The 500 Club

The 500 Club bar is a delightful neighborhood spot that effortlessly combines old-school charm with a welcoming, modern atmosphere. From the moment you step inside, you’ll notice its classic neon sign and vintage décor, which give it an inviting, retro vibe. The bartenders are friendly, approachable, and highly skilled, crafting cocktails that range from time-honored favorites to creative twists. Meanwhile, the reasonably priced beer selection caters to those who prefer a no-frills, laid-back experience. Regular patrons will tell you that the 500 Club is a place where strangers soon become friends, thanks to the bar’s relaxed ambiance and lively conversation. Whether you’re grabbing a quick after-work drink or settling in for a long night of socializing, the space offers comfortable seating and enough room to breathe. On most nights, the jukebox plays an eclectic selection of tunes that appeal to a wide variety of tastes. Throughout the week, you can find local artists and the occasional event, adding an extra layer of entertainment. All in all, the 500 Club delivers a charming slice of neighborhood nightlife that feels refreshingly unpretentious. It’s an ideal destination for anyone looking to unwind, enjoy good company, and savor authentic bar culture.

Been my favorite bar for nearly 20 years. Authentic San Francisco vibe with all the friendly swagger, great drinks, nice bartenders, good music, lots of dogs, good lighting and decent prices... Stay awesome please. 😍

The drinks were really good. Our bartender was friendly and welcoming. Great music and ambience. Would definitely come back

I came here today during a layover because it's within walking distance to a BART station. It turned out to be a fantastic pub with a friendly bartender and fellow patrons. The atmosphere was relaxing and welcoming. I meant to leave a tip but only realized the bartender gave me the full change when I had left. Sorry about this!

I used to live right next to it, had great time with friends there. It is surprisingly clean and well- decorated as a dive bar. Prep cash if you wanna use the Photo Booth.

Best bar in the Mission, hands down. Honestly, it's probably the best bar in the city. It's just been too long since I've explored bars outside the Mission to say.

500 club was a highlight of our trip. Low key, vibey casual bar. The bartender was friendly and welcoming (haven’t been able to say that about several places in sf). Brunette female bartender working on Tuesday night - thank you! We drank scotch and sour - she offered to shake them which was nice and always included a few delicious cherries. Extra bonus, the sour is homemade. I wish I’d known there was food, i would bet it’s good. The lights are dim and red and sexy and the playlist was so random but in a good way.

Went with a friend who hasn't been to this bar since the 90's. She says it hasn't changed much, just not as many musicians as patrons. Almost felt like a NY local bar. Good drinks.

I guess I'm on a dive bar roll but I love 'em and on vacation I try to hit the good ones. It's been three years in a row I make it a point to stop here on my birthday to get the day started out right. Divey but clean with all the right boxes checked. Friendly local folks, great bartenders that can pour a drink and great food near by.

Great bar. I don't know what else to say, if you're looking for a great dive to drink beer and watch the game, look no further. Cool people being cool and friendly and they'll turn on the out of town games if you want to watch the kings get destroyed by the oilers, for example.

Great dive bar in the mission with a double sided bar with a jukebox and a Photo Booth. The bartender was friendly and had a shift change at 7 and required all open tabs to be closed and was our queue to close out and continue to the next dive bar. But why is it called 500? No idea. They serve St. George's gin with their martinis and I'm always happy to support local.

I have no complaints. The bar is located in a predominately residential area of the Mission, which is nice because it is not particularly busy outside but it also means that parking will be challenging but anyone familiar with San Francisco will not be surprised by this. Inside it is a tad dark, with a full spread of craft and mass produced beer, a fine selection of whiskies (be mindful of what you order though, some of the whiskies are expensive), and clean restrooms. The crowd seems a tad older, which is fine with me (didn't see many 20 something's, which is nice for a change). The bar wraps around to both sides of the room with plenty of seating. Upon entering, to your right, there are booths, and to the left, high tops in addition to bar seating. Service was prompt and chill.

