Tempest Bar & Box Kitchen

Hell of a Bar... Courtney and Dallas made it even more so. Great drinks, great selection great new friends...get there, you won't regret it. They also serve some killer grub till midnight YUMM Tell um Teddy sent ya 🙏

Came here on a whim. I'm glad I did. I love Dive bars. Cheap and tasty drinks and a decent menu where the kitchen is open until 12am. Plenty of seating an no cover charge. They have a pool table and televisions (For sports viewing). Not quite rowdy crowd and the bartenders are pleasant. All are welcome!

This is a dive bar’s dive bar—the kind of place that smells like beer and stories. Even if you think it’s not your vibe, go once for the people-watching alone. It’s a wild mix of locals, tourists, wealthy eccentrics, and people who may or may not live there. The pool table’s the main attraction, cold beer flows, tunes are solid. Don’t eat beforehand—there’s a magical hole-in-the-wall kitchen next door and you can bring the food in. No frills, no fuss, just absolute peak San Francisco madness. I loved it.

The bartender Dallas was super cool, there was a girl bartender there too who i didnt get her name but she made my favorite drink and it was amazing! Was there for the music event but ill definitely be back.

Did go twice for the margaritas but only liked them from a specific bartender (In the pic, the guy way to the right pouring one). The food was good and you can order at the bar, or takeout only - no table service. Kinda hit or miss on the crowd/ vibe which is typical for a bar I suppose!

Friendly and welcoming staff here. You have a nice selection of draft beers, 12 oz pours. Is there undergoing some changes in the kitchen so extremely limited menu; french fries grilled cheese chicken fingers that's about it. This place is very noisy and no sound on the NFL game

I came here with a friend around 930pm on a Monday night, pleased to see the bar and kitchen still in full swing. The decor is very drive reminiscent, but the food felt a little elevated from that. I had a beef roll with chopped giardiniera and some other goodies. It's was a little wet but really tasty. I also had a few local beers and one of their radler&shot combos. The bartenders were attentive and nice, and the other patrons were lively and interesting to watch. We had a great time and would definitely be back.

Tempest Bar & Box Kitchen – Review: Tempest Bar & Box Kitchen is a lively spot known for its vibrant atmosphere, creative cocktails, and sports-friendly setup. The menu features elevated bar food like loaded fries, burgers, wings, and shareable plates, often with a bold twist. Guests appreciate the upbeat vibe, fast service, and multiple screens showing live sports. It’s a great hangout for groups, game nights, or casual weekend outings. Good for those looking for energy, flavor, and fun under one roof.

Convienant and asty food that's attached to a chill bar. Plus it's open late most nights.

Love this dive! Great ambience, high ceilings and pool table. I've gone a handful of times for a few drinks after work. Great deals on drinks too and bartenders are attentive so you're not waiting around forever. They also serve food! Unique items like Mac and cheese eggrolls and fried pickles (very yummy!) It does get pretty busy though on weekend nights.

More-than-a-hole-in-the-wall neighborhood bar with tables, a pool table, and TV screens! Was very convenient for us during NBA All-Stars Weekend as they were showing the events on their TV screens! It was exactly what we were looking for with no plans and walking distance from Moscone Center. Their strawberry shortcake sour was a delightful surprise for my sweet tooth. Was deciding between that drink and their smoothies spinning behind their bar. I'd come back to this sports bar again.

Great dive bar located not far from Union Square in downtown SF. Despite having a dive bar feel, it has a great craft beer selection, and several food items as well. I got the mac and cheese egg rolls, quite tasty and filling. I'm from out of town so got to try several beers I hadn't before, as I waited for all my group to get into town. They have a pool table, and with the door open you get a nice breeze. All the bartenders were cool. If you're staying in the area, I'd def recommend checking it out.

