Saturday marked the 5th Anniversary of Crawl SF’s Union Street Bar Crawl. The event started at the BarNone, ground zero for drinking on Union Street and San Francisco’s only post campus, campus bar. Not only is BarNone the #1 seller of Jägermeister, it is also famous for it beer pong tables. The Subterranean bar, formerly known as the Union Street Ale House, also features darts, pool and many, many beers on tap to help you wash down those Jäger shots.
We found out that each bar had specials running the entire 4 hours of the crawl. That made less of a crawl and more of a neighborhood happy hour. For my $8 bucks I’d have rather have had a progressive crawl where I am forced to got to all the bars (we only made it to 4 of the 7). A progressive crawl is also a great way to meet people, no longer are you a stranger in a bar, but a friendly face on the same ride. Even a seasoned barkeep like myself can be a bit shy, so every little bit helped.
The next stop we made was Perry’s, the stalwart Union Street restaurant where it all began. The crowd here is decidedly older than Bar None, not that is hard. The Lemon Drips were terrific, and made with care. Perry’s is and remains a San Francisco Landmark.
Notte was our next stop. This place is a hidden gem. The bar is behind the restaurant and down a small alley, this was good as it wasn’t crowded. The bartender, Brittney, took great care of us and the crowd was a friendly mix of crawlers and civilians.
Finally, we had to stop for a beer and a slice at Extreme Pizza. Then, being near the end of the crawl, I retired to my apartment. I was crawled out.
We did find friendly folks at all of our stops and could show camaraderie in our wrist bands.
Here’s the bar list!
- BarNone
- Notte
- Bayside
- Extreme Pizza
- Bus Stop
- Perry’s
- Blue Light