Dive bar? Meh, not based on the prices. The place was ok but nothing stuck out signaling I need to come back here often. This is a place I might frequent if I resided nearby but as I'm not in the neighborhood, there's no real drive to go back. The service was quick so no complaints there.

Neighborhood dive bar in the Mission and they offer a happy hour too. It was a cold day and they had the fire on which was nice!

The Tuesday night bartender is a crappy bartender. Ignores customers while she chats with her friends. All the other bartenders range from ok to really cool.

Decided to visit this bar as we were in town for the game. A friend let us know to come by, we were already drinking at another bar so when we met up our friend we asked the bartender, Jessica, if we can get water as we just got there for now. She gave us a dirty look and asked "are you just sitting around wanting water?" I asked her "is there a problem with water?" California law states water is given upon request. She denied to give me water and asked for my ID what because we're pretty looking girls and you have a bad ass attitude? I was like why does asking for water have to do with age?? Then she said "yeah bye not getting you water. You can leave!! Bye!!!". The 4 other people at the bar were talking to us and apologized to us saying that girl is always rude and has a bad attitude. Everyone around us agreed she shouldn't be a bartender as she's always like that. Sad that we wanted to try this place out and a WORKER has to ruin the night. She better watch out dealing with customers like that. I could've been the wrong one. Won't be returning and my friend was so embarrassed by bringing us here and she was rude asf acting like that. Sad jealousy gets to people!

I will never return to this bar again. On 9/20/2022 my coworkers and I decided to visit this venue for some drinks after work. We started the night with shots of tequila, we were given three shots of tequila served to us without lime. I politely asked the bartender if we could have limes with our shots, when asking this the bartender was directly in front of me and chose to ignore me. I continued to politely ask "miss can we please get some limes" the bartender chooses to continue to ignore our requests and engages in conversation w other guests. For relevancy the bartender was a white female, brunette hair, slim built, with tattoos on her arms. Eventually we did get the limes we requested.. minutes later we had asked for 3 IPA's the bartender acknowledged our order and proceeded to serve the entire bar, make their drink orders, engage in conversation and even take a shot with another patron before responding to our request. At this point, I voiced my frustration to the bartender and my coworkers and I left. Whoever owns this establishment please look into this concern and do a better job training your bartenders. The level of open, blatant, disrespect my friends and I experienced is unacceptable and should not be tolerated by anyone.

Best Bar in sf!!!! Great Staff!!! Great Tap selection!!! Daytime or night, this is the place to be!

This is the best church I've been to in the city. Amen and blessed be. I've converted to a spiritual 500 Club guru. The water legit turns into wine. And the men are "hung" like Jesus. Come join us!

I've started hitting up the 500 club again after a many year hiatus and I'm glad to be back! I'm a sucker for any dive bar and this one might be one of my favorites in all of San Francisco. The staff is super friendly, the drink prices are super reasonable, and they let you bring in food from neighboring businesses. In a recent visit this past weekend a few buddies and I decided to grab martinis because why not! There always seems to be available seats at the bar and people don't seem to squat too long, which makes me very happy. There's a nice steady flow of people throughout the evening. Check this place out even if you don't live in the neighborhood because it's quite an icon for the mission. Heck, I live a good 15-20 minutes away and have been there a few times in the past couple weeks because I love it so much!

This place is such a cool and chill local bar/pub. Super chill locals and everyone was hella cool.

One of my favorite dive bars in the city! Sundays are a blast from the past on how the city use to be.

Not to be confused with the 700 Club. This bar has been a staple in the Mission for the 17 years I've been in SF. I JUST recently found out their micheladas and bloody mary's are amazing. It's easy to f**k up this drink so props to the bartender.

The 500 Club is a great casual bar that's full of locals. Every now and then I like to stop in for a gin and tonic.

What's there not to like. 1) Dark 2) Red lighting 3) Friendly Bartenders. After grabbing a late bite to eat at Cha Cha Chas, I yelped dive bars in the area and stumbled upon the 500 club. Like other proclaimed dive bars in the area, it feels more like a neighborhood bar vs a dark/dank/down on your luck type of establishment. It has a laid back vibe and a place to unwind and get lost for a few hours.

