Tradition

My fiancé and I can to San Fran for a long weekend. We stopped into tradition and they made us feel like we were part of the team. I have never been to a bar more welcoming then this place. LOVED THE DRINKS. LOVED THE SERVICE.

I have mixed feelings about this place. On one hand, I really like that you can place a reservation and have a nice little private booth with friends. Really makes it much easier to get a drink here without having to fight at the bar for one. But the downside was that the drinks here really were not up to par. Had a variety of drinks from the menu and most were not very good. We also tried one of the punch bowls with Gin as the base alcohol. It wasn’t very strong alcohol-​wise and had too much pepper and ginger to the point where it burned going down. While it looked neat in the giant mason jar, it wasn’t very good in my opinion. If you have other cocktail bars on your list, maybe venture to those ones first.

Really cool setting. I love the hidden booths and the chairs that are bolted to the floor but lean back almost 90 degrees. However, the cocktails were a little too classic for me. The White Irishman was an interesting twist. Fun spot to hang and people watch, but not a stop place to imbibe.

Cozy, rustic, yet relatively large venue for cocktails that’s a nice respite from a somewhat dreary neighborhood. The bartenders are friendly, attentive, and on their game here, and you can’t go wrong trying anything on their menu, whether a white Irishman (bushmills black, coffee liqueur, coconut milk, vanilla angostura) or a Dr. Jones (islay mist scotch, lemon, honey, orange, apricot liqueur, cinnamon tincture).
There’s lots of room to spread out at the bar and throughout the establishment, but what makes this an even more intriguing choice for date night is the fact that you can reserve the «snugs,» or private booths, for small parties. Time to snuggle up with someone delicious indeed!

I had a reservation for my private party up in the Mezzanine Room and it was perfect. Up there we had a bar plus one of the best bartenders I’ve ever met just for us. I gotta cite my friend who said «the drinks were dangerously good». The bar has a great atmosphere and is not too loud so you can actually talk to each other. I totally recommend this bar!

Really love this place, my go to place for drinks for a slightly special occasion or out of town friend.
The drinks have consistently been great. You can describe your preferred flavor profile and tasted to the waitstaff, and they’ll make a recommendation. Sometimes the waiters vary on how good their recommendations are. Last time I went, each recommendation was taken from the main page drink list, which is maybe 6 drinks? I don’t think she knew the menu very well and only offered the obvious drinks to match our tastes (i.e. cocktails with sparkling wine. response: «Have you had a French 75 before?»). But, in previous times, we got to try a fun range of drinks, and regardless, they always taste good.
Some of the further back booths make it hard to call for waiter’s attention, but they’re also pretty good at checking in at the right times. Booths are great for privacy though — you can have a drink sitting down, without having to drown out a crowd. Being able to make a reservation kind of last minute is nice too… unlike B&B.
Love this place’s charm! will be back for more.

Sister bar of Bourbon & Branch down the street. Walk-​ins are welcomed, space permitting. I highly recommend making a reservation online (I was able to do so day of) to nab one of their tables, which reminded me of a confession booth: sexy and intimate.
They have an assortment of different types of cocktails across the globe, with menus to match, depending on your mood. It’s considered a speak-​easy bar, however the vibe was a joyous level, so you don’t have to whisper to each other. I was only planning to have one, but ended up having three (isn’t that always the case?). All drinks were on point, even the ones made with 151… say whaaaaat?
Reasonably priced and enjoyed the vibe. Would definitely come back to try more of their menu!

Don’t you dislike it when a bar or restaurant is almost empty and they are not willing to let you sit? It was 4 days after Christmas and there were about 2 small groups in this usually packed bar. I ask for a seat at the private booth section and I was told that it was reservations only. It was 11:45PM on a Monday and more than half of the booths were empty. I would have to go outside and make a phone call to reserve a booth. This used to be one of my favorite go-​to bars when I lived 4 blocks away. I was surprised that after a year, that the rules have gotten ridiculously stricter. Since when was this place snooty?

Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. I don’t know what happened to this bar but I don’t like it. I used to be able to count on this place for consistently good drinks and service, but lately it has been a constant disappointment: the service is quick but the staff lack hospitality, and the drinks lack taste and are not curated as they once were. You’re better off making your own drink blind and from your college friends basement than you are here.
Specifically, the mint julep is all sorts of wrong, even after the bartenders explained to me their rationale behind the conception. It’s days later from my latest visit and I still wish I would have asked for a refund of the time and money spent here.

My friend got reservations for us after our dinner at this spot and it was so much fun! They have a regular bar section but if you get reservations, you can get a cute booth with an extra special menu.
The drink menu includes all different types of classics from different kinds of bars from tiki to the hotel bar. There were so many awesome fun cocktails. I wanted one of each but I’d end up in the hospital getting my stomach pumped.
The drinks here are amazing. The staff is super friendly.
Only gripe is it’s a little dark in there so make sure your phone is charged to use the flashlight option to read the awesome menu.

