Wow, I never thought I'd enjoy a tiny tiny bar where I couldn't even get a seat. I did. I had a blast here. The people who work there are fantastic and so are the customers. Its a friendly little joint that reminds me of some of the tiny pubs I'd visit in Ireland. Nothing but good memories of my first visit. I look forward to my next.
Review Source:I wouldn't miss coming here when we are in town. Â It's just awesome. Â
James, the owner, is very welcoming and so are the other bartenders. Â It's a tiny place, but that's one of its charms. Â Beer only, and yes, awesomely, comes from a bathtub.
Cash only. Â Stock up at the ATM before. Â The regulars were playing a dice game, which I tried hard to understand with my beer brain, but failed to. This bar has a true sense of comraderie and fun. Â Like a pub should.
As small as they all say, but quaint means that you get to really get to know your new found friends. This place houses regulars for the most part, all the folks that I saw seemed to know each other however they all were very welcoming and interested in the new faces that try to fit in the joint. The fact that its cash only keeps the douches out, which makes it a place to gravitate towards. Go.
Review Source:My wife and I visited the Black Horse on our honeymoon in 2010....and its taken me this long to write a review...we visited other restaurants and bars through out San Fransisco but we ended up at the "Deli"every night.
It's everything everyone says, smaller than small..but you walk in and James the barkeep  introduces you to everyone, and its like going to a party with your best friends.
Beer is served out of a bathtub, and you can gamble on a dice game at the bar.....If  your looking for a nice piano bar with elegant decor..then keep looking...if you like some good beer guzzeling with great fun people..look no further.
I've been to countless pubs and bars all over the world....and so far... this place is my No # 1. favorite....
Came in, met James, had conversations about his family, Cleveland, the history of the building, the street, the friends that were there, plans for Christmas, plans for New Years, plans for the future, gave him my card, he invited me again -- and when the spots make themselves available, I'll be there.
The Black Horse is an awesomely friendly place.
Someone go get another bag of ice for the tub!
I stopped into The Black Horse not knowing that it's the size of a shoebox (my brother and I were on our way to a fancy steak dinner). No matter, though; the crowd was super-friendly and respectful -- a necessary feature when every two minutes someone has to slide out of the way to make room for someone else. Making conversation with other folks seems almost expected; the bartenders and other patrons chatted both me and my brother up within a few minutes of entering. A fun experience overall.
Review Source:Neat little bar with a friendly atmosphere. Â Within minutes you will know everyone and talk to each other like you were neighbors or friends. Â Conversation was constant and topics ever changing. Â It was interesting. Â Beer was a little more than other places and I figure since it is such a small bar and can only serve a certain amount of people, one way to at least make a profit is to charge a little more.
It would've been four stars but It appears that they do allow smoking inside here which made me take away a star. Â If this place was bigger I seriously wouldn't have minded at all. Â but when someone is next to you smoking in such a TINY area there is no escaping it. Â Seriously, if I started farting and it stunk up the room would everyone be fine with it? (Maybe some guys would be amused) Â Or would at least the ladies be offended if I sat next to them and pass a little gas. Â Well that is how smoking next to me is. Â Just my opinion.
Stopped in here for the novelty of it being the smallest bar. Â The beer price was not as small though. Â For you non smokers beware, they sometimes smoke inside. Â And the place is so tiny, the smoke does not disperse by the time it reaches you. Â
Everyone is extremely friendly here. Â So do not hang out here if you dont wanna conversate and be left alone with your drink. Â Come here when you need people to talk to because you will definitely find someone to yap your heart out to.
The list of 10 Commandments nailed to the wall dictate something along the lines of "Thou shalt give up your seat to a woman." as the first commandment. HELL-TO-THE-YESSSSS!
At last, a pub/bar that commands chivalry. Long dead in our society, it's nice to experience a bit of it in this lifetime. The bar owner is extremely friendly, and the people who come here are as well. I had been wondering why this bar was so small (it's about the size of a small hallway), so the owner enlightened me.
This had been an alleyway between two buildings, and the previous owner had been genius enough to turn this into a place of business. Boom, bang, a few decades later, and you have The Black Horse.
Beer preserved in a claw-foot tub, friendly pub-goers, an owner who's so friendly, if he had one more droplet of friendliness in him, he'd implode, and an intimate ambiance that allows for actual conversation = my new favorite bar in all of SF.
I like intimate bars. I like intimate bars that once upon a time, used to be an alleyway, even more.
