Ed U.
Yelp
I should wear a tuxedo when I come here with my valet and my sterling silver cocktail shaker...."The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time." That's a clever line spoken by the martini-swilling Nick Charles in "The Thin Man", and it fits perfectly in the Redwood Room, as old-school San Francisco as you can possibly get in the Clift, a legendary hotel that was built in the then-popular Beaux-Arts style just in time for the Pan Pacific Exposition in 1913.
The Art Deco bar didn't come for another twenty years at the height of the Great Depression, and it still retains the theatrical grandeur of the architecture and polished wood finishes (photo: http://bit.ly/15WZRTl). I don't come often, but when I do, it always feels comfortable no matter how crowded it can get with tourists. It feels enormous with the vaulted ceilings and the brightly back-lit shelving unit of various libations (photo: http://bit.ly/YAlHqB). Otherwise it's quite dark save for the central fireplace and the mood lighting on some of the unusual artwork that can be found on the walls.
It would be the perfect setting for an illicit tryst if only the house detective wasn't spying on us. Cocktails here are steep at $15 but seemingly appropriate with names that evoke a time when the boys were overseas fighting for Uncle Sam and the USO was in town. A Marilyn Monroe, for example, is made of Leblon Cachaça, tamarind, coconut milk, lime juice, and a splash of cream on the rocks. However, a faux-sophisticate like me deserves a Clift Manhattan consisting of Bulleit bourbon, Carpano Antica sweet vermouth, and orange bitters. Straight up with no chaser please. Ah, very smooth indeed.
COCKTAILS - 4 stars...pricey but the ideal mood setter
AMBIANCE - 5 stars...one of the nicest old-school bars in the city
SERVICE - 4 stars...the bartender takes care to shake and not stir
TOTAL - 4 stars...where the elite meet to be discreet