This place is pretty nice, the environment seems cool and there was a decent crowd but this place could use some help. The place itself was a little too dark for me and the music choice did not match with speakeasy type of theme that the bar was going on.
My experience here was not the best. The bar didn’t seem that crowded but15 minutes later and me and my friend haven’t gotten a drink yet… and there was 3 bartenders at the time! I felt that the bartenders was giving more attention to the groups on the bar stool than those who were seating outside the bar table. Both of us got pretty frustrated about the table and just decided to not order anything. We would’ve left, but somehow our friend got drinks for themselves.
I’d give this place one more chance to see how it is but honestly, if this always going to be like this, I’ll pass on this place

This is a great spot for date night. You can make a reservation and the seating if you do is in a cozy snug away from the walk-​in traffic. Even on a Friday night, I could hear my husband.
Service was excellent. Drinks were pretty great. Pretty great selection of cocktails to choose from!
Will definitely be coming back.

My group of friends and I came here on a Thursday night and there was barely anyone in here. It was mostly just couples sitting alongside the bar and chatting quietly.
You can tell this bar isn’t for big groups because most of the seats are along the bar and there are only 2 tables at the back that can fit maybe 4 – 6 people. I did see stairs that leads to an upstairs area but we didn’t go up – I’m guessing the upstairs area has more tables for bigger groups?
I do really really like the cocktails here though. My favorite one is the London Fog, White Irishman, and the Shrunken Skull (served in a really cool skull cup).

A friend and I wanted to try B&B, but seeing as though they were super crowded on a Friday night, we decided to head over to Tradition instead since it was right across the street. Tradition has got this really wonderful, old-​school, American rustic vibes. I really liked the décor of the place and the bartenders are also pretty nice. Drinks come out to be $ 11/​each. I had the Crystal Chandelier and the London Fog — loved the London Fog — really neat spin on a typically non alcoholic drink. Drinks are pretty delicious though my friend who is more of a connoisseur of fine drinks found the to be watered down. I’m kind of a baby and hate strong alcoholic tastes so I liked them enough. The place was definitely a lot less chaotic than the Library at B&B.
Would recommend you make reservations for the place though — they’ve got really nice booths for reservations — otherwise you can sit on some stools but it felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable so we ended up leaving pretty early.
tldr; yummy drinks and rustic American décor — would recommend

I stumbled into this place while running through the Tenderloin to the Powell BART station to catch the train to the east bay. Quite a little gem in this rough part of SF.
First off, I love the ambiance. It’s cozy with reserved booth seating, it has a tiny upstairs, the liquor wall is stocked and presents well, and it’s clean. It’s divey, but not grungy (which I was really thankful for). The bar area is a pretty efficient operation. Each bartender has his or her own station that they manage instead of all of them running around the bar area. I noticed my bartender cleaned and set up his station after every drink order. He was VERY efficient.
For our drinks, bf had his usual Old Fashioned and Manhattan while I picked a few off their cocktail menu. The Old Fashion was made in a textbook manner — muddled and then stirred in a large glass jar. It was clear and went down smoothly. I had a mojito to test the waters and when that came back on point, I moved to their menu.
Lastly, they had music playing in the background. What really sold me on this place was when a Journey song came on. If this was a true San Francisco bar, everyone would stop what they were doing to belt out «Don’t Stop Believin’» Tradition did not let me down here. No, we didn’t stop believin’ that night and I will hold on to that feeling. I will definitely stop here again the next time I’m in the city.

Why haven’t I reviewed this place yet?! I love this place– with their adorable little booths (that I just found out that you can RESERVE! WHAT?!) and their great cocktails. I particularly love their old-​timey ads they post everywhere. Just went there the other night for some drinks with a friend– awesome.
It gets pretty busy on the weekends but is always a good place to go with friends for happy hour or for drinks– gets kind of loud though, so I suggest a booth, the private area in the back or that one little round table in the corner (in the front) thats kind of apart from stuff (or you’ll never really hear each other).

