our city drinks and food crawl here.

Nice drinks, chill vibes. 2 unisex restrooms in the rear along with 2 couches.

On a Wednesday afternoon, my visiting girlfriend and I had a great time with the locals, including a sweet man and his pet cockatoo bird Ghost, who hung out at the open window when sunny. Very friendly bartender and people.