The Tempest is such a fun, local hangout spot! I went during the day and a ton of regulars came and went. Everyone seemed to know each other, had smiles on their faces and having tons of fun. It was definitely a cool and casual atmosphere. The staff I met were incredibly kind and had infectious personalities. What makes this bar standout from others is the incredible menu! I felt like the Brussels sprouts tasted like French fries... I don't know many people who can make that happen! I'm a vegan, and while their menu doesn't indicate specific vegan items, they did cater to my needs and veganized items on the menu. They definitely went above and beyond. Would most definitely come here again!

Stopped by for pre-dinner drinks but then decided to stay longer after finding out they serve food :) we shared the box burger (with no tomato) and got the mac & cheese egg rolls. I agree with another review about them being a bit bland but I think that's better than being overly salty. The marinara sauce helped a bit but I still thought the egg rolls were good on their own. The burger was so juicy (ordered medium rare) & delicious. Loved the touch of arugula vs the usual lettuce leaf. Bartender was really attentive & helpful. She introduced my sister & I to a different tequila brand which I really liked & will remember for future outings. Overall, everyone was friendly & vibes were chill.

I love Tempest, always a vibe. Great spot to chill catch up with friends, or meet new folk who stumble upon us. I haven't had the food yet, I know ‍ all the years. I hear it's great thought. The service is impeccable, couldn't ask for anything more. I'll be back soon!

Fun dive bar in Soma! It's a great place to be loud with your friends and hangout. They have a pool table, private clean bathrooms and plenty of seating. They don't make super fancy cocktails, just the basics like vodka cranberry or ginger ale & Jameson. The food was great. It was fun and creative versus other bars. Pricing wasn't expensive. Would come back with friends! Service was friendly and they allowed dogs in.

I was served by Cara and Jason they both kick ass. I am in shock that the owner won't let them take shots with customers so I took 1 more shot than I agreed. The macaroni egg rolls are amazing I did them at my boss's husbands suggestion. The drinks are strong and very reasonably priced. They also got a pool table and arcade games hell yeah!

I had a great time here, the staff was very friendly, the space is generous, and my friends love it too. We didn't eat anything, but next time we will.

Food was ok Macaroni egg rolls were ok , just needed a bit seasoning . Too bland for me . The chicken and waffles were good . I really liked the flavor of the chicken . Waffles literally melted in my mouth . Could have been a little sweeter . Also , just received an updated amount on the transaction from Friday night . My total was 57.63 . I left a $5 tip and the updated shows that a $6.50 tip was included . So they added an extra $1.50 to the tip they already got . I'm going to call them when they open but I do not like sneaky and dishonest patrons. All in all I only authorized this transaction for $62.63 .

My coworkers and I came here yesterday on a Friday evening wanting to grab a drink and some food. However, no one took our order. We sat down for about 10 minutes and then waited by the bar and the rude bartenders said "yes we can take your order if someone's behind the bar". If you're busy, just say sorry we're busy right now. He was just straight up rude. So we picked up our stuff and left. Went to the Chieftain Irish pub and although busy, the server acknowledged us and sat us down and took our order almost immediately. I've been to Tempest once or twice and never recalled such rude service or shall I say lack of service. Not to mention it was quite chaotic, dog running inside the bar and someone throwing food on the floor to get the dog excited.