Why 5 stars? Â Because I felt like I was amongst nothing but bff's.
 ---  ---  ---
Yelp, you sonofabee. Â After walking around San Francisco by myself for a couple of days, I found my way to BHLP. Â Upon entering the threshold of the door way, I completely forgot that I was alone in the city and felt like a super regular at the local pub. Â I was greeted and treated so warmly while I was there, I am still kind of amazed by it. Â As I walked in, everything kind of stopped and everyone seemed to turn their attention to chatting with me. Â That makes me sound like a narcissistic blow hard, but who doesn't like that kind of treatment when you're riding solo?
It is as small as others have pointed out. Â Including the bathrooms, I don't know if they could fit 25 people in there, personal space be damned. Â I feel like that kind intimacy adds to the charm.
I asked about the 1-4-24 game that I read about, and was once again, they seemed to be at my service and dropped everything to bust the game out for me. Â It's a really fun and addicting game that's perfect for the bar. Â I recommend you all check out Black Horse for the rules and explanations. Â I'm sure you can google it, but why not add some adventure into your life and check out the ole' pub and learn about the way people used to before the internet?
I had some good beer while I was there as well. Â I wish I could remember what they were, but nay. Â The selection was definitely quality over quantity. Â I'll be back during my next visit to SF.
What an awesome place.
Yes it's tiny, and yes the beers are kinda pricey. But all of this doesn't matter when we followed an elderly gentleman in to the pub and he bought us a round of beers. Just like that! It was my first time coming here and I didn't know exactly where it was located.
The people are friendly and entertaining. You can hear all kinds of stories and from different perspectives. The patrons and the bartender welcomes everyone who has a good attitude.
It's a nice place to just grab a beer and soak in the characters who live in sf.
As I walked into this itsy, bitsy, tiny pub, I was greeted by James. I introduced myself and for the remainder of the night, he addressed me by my name, which was cool.
The place was packed, so all the seats were occupied. The pub has a rule about occupying seats. If the pub is packed and you are a male with a seat, you must sacrifice your seat to a standing female, which is cool. I don't mine giving up my seat to an attractive female...hehe.
The beer was good. I forgot which one I had, but it was $7; most expensive beer available in the pub.
Overall, the pub was an okay experience. I would go back again, but next time I would avoid the Yatzee games that goes around the pub as I witnessed some shady stuff with the payout and just enjoy the beer.
Cheers!
Cool, intimate, beer pub with laid back people sipping on great beers kept on ice in a bathtub behind the tiny bar!
They have a "no cell phone allowed" rule which is awesome because it keeps out the annoying Marina Douch-a-b@gs talking nonstop on their phone.
Owner, James, is awesome. He's debonair, tells sensational stories and andhe's the epitome of gravitas. I heard he once owned a bar in Aspen.
I'm a girl and had a huge crush on the female bartender. I go back just to watch her take  caps off of bottles. Soooo sexy!
This bar is super small. No joke, the max capacity is no more than 10 people. That's cool but, beyond that, there's not much to love.
Most importantly, it's not a "dive" because it's not exactly cheap. The bottled beers (served from a tub) are $5 or $6 and there are no brews on tap. This upsets me.
Also, the service is a little strange. The bartender said "I don't know you" when we walked in. Typically I like this sort of sass but it wasn't delivered properly. She then told us about her parent's marital problems. Girl, I don't need to hear this, I'm just trying to get my drink on!
Anyway, the size is fun but everything else is below average.
This is a true hole in the wall - I'm guessing it's the smallest pub in SF. Â Driven by plenty times - finally made it in one afternoon before it was full. Â The bartender was very friendly - there was one draft and he didn't think it was something we may like but hubby and I both liked it. Â With that, it was an extremely generous pour...more than a pint and we even got a small refill. Â While there, we met a couple regulars and a visiting Brit who truly enjoyed a home away from home.
Other bottled beers are stored in an old bathtub w/ ice - it's like a frat house party but cooler.
Good times...
Tiny. Great beer, too. (Loves me some Anchor Summer!) The beer? It's in a bathtub behind the bar. Is that even legal? (And honestly... does anyone even care in San Fransisco?)
Probably not.
But who effing gives a rat's butt? I like beer, and I also enjoy things that challenge the size ratio. Black Horse does both of these things: beer and tiny. Seven seats, as others have mentioned, and also, the bartender was very nice. She gave me a piece of her pistachio cherry blondