Last Day Saloon

Wow… closed after all those years.
This was a really laid back neighborhood bar, where regulars could come and play pool and pull pints. I don’t know an equivalent in the neighborhood. Besides The Saloon in North Beach, this was my other favorite SF bar.

Holy shit, I’ve got so many places I still need to review in the backlog that tons of them are closing! In fact some of them have been closed for a long time now. Well, let this be the first of a series of nostalgics I need to get down in writing. LDS is responsible for me discovering the band Vinyl and the restaurant Burma Superstar (we had to eat before the Vinyl show, and parked literally in front. This was well before BSS was the hip place it is today). Chill downstairs and always happening upstairs. Play some pool with a pint or shake your thing/​rock out above. What did this turn into now? I’ve not been in out in this ‘hood in a long while…

«and i know a little joint upstairs in the back.
where we can sweat it all out.
and laugh.»
this place has that room in the back.
Its full of stoned band members and roadies.

This place is and always has been kind of like Bottom of the Hill for shitty jam bands. It’s gonna take more than changing your name to something that Sammy Hagar would think sounds cheezy to get me to go.

I was here on random Wednesday night. I played pool with this coked-​out-​I-​wear-​sunglasses-​indoors type of guy. Sat at the corner of the bar to be entertained by a trio consisting of a guy who claimed to have shot up heroin w/​the Victor Conte’s sister, a guy who proclaimed he murdered two men before joining the military and a very amiable Italian man who effortlessly peeled off hundred dollar bills to buy my friend and I shots all night. To say the least, this place was as random as it gets. The $ 5 beers are a bit steep though.

A few months back I went to see Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers (from AZ) play upstairs. First time i’ve gone to a show at any venue where I hung out at the bar (in this case, downstairs) before the show and found myself back at the bar for a while longer after the show … I usually purchase my $ 50 band t-​shirt and take off. What’s more — during the show I had easy access to grab a beer (or 6) at the upstairs bar (and it wasn’t because no one showed, it’s just a good setup) … for that, I am truly gratefully. Thank you Last Day Saloon … er, Rockit Room.

Maybe because the group I was with was really having fun, this place proved to be a blast! We wandered in around 9:30pm and a small crowd existed at the bar. We easily found ourselves playing many rounds of pool and foosball with no competition to lose the tables. The bartender even let us bring in some food from a neighboring restaurant to go with our tasty beers (my choice is the Heferweizen with a slice of lemon). The jukebox even managed to co-​exist with the live cover band playing upstairs.

The longest running, continuously owned nightclub in San Francisco, it was opened more than three decades ago by a former construction worker who gutted the space and completely rebuilt it himself. On the ground level, you can play pool and hang out with the neighborhood crowd. A restaurant on the second floor eventually gave way to what has become a nationally known venue for soul, blues, and rock bands. The upstairs walls are dense with placards of all the players who have taken the stage here, including the Allman Brothers, John Lee Hooker, Etta James, Moby Grape, and Country Joe & the Fish. There’s a full bar on each floor, with waitress service at both. It’s a true San Francisco institution.

I’ve really liked the concerts I’ve seen here. There’s something about this place that makes you feel connected to the performers, maybe because they can see you clearly? Seems to have a mostly folk-​rock history, but I could be wrong.

i hear they have some great bands play here! i used to come with my softball team after our games when we needed a break from the dogs bollix next door. pool tables, large upstair space, very casual and a jukebox!!! fun place and usually always busy.

I live right around the corner from here and never knew it was such a spacious music room until I walked over on a lark one night to see the Supersuckers. Who knew there’s a whole upstairs that’s probably almost as big as Bottom of the Hill? Out here in the Richmond! Go figger. It’s not much to look at, but the sound system is really quite good, actually, and it’s a solid, no-​frills spot to get down and dig some good music without feeling too crushed-​in or jostled. Full bar and everything. BTW, the Bronx completely stole the show from the Supersuckers that night…

If you happen to see the right band here, this place rocks. The downstairs bar is just that, a bar, but upstairs are where some good local and up-​and-​coming acts play. I saw Convoy, one of my favorite bands of all time, here.