Tl;Dr - Dive bar in the heart of SF that in many ways is the heart of SF. For those seeking uncomplicated drinks, their boilermakers are legendary. Oftentimes crowded in the evening, with playlists bumping. Daytime is laid back and chill. Box kitchen is affiliated with great food you can bring inside. Pool sharks lurk every night. "Welcome to my office," is something I very commonly say when I bring people over here, I've been coming here for almost a decade at this point. Dirty in a good way, this definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for that certain kind of rugged gentleman, this is all you need. Beers and boilermakers are the bedrock this place sits on, it's a shot bar at the core but they do try to offer other things like frozen cocktails and a revolving pre-mixed batch offering. Bartenders are cracking, they don't fuck around and it shows. The solitary pool table is probably one of the most well known in the city, with regulars who will happily throw a little action on it if you get to know them a bit better. They do tend to be a little obnoxious when drinks are flowing, nobody has any business playing bank-only games when there's 10 people in line behind you, but it's the devil you know, right? But I digress, this is my home bar and I've probably been here more days than I could humanly count and for good reason. It's unpretentious, straightforward, cheap, and it plays some damn fine music. TV's are everywhere so it's a great game-day bar also. They could probably do MMA fights but they probably don't to avoid ratcheting up the broham level further than it already is. Yes you can definitely meet ladies in here. No, you probably won't take them home. It's loud, and attracts the real ones, not that candy ass crowd. The Box Kitchen is next door and they are attached to this place so you can go out grab some food and then take it inside. There's even a free arcade but pretty sure we broke the living hell out that multiple times, not sure the joystick works right. Ah well, this is why we can't have nice things. Still solid gold. You can't keep me away. I'll die in here, and host the funeral.

We have been to San Francisco so many times I have lost count, so we were surprised we had never been to the Tempest until a few days ago. Our first impression when walking in was how it's not really a true "dive" bar as described. We have been to a few of those. The Tempest is warm and welcoming - and more cute than divey. The décor consists of a mishmash of stickers covering most of the walls, bicycles hanging from the ceiling, and SF sports memorabilia on display along with live sports on tv. We sat at the bar and were promptly attended to by a friendly bartender. We ordered a couple IPAs and looked over the menu from the adjacent Box Kitchen. We were early enough to be able to place a food order with the bartender. You usually would have to go next door to place food orders and we had to do that when we wanted more food after we were joined by my brother-in-law. Over the course of the evening, we had the Fried Brussel Sprouts, a couple orders of the Buffalo Nuggets (the boys especially loved those), Garlic Fries, and an Impossible Meatball Sub. All the food was good but we were really impressed with how tasty the sub was! We will definitely go back to the Tempest when we are back in the city!

Great customer service, food, and ambiance. Thank you, Whelan, and also thank you to the cool gentleman at the food spot. It was my first time there, and you all made the moment. Respectfully, G OIF/OEF Combat Veteran

Punk rock sports bar. Lots of space and tables with a cool punky/rock n roll vibe. While it gives off a dive bar feel, also has tons of TVs to watch sports and not too packed on a Sunday afternoon for football watching but enough folk to make it not a desolate wasteland. Service was great and staff were happy to pour a bunch of waters alongside our drinks, which isn't true for everywhere. Food was surprisingly good. I saw an award for best ribs but I don't think they serve them now. Brussel sprouts were decent but nothing special. Tacos were good but not quite on par with a proper taqueria - that being said, more flavor than some of the bad ones! Sandwiches looked solid and our group all commented that the food was much better than expected. All around a great watering hole and spot to shoot some pool.

Thank you, Randy! We had such a great time last night untill my husband decided it's funny to pull my scarf over my face and mess with my hair. I went home and discovered that one of my antique Navajo earring was missing. The people at Tempest were super helpful, the guests were lovely too. Randy was awesome. Thank you so much for finding it and letting us know at 3 am! Very grateful.

Cool local dive bar in SoMa with amazing food! I came here for the first time and I love the vibe of this dive bar. Bikes on the ceilings, World Series Jerseys on the walls, and stickers plastered all over the restroom. What I loved most was the food!! I got the Box Burger during my lunch break and added an egg on top. Perfect brunch food for what it's worth. Then I added a "Donkey Show" special to the mix: Modelo beer with a shot of Milagro Tequila. What a way to start my day! The staff were also super nice and gave me the best recommendations on what to order. Shout out to Levi behind the bar and Joey the owner! Made my first impression a memorable one. You gotta check it out.

Best dive bar in SOMA. The food prepared next door is so good! The crowd is mixed and sometimes folks can be less welcoming but if you just do your own thing, enjoy a couple drinks, you'll settle in just fine. I just wish the folks who hog the pool table would chill out and let others play.