«The dream of the 1890s is alive in Port…» ahem, I mean, Tradition. I recently checked Tradition out when my girlfriend and I couldn’t get our cocktail on at Tonga room due to a private event. I remembered someone I knew had a tiki-​ish cocktail so I figured it was worth a shot.
We got there right as they opened at 6pm on a Saturday night, but it filled up with people pretty quickly. The interior very much reminds me of that Portlandia skit, from everything down to the heavy stools at the bar and booths in the back to the bartender uniform of long-​john shirts and suspenders. Not that there’s anything wrong with this (it’s a good for a bar to have its own feel), but ultimately it comes to drink selection. Fortunately, Tradition totally excels.
I decided to go with beers, while my girlfriend went with cocktails. While the beer selection wasn’t huge (nor did I expect it to be), they had enough diversity and quality beers to satisfy a beer drinker. On the cocktail side, they put a lot of craft into their pours and a lot of alcohol. For my girlfriend’s first drink, she got the shrunken head that comes with a shot of Zacapa 23. Yes, she was very buzzed by the time it was done and yes it was very good. For her second drink, she got a Batida with hand-​made coconut cream. Again, this creation was worth every penny.
Next time I come here, I’m definitely going to make reservations, as access to the booths and full menu only come that way. But it’s still a great walk-​in experience if you’re looking for some quality inebriation.

Friday night at 9:30pm, the vibe is alright. There are people inside but by no means was it busy. Still took over 15 minutes to get two drinks.
I ordered a Mint Julep, granted I have no idea what that is but what I did get was a glass of ice and straight liquor. In hopes of trying something else, I ordered a Irishmen and it tasted like water you rinse cups with. The consistency was bad and the taste was worse.

I had my birthday here last week and it was fantastic for the following reasons:
— You can reserve booths for free! We had the booth for 12 (reserved for 8pm on a Saturday, 1 week in advance) but quickly outgrew it (it became uncomfortable with 10 of us since all of our coats took a spot — they should have coat hooks!). I’d anticipated this, plus a huge booth isn’t great for mingling around, so we just moved to the bar area. However, the booths are great for small groups.
— You can also reserve the upstairs area, but that had already been nabbed.
— It’s not too crazy or too loud. There’s plenty of space at 8pm on a Saturday, and it does get lively, but a group of 15 – 20 of us found space in the back. There just wasn’t good seating for a group — small tables with seats on just one side, etc. In the bar seats next to the booths, you can’t stand around b/​c it’s a fire code violation.
Keep in mind that they have a super extended menu that ONLY those with booth reservations can see. You can’t see this menu if you’re just a regular bar-​goer. But if you happen to know a drink from that menu, or are looking at a copy of the menu that someone has posted online, you can still order it at the bar!
* Afternoon Tea Sour (English Pub section) — 4.5 stars
I loved this. Light and refreshing, with some magic mix of amazing flavors that I can’t describe. It had a really nice egg white froth on top.
* Tiki Bar drink with coconut milk — 4 stars
Sorry, forgot the name of this! It was the one on the bottom of the Tiki Bar page. I loved the small small coconut shavings! This was on the sweet side but not overly so. Super tasty. I loved that it came a tall ceramic tiki tumbler.
* A Slow Comfortable Screw Up Against The Wall — 3.5 stars
A little too boozy for me, but still good. Tart/​juicy flavors.
* Ginger drink — 4.5 stars
I loved this! Incredibly refreshing. Sharp ginger flavor mixed with herbal/​tart flavors. Shaken and served upright. Unfortunately I don’t know if this was on the menu, but my friend asked the bartender for something with ginger, light & refreshing (my go-​to description) and he whipped this up.

Tradition has been such an old reliable friend over the last few years that I often forget I’ve been here until I’m actually walking through their front door #SenilitySetttingIn. However what I can tell you with absolute clarity is that Tradition is the epitome of the American bar in this melting pot of a city known as San Francisco.
They have 8 different drink menus (i.e. Tiki bar, English Pub, Speakeasy) and they have 8 confessional booths (reservations required) called «snugs» that are themed to match each of the 8 drink menus. The vibe of this two storied establishment is part classic Irish public house and part SF speakeasy with dark woods and minimal lighting that creates a hip, relaxed atmosphere.
The bartenders and staff have consistently been extremely well versed in their craft, personable, and generous. Based on drink menu quality/​diversity, and ambiance, Tradition is on my shortlist of go to bars in the city overflowing with top tier choices.

O Tradition é um bar bem interessante na fronteira do Tenderloin. Descobri em uma sexta-​feira à noite, quando estava fazendo um bar hopping com meus amigos. Chegamos um pouco tarde, mas o bar estava animado, a música estava boa e ao pedir os cocktails (eu já precisava de uma cerveja naquela altura do campeonato) a diversão começou rapidamente.
Na verdade é uma pena que os drinks já não coubessem porque morri de vontade de provar só de ver as opções no extenso menu. São 5 ou 6 páginas com drinks incríveis — e você vai querer provar um com whiskey!
A vibe é bem hipsters/​californiana, vi vários moços com barba e óculos e todo o outfit que San Francrisco pede.
Apesar do nome «Tradition» o local é bem moderno e descolado,.