El Lopo

"If you want a crash course on the ins and outs of sherry, there’s hardly a better place to go in SF than El Lopo, fronted by owner, alchemist, and Spanish fortified wine enthusiast Daniel Azarkman. With a poetic dedication to sherry, vermouth, and interesting wines from Spain, Cali, and more, El Lopo crafts low-proof cocktails like the manzanilla-centric Old World Margarita and a spectacular “Dry Martini, Hold The Gin.” There’s a small but mighty kitchen churning out ambitious rustic tapas like Iberico pork meatballs, mussels steamed in a white wine and saffron broth and roasted delicata squash. Besides a “buy one, gift one” daily happy hour, El Lopo also has a “take care of me club” which serves as a monthly Spanish food and drink omakase of sorts." - Adrian Spinelli

"Spanish sherry bar offering a four-course tapas tasting menu and a porron competition at midnight. Winner gets a custom-etched porron and free weekly refills in 2025." - Dianne de Guzman

"El Lopo is a casual neighborhood bar from an alternate reality in which California is still a Spanish territory."

"El Lopo requires proof of vaccination for indoor diners." - Lauren Saria

"El Lopo, a cozy vermouth and sherry bar on a bustling stretch of Polk Street, had only been open for a year when the pandemic shut its doors. Its grand reopening is Friday, but this time, drinkers and diners won’t be cuddling up in its narrow space — instead, they’ll spread out across Austin Alley, which has been closed to traffic and replaced by socially-distant tables and chairs." - Eve Batey