My coworker and I went here for lunch today, we love the Brussel Sprouts that they no longer have when we did not know. The bartender (he was super nice) showed us the updated menu and suggested the Elote Corn Riblets, we had those a few weeks ago and they weren't great. Anyway I got the Summer Corn Salad and Fried Pickles to go. I get to work to see that my to-go salad was DRENCHED in green goodness dressing. Why? I should have checked my salad before I left but I never thought my salad would be soupy. I was not happy, I didn't have time to go back. I needed that salad because I was starving needless to say money wasted cause I'm not a huge dressing fan especially when it's so much.

Been coming here for a year and absolutely love this place! The vibe, the food, the drinks are such a great choice. Food: the food was quick and fast, best bar food I've had in the city. Tastes amazing and adding a beer was great addition. The service was quick and easy. Loved the ambiance and setting as well. Overall, a great place to hangout, drink, play some pool! Definitely would recommend to all my friends!

Yeah .. you may want to fire your bouncer or really just the guy checking people in. Talk about a power tripper. Not an establishment worth while to deal with someone like that. Note that I haven't even had a beer yet. As I stood outside waiting to figure out where I wanted to go (because I refuse to spend money at a place that hires those types) I heard him yell and act tough with two different people in literally minutes. Move on to a better spot people. If you let that guy go then let me know and perhaps another chance is in order.

This is a really cool, dimly lit, spacious bar with friendly staff, a pool table, decent food, decent drinks, and a fun atmosphere. I'm usually not a fan of tequila, but one of the bartenders recommended their double shot margarita slushy, so I went for it. I was pleasantly surprised, as it actually tasted good and definitely didn't taste like a double (not complaining, I consider this a positive thing lol). The food was decent, nothing too special but I also can't complain much. I got the burger, duck hearts, and shared an order of fried pickles with my friend. The burger was about average/slightly above average and I thought that the arugula was a nice touch. Dipping it in some ranch definitely improved the taste, as they do have some exceptional ranch here. The fried pickles were above average tasting and were lightly battered. The duck hearts however, were very disappointing. I believe this was my first time having duck hearts though, so perhaps that's just the way they generally taste and it isn't my thing. Overall, I really enjoyed this place and had a fun time. I give it an 8/10.

I love the bar bites at Tempest the atmosphere is always lively and the customer service is amazing you can't go wrong with great food and drinks

Randy is great!!! I live across the street and have been meaning to come visit tempest for a while now, and I am so happy I did. The staff and the ambiance here is one you can't get these days at a dive bar. It's welcoming, cute, great drinks, and even better prices. I came here with a friend for happy hour and was so happy with our time. Randy, our bartender, was above and beyond...whatever they are paying him it should be double. Not only did he suggest and make amazing drinks, when one of my friends wasn't too keen on a whisky drink, Randy remade it immediately to something my friend was accustomed to and enjoyed. I will be back many times and can't wait to bring friends with me. They also have a pool table and there was always so someone playing. This is such a cute hangout spot and perfect for a Friday happy hour. Thank you to Randy and team, cannot wait to visit see again.

Ok, What are the actual prices for drinks here? The guys all go to what's on the written board, NO TAX!!! But the skinny girl always charges for tax when paying with credit/debit card. Pay cash and she will add a Dollar more saying taxes. PLEASE CHECK ALL YOUR RECEIPTS THE NEXT DAY!!!! Also, I don't recommend paying with card, they tend to charge on top of what's already been charge. My bill said $86 for what I drank for $30 the next day. BEWARE!!!