Iet me start off by saying I love 500 club. It was my first time back since the pandemic celebrating my 35th birthday. Great atmosphere super lively crowd. My only problem ( hence the 4 star) was our party paid to have songs played on the juke box, about $60, and some hipster at the bar was skipping songs and controlling what was being played. If the bar wants to curate it's own playlist that's totally cool, but don't have us waste our money to have songs played If they're just going to have some one skip over our songs. It sucks because we spent money we won't get back because some white dude wanted to play his own songs and skip over songs we paid for.

Was good to get back to the 500 Club! Great beers (Russian River Pliny, STS and Guinness) on tap, friendly bartender and good crowd but not overly crowded late on a Thursday night. Vaccination card is checked at the door with ID and I think that's a great thing for a bar to institute so everyone can relax a bit more about things. It's such an SF classic and I've never not had a fun time here!

Ordered a drink and the bartender said "I don't feel like making that." Bartender and bouncer then ganged up on a couple of other people for no apparent reason. I guess you have to come here often and put in time to get anything you'd like to drink or not be harassed, but it's beyond me why anyone would want to come back to a place like this.

Beware! I left my credit card at the bar on a Saturday night and picked it up the next day. Within the next week my credit card was charged a total of $16K from Total Wine and BevMo. Based on the crowd and the music I didn't expect to go back to 500 Club, now I never will.

This is one of my top fav dive bars in the city. It is relaxed and full of local folks. I love going for their Sunday fresh greyhounds. Especially after a day at Dolores Park. The bar is cheap. They take credit cards with a $20 minimum. They also have a great jukebox. You can even get food brought over from Turner's next door.

The bar for judgmental sf natives. Had a terrible experience with the door man too. Drinks and bartenders were alright tho

Idk if I came here during happy hour or what but bottled PBRs at $2 each. SOLD. Total dive. Totally great.

Divey bar close to Dolores park. Walking around the area, the large neon sign has always caught my attention, and recently I've finally had the chance to visit during off-hours. It's actually quite roomy inside, with lots of seats in the bar and the couch areas. Even though it was in the middle of the day, the place was pretty packed with folks looking to get drunk! There are also multiple TVs playing different types of sports. In general, you will feel comfortable and relaxed coming here with friends or just by yourself for a quick "detox" from work stress. Usually the place is crazy crowded at night, with crowds of people waiting outside. If you're lucky enough to catch this place during off-hours, definitely stop by and catch a quick drink!

It is a dive bar. Friendly bar tenders. Fun place to be. For a dive bar a pretty decent selection of bourbons and very reasonably priced. Will go back.

I love this bar. The ladies behind the bar pour hard and fast. The jukebox plays everything. The crowd mostly easy going. Not many bars have two sided access. Plenty of seats at the bar and tables. They take cards.

A dive in the Mission a few blocks from Mission and closer to Dolores Park. 500 Club is just a classic dive in the area. Interesting ambiance, always a chill crowd, decent enough bar tenders and strong drinks. I wish I could write more, but because of the affordable, strong drinks I generally can't recall much of this place. But if you're in the area or near Dolores and want to forget the rest of your day, 500 Club is a solid choice.

This place has a decent selection of beer and drinks. Came here after the street food festival with some friends. We took a couple of shots and drank prohibition beer. It was pretty cheap, beers were like 4-5 each. And shots about 6-7? Not too sure. ** tip: cash only, so stop by an ATM before heading here :)

I like this bar because it's a little off the main strip in the Mission area and there seem to be more locals than tourists. ;) Great dive bar, good drinks, bartenders, and fun spot. And if you're LUCKY, you might run into the Tamale Lady here like we did last weekend. :))) Good crowd and vibes whenever I come here. Love the jukebox, too!

Nice place. Actually had people my age. 40+ ish. Only one millennial. Will consider as my dive bar of choice as I'm seeking a replacement... Anonymously purchased a drink for the lady next.to me, as she appeared to need it...

