The Alembic
Cocktail bar · Haight-Ashbury
1725 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Highlights
Creative craft cocktails, inventive bar food, cozy rustic space
Creative craft cocktails, inventive bar food, cozy rustic space
"The Alembic opened in 2006 on the wave of the city’s craft cocktail movement. While most bars in town have long since figured out how to make a damn good Manhattan, we still love the Alembic. It’s a fantastic bar with fantastic drinks and a mainstay for casual hangouts and dates in the Haight. It looks like an apothecary crossed with a scholar’s den, with floral wallpaper, dark wood, and shelves stocked with books. As much as you might want to read about medicinal plant healing, the drinks are the most important aspect here. There are classic negronis, herbaceous gin drinks, and cocktails that change seasonally. And like any great bar, there’s a substantive food menu that includes everything from light bites to a full-on meal." - lani conway, julia chen 1, ricky rodriguez
"Alembic was one of the first San Francisco bars to really showcase the craft cocktail when it opened in 2006. It’s remained a favorite on the strip for creative drinks and a laid-back atmosphere. Though the space expanded next door in 2015, it’s since shrunk back to its original cozy locale." - Paolo Bicchieri
"The Alembic looks like an alchemist’s lair with dark leather seats, and shelves stocked with books and glass beakers. But the magical thing about one of our favorite bars in the Haight is that they consistently make great cocktails and food to go along with them. This bar is also dark and rustic, and is ultimately an ideal backdrop for a first date you’ll maybe one day tell your kids about." - lani conway, ricky rodriguez, julia chen 1
"The Alembic looks like a thousand other bars you’ve seen before. There are wooden floorboards, a worn bar, and dark leather booths - you’d fit in well if you were an old copy of Great Expectations. But before you start wondering if you ever actually read Dickens or just told people you have to seem smarter, you’ll see that the food at The Alembic is anything but standard. You can get everything from bone marrow to house ricotta here and it’s all great, but if you’re not ordering a lot, this is one of those places where you’d do yourself a favor to order the spiced duck hearts instead of something you could maybe get somewhere else." - will kamensky
"The Alembic is one of our favorite bars in the Haight - it’s got the cozy feel of an old-school, neighborhood spot, and has consistently great drinks. Grab a booth on their covered parklet with whoever you’re catching up with, and field questions like “So... how was your quarantine?” over potato leek fritters, grilled artichoke, or a boozy ice cream float." - julia chen 1