Fun dive bar. Chill atmosphere. Good beers on tap. Friendly service from the bartenders. Would return.

the bar was so cool. bartenders were super friendly and helpful! the bar itself doesn't serve food, but there is a window 5 feet away (outside) that serves a great menu of late night snacks until midnight. i was seated at the bar, had my party save my spot, went outside and ordered and they gave me a buzzer for my food. we opted to take it home, but many walked back in and ate inside! super fun ambiance and experience

Best bar food in SF year after year. Good selection of beer. Pool table is small and hard to play on when busy. Staff is rad.

Excellent hamburger and fries. Best deal on a shot of Jameson at this place as well. Haven't been here for a while and visiting again today. Great hang out place and good food and drinks.

Stumbled upon this dope spot while exploring around the SOMA area of SF. Love the vibe of this bar. The drinks are CHEAP, and they do specials. For example, you can get a PBR and a shot of Jim Beam for $8, or a Modelo and shot of Milagro tequila for $11. Bartenders are social and friendly. Overall, just a cool place to hangout and have some cheap drinks.

Nice dive bar to meet up with friends. There's a good beer selection and some nice beer and shot specials. They have a couple of TV's for sports and they also take credit cards.

We were in SF for the weekend and this place was in walking distance. Great bartenders. Great drink specials. Best dive bar in SF!

Ordered potato taquitos, and the beyond chicken tacos!! Honestly super delicious for a place that doesn't specialize in vegan dishes! Will definitely be going back to get more food. I also tried their beyond meat burger, which is super tasty too. Also got two espresso martinis without cream because I'm dairy free. The drinks are stroong! They are very accommodating and super sweet! My friends phone died and they charged it for her:)

Enjoyed the ambiance very casual. Personally enjoyed the coffee old fashioned but I didn't try any food.

If you want a wild, noisy, cramped experience then this is the place to land. Tempest truly lived up to it's name. The three of us arrived to a super-crowded environment packed full of people that somehow managed to keep moving like liquid. We got probably the last table by 30 seconds, accpting the amount of yelling there would need to be over the mayhem. There was a plethora of bumping into people or each other as the tables are very small and 500 (ok, not really) of them are crammed into one area. The drinks mimicked the table size, small. Also, not cheap proportionate to the size. Prepare to spend some time waiting for a chance to order that the bar. However if you've been to more than 2 bars ever, you know this is the case almost everywhere. Thankfully my friends adjusted and made it a good night for ourselves.

Food is delish. They even have a giant satisfying vegan bratwurst sausage. And everything else for my meat eating friends. Fries are yummy. And best of all, they're super dog friendly

Wow.. very impressed with this bar. Very low key spot with really good food and strong drinks. Came here to watch football games. If you like hole in the walls with good service. Come here! There was even lots of street parking!

People call this a "dive bar", but I disagree. This place has a perfect dive bar feel, but you don't have to be afraid of what you'll see on your glass if you shine a light on it. For example, the walls in the men's room are covered with graffiti, but it was absolutely clean. If you want that dive bar smell, that I'm sure you're remembering now, you won't find it here. They have a good variety of beers including stouts, IPAs (if that's your thing), and dive bar staples like PBR. They also make some great cocktails. Much like the drink menu, the food menu was eclectic with things like chicken & waffles, barbacoa tacos, and mac and cheese egg rolls. But there was also a sprinkling of traditional pub foods like fried pickles and burgers to keep things grounded. I took friends here for lunch several times when I was in town for a conference, and they loved it. This place is great for anyone who wants great food and drink without being pretentious.

Food wasn't great, I got the chicken and waffle and fried pickles, the waffle was cold and both the pickles and chicken were way too salty. Also, as we were eating we saw two mice run across the floor, which made me lose my appetite.

Came back for the chicken carnitas tacos and the potato taquitos they were fire. Their jalapeño sauce and salsa verde had great flavor with just a hint of spice. Dug in but forgot the pic guess I'll have to come back

A solid bar with a lot of seating and good vibes - we came with a group of 8 on a Saturday night at 9 pm and found good seating - it wasn't very busy around that time which we appreciated for our group. The drinks also came out fairly quickly. The downside is that this place is pretty dirty, it doesn't feel very clean and the place even has graffiti on the bathroom, so I feel like I wouldn't come again given the health crisis and wanting ample cleaning.