If I can give this zero stars, I would. Completely RUDE bartenders and staff. Someone in the bar got sick (hello, it's a bar. It happens.) they completely embarrassed the poor girl and yelled at her in front of the whole bar. Lots of profanity and false accusations. The yelling got to the point where 90% of the people at the bar left. I do not support a business that belittles their customers and embarrasses them in front of a large group. Terrible, never coming here again.

Cheap drinks, great bartenders, cozy atmosphere. Having this spot close to Dolores Park is super convenient. There's usually a really great crowd here too, lots of interesting conversations with new friends.

I stopped in here after a show in the Castro with a girlfriend for a drink and to visit the loo. They have a decent couple of brews on tap, plenty of seating, and the service was superb. I want come back again when I don't have a BART schedule hounding me to leave quickly and enjoy a couple drinks and people watch.

Cool and mellow place for an afternoon pit stop during my dog's walk. Good selection of beers (plus liquor if you want it), friendly staff and an interesting bunch of locals rotating in and out. Vinny (the dog) and I will return...

Not the bar it used to be! Don't have a paid juke box if your deuce bar tenders decide what plays or doesn't play! Don't waste your money on this bar! Too bad the essence of the bar has been lost! Go to Elixir or anywhere else to have a REAL bar experience.

THE 500 CLUB FOR 500 YELP REVIEWS !! On the self-important occasion of my 500th Yelp review, where else would I go but the 500 Club? Just think...Yelp has a club exclusively for special people like me who have gone through the blood, sweat and tears of eking out the sometimes useful, sporadically funny and unintentionally cool write-ups that are the lifeblood of this site. This calls for my glitter tuxedo and my Rip Taylor bag of confetti. Gee, imagine my surprise this evening when I was NOT greeted at the door with an a capella chorus of the Yelp anthem by their oh-so-youthful staff... "Yelp, I need somebody, Yelp, not just anybody, Yelp, you know I need someone, YELP!" I was expecting trumpets. I was expecting half-naked guards with really big fans. I was expecting to be taken to the private lounge where someone would peel me a grape while someone else played the lyre. Instead, this is a hipster bar in the guise of a moose lodge ...kinda like the place Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton used to go to with their beaver hats on "The Honeymooners". It has that back-bacon thrift store vibe with lots of souvenir paraphernalia behind the bar. Bummer. But the drinks are pretty cheap. Beers are $3 at happy hour, and my Maker's Mark and ginger was only $5. And you can sure fill up on a tumbler of Chex Mix and pretzel sticks. This ain't the W, that's for sure. But where was Nish? Where were the paparazzi? Where were the bodyguards protecting me from the non-Elites? And what about my "fans"...all those little people whose names escape me for the moment? Why, no one asked for my autograph. No one wanted me to throw my confetti. Is this the luxuriant 500 Club I dreamed of entering since I started Yelping? ...Hmmm, did I mention the beers are only $3? "Yelp me if you can, I'm feeling down And I do appreciate you being round. Yelp me, get my feet back on the ground, Won't you please, please yelp me, yelp me, yelp me, oh..." DRINKS - 3 stars...oh, and did I mention beers are $3? AMBIANCE - 3 stars...where are the eunuchs?...bring me the eunuchs! ...gosh, the bar at the Wag Hotel is a lot nicer, and that's for dogs SERVICE - 3 stars...gee, no fanfare for this 500 RBI Yelper...ok, she did bring me my drink pretty quick TOTAL - 3 stars...solid dive bar...but this is what I get for writing 500 reviews?

I've been waiting to review this place until after the New Year started because I didn't want to give away my little secret. This is my favorite spot to spend New Years Eve. This is a decent back up bar most of the year. Divey enough for those militant about drinking in a down scale establishment but not so divey as to scare off the squeamish. You can't argue with two-dollar pints of Shiner Bock during happy hour. For NYE you can spend a small fortune getting into a club and spend another small fortune on over priced drinks at a fancy party, or you can get here early to snag a booth and sit in the best people watching spot in town. If I see you all here next NYE and you're hogging all the booths I'm going to be pissed! ***** Just a reminder! This is a cash only establishment!

Totally a dive bar, but I like old dive bars. Came in here around Happy Hour and they had some good deal with the beers on tap. Barely any around, but that's what was great. You could just sit around and talk with a friend over a beer. They say Cash Only, but there's another sign that's says they take cards but with a $20 minimum. Just pay cash, unless you really feel like drinking. By the way, check out the Crying Velvet Elvis painting...my favorite.

Fernet that flows like a river in Egypt? Check. Giants fever even though we've been World Series champs for nearly three weeks? Check. Stiff cocktails and Pac Man's better half? Check. Honestly, I could do this all day. There are at least 500 "checks" I could add to the list of reasons I worship the 500 Club (and one day, perhaps I will), but for now, let these grow on you.

On like Donkey Kong. I shuffled up 6th street and jumped over a chick doing yoga in the middle of the sidewalk. Thought about grabbing one of the pairs of shoes (lined up with a hand written "FREE" sign on them) but decided I probably wouldn't need them to smash anything. I waited for the cars to pass before climbing up the crosswalk to Guerrero St. I had succesfully reached the top of the platforms but saw no damsel in distress, nor Kong of the Donkey. Why IS he called Donkey Kong when he is clearly a gorilla? In like Dig Dug. I dug through the first layer of dirt, avoided a few Pookas and ghostly eyes lingering and finally settled in the back near familiar faces. I was sweating. It was a chilly October evening but you wouldn't know it in this place. A couple of hottie Fygars were working the bar and my friend asked what I wanted. "I want a rum & coke..and just a coke." He repeated it back. Yes. I handed him a $10. He repeated my order to her and added a beer for himself. The Fygar demanded ID's. This Dig Dug is 33, I guess all that tunneling hasn't aged me as much as I thought. The total tab for all 3 drinks was $6. The "rum & coke" was so strong that it burned my eyes. We wondered later if the Fygar had mistaken my order for a coke and a rum. Either way, it was a generous pour and pretty much took care of me for the night. We tunneled our way back through the crowd and squeezed into one of the few spots left to sit. I perched myself on the photobooth's ledge and stared at the table top video game rotating between 4 classic arcade games. They were cool with a friend bringing in her little pup. We somehow squeezed all of us into that teensy photobooth, dog, shoes and all. Out like Frogger. I used the restroom once and was nearly splattered by someone crashing into the door upon entry. Luckily, I hopped through just in time. The thing swings and if someone is drunk and really has to pee - watch out! By this time there was a male bartender. One of the drinks that I mix at home was brought up in conversation. He didn't know what it was but eagerly mixed it upon our spouting out the recipe. At $4, it was the cheapest suffering bastard I've ever heard of. The place had also cleared out a bit. I found myself sitting temporarily on a stool discussing graphics, technology, creativity, greed and gaming. I got completely caught up in the conversation. We all suddenly realized that we had been lingering on the logs a bit too long. My husband's "boys night out" had ended really early - we hung out for a bit and then hopped our way back over to Bart. I like this place.

Fantabulous Dive Bar in the Mission!! I've been to 500 several times, and just recently helped celebrate a friend's birthday here. Stoked that we managed to snag a booth. Cheap beer (on tap and draft) and such a cool vibe. Bartenders are super friendly and nice. As the evening progressed, the crowd got larger and I suspected a long wait as my friend went to the bar to order another round of beer. One of the guy bartenders made immediate eye contact with her (how that happened is beyond me as she was behind a bunch of dudes), and she indicated the beer and within minutes she was back at the booth with them. HOLLAH, that's how she rolls! Maybe the bartender was sweet on my friend, and hopefully the dudes weren't pissed off that she got served before they did. We didn't care as we were happy drinking our very ice cold beer (BTW, the beer fridge must below the usual refrigerating temp, as we needed a napkin to hold the bottles as they were icy cold)! Love the fireplace towards the back of the bar, and wonder if it's ever used. There's another door, which is actually the fire exit door, but smokers and non use to enter/exit. For a dive bar, I wasn't expecting the hi-def tvs, Bathrooms are tiny, and one staller for the gals. Nice, diverse crowd of bar patrons of mainly locals. Seems to be packed during early and later on in the evenings. Cash only, but there's an ATM inside by the front door. I'll be back to 500!