Will never return. Racist doorman/bouncer guy. READ ALL OF THE REVIEWS ABOUT HIM. He is horrible. He makes people feel uncomfortable and is so disgusting and rude. When I complained to the owner, he didn't address the issue. Instead he defended the situation that occurred and explained that it wasn't a racial issue. Doesn't matter what kind of issue it was or not to you -- you should train your staff to not handle things improperly and make patrons uncomfortable. Doormen shouldn't shout, shouldn't condescend, and shouldn't embarrass patrons in front of others, and they shouldn't say stuff about our situation to other patrons. For the record, the situation was this: my friend and I were trying to dine in, but the doorman kept yelling at him saying that his Colombian ID was expired. He also said, and I quote: "You fucking Colombian idiot! It's expired! How hard is that to understand?" And then turned to the patrons next to us in line and said "Fucking retards, the ID is expired, simple as fuck." The patrons next to us also left, and we were walking out with them and they said "That was really uncool of him. We are so sorry that he embarrassed you guys like that." The ID was ISSUED on that date, not expired. If the ID was in fact expired, THAT DOES NOT GIVE THE DOORMAN THE RIGHT TO TALK LIKE THAT to us in front of other people -- what a power check. How unprofessional and ugly -- and even worse, how disgusting that management chooses to overlook this and defend it instead. Says a lot about what you value. There are a ton of other reviews here about how management doesn't care when things like this are addressed. So much for trying to handle things professionally.

Yes and no to the old Tempy at the same time. You can have the nest night with your girls here or be surrounded by tech bros.

With a city as large as San Francisco it can be challenging locating restaurants where locals eat and drink with the perfect vibe desired. Not even the Yelp app can assist in every case. So when I asked a local about dive bars that serve a mix of clientele from bikers to bankers he told me Tempest was the place. I was not disappointed the first or second time checking them out. My latest grabbing drinks after hours with a friend. But I've also dined for lunch with my wife. It's unpretentious staff knows their customers well. Although I was spotted as a non local quickly the service was warm. My lunch sandwich was a soft shell BLT that I was surprised to see on the menu. It came with a side of fries. Although good I've had better back home in Virginia Beach. My drink a Jack & Coke came tall and strong! My female waiter followed up and smiled. Tempest is off the beaten track, heck I did not even know where I was, but the Uber driver did. The area is safe and the atmosphere is chill. Since I'm in the city less often I'm not sure about the next time, but recommend.

We went here for lunch and it was pretty good. Started with the chocolate old fashion. Ordered the Birria tacos and fried pickles.Those pickles are so damn good. It's a cool little bar in Soma with good bar food.

If I could give more stars I would. Super friendly people, great atmosphere, and AMAZING food. Seriously. I have not had anything on their menu that I didn't love. Their burger in particular is phenomenal. My only complaint is that other burgers now suck in comparison...

Found myself at Tempest three times during a five day work trip, so... You can say they're doing things right! Each time, I was here with colleagues. I can't really speak to my first experience because we had a few drinks before we came here, so it was uhhhh, a blurry night. Ha! The second and third times, though? Great! You can tell that Tempest is definitely a local hot spot for lots of people in San Fran. From twenty somethings to important looking guys in suits, it seems to have what we all love - CHEAP ALCOHOL. They've got great selection and hard-to-beat prices. In a dive bar, it's pretty much everything we were looking for (complete with sticky tables, score). I wouldn't say the service is out of this world, but it was always pretty busy when I was there so it's not like the bartenders had time to chit chat. From what I could see they got to me as quickly as they could, so I can't complain too much. I'll see ya next year, Tempest!

Customer service was great but the food selection could be a little bit better; I do plan on coming back they have great beer selections but maybe tinker with the food menu