Race discrimination??? bartender is rasist. He refused to serve a beer to my friend because of skin color. White guy came and sat next my friend and ordered beer, and the bartender served beer for him but not for my friend. My friend kept asking a beer, the bartender completely ignored my friend. Sucks

500 club probably doesn't really care about this review. Nor the many before it. They probably don't care about the ripped seats in the booth. Nor the limited selection on the old school (but golden oldies sweet jams) cd jukebox. Nor the as-it-is decor and service. 500 Club is your neighborhood dive that does its thing and does it well - keeping regulars happy with reasonably priced beer without the extraneous "hi my name is _____, and I'll be your server tonight." This is your perennial Mission dive bar before the Mission became the mission. As a first time visitor, I respect that but also instantly know my place in line. Rock on 500 club, rock on.

After being overwhelmed by the crowd at Elbo Room, I took my small army of friends here for some good old fashioned drinks and conversation. I was a bit bummed that the photobooth was broken but the juke box was playing a good mix and we were all able to find seats in cozy corner. The mix of people here is great and the drinks are decent. They carry cider which is all I really need to get me through the night. Overall, I like this bar. It's exactly what you'd want in a dive. It's a little more tucked away in the Mission. I would definitely stop in here again.

500 club opens 9ish for those who need to drink early and often HH M-F, till 7, well drinks (3) long bar counter. not many drafts on tap brew: anthem apple cider(5) -oregon based, tasted sour more than sweet. shoulda went fo the well drink. on draught:: -service ok -tv tuned to baseball not socceer. -large space, good for groups...

I'm reviewing this as an outsider and newcomer to this place. It's fun to come in and grab a quick late night beer here (cash only) but I always feel like I'm not cool or hip enough. If I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt or something standard, I feel like I have a third arm. Bartender and patrons have not been the friendliest to me. I only recommend if you've been coming here every day since you turned 21. For hipsters only.

The 18th St. crew used to frequent the 500 club in the 70's when it was yer basic alcoholic bar.

I really like the 500 Club even with its faults. I'm pretty sure the bartender gave me a beer with puke on it, the bathroom is disgusting and when I asked my friend who put on these ridiculous fake Ray Bans with gold trim, "Who do you think you are a f*cking hipster?!" I got mean looks but hey, isn't that what hipsters do. They give mean or bored looks, no biggie. Last Saturday was no different. There was some sort of party where they kept ordering 20 beers and shots at a time. No lie, I saw them all set up on a table. It was actually nice when the bartender said, I'm tired of whatever game you guys are playing, NO MORE! The party also plugged in their very own boom box even though 500 has a jukebox with a very good music selection. (Don't ask me, I was just a voyeur.) Even with all that I will still go back. I like the lay out, I like the dark corners and I like the other clientele.

500 Club is one of the very first (if not *the first) bar I visited in the Mission 8 years ago and I was pleased to see that it hasn't changed much, if at all. A bunch of us newbies were doing an amended "bar crawl" the other night and were wondering where to go after getting halfway to sloshed at Elbo Room, when we spied the Vegas-style lit up giant martini glass marquee beckoning to us from where we stood on Valencia. "Now *there's* a sign, perhaps from god," I thought to myself as we made our way. Upon entering I had this feeling of deja vu (very common feeling for me when I enter a bar, truth be told) but then I realized I *had* in fact enjoyed a drink right before last call all those years ago. This night was a good one. I even made friends with the dude on the next stool. I like when a bar doesn't have a ton of guys on the make (I am thinking back to my nights spent at the Burgundy Room in LA). I just want to talk to you, not wake up next to you, man! Why do guys in bars think that way? Why am I pondering such a stupid question? Barkeep, I need a drink. Speaking of, the 'tenders are no-nonsense, fast, and pour 'em strong. That's really all you need on a Wednesday night. I jest. That's really all you need...well, that and decent tunes coming from the juke, and 500 Club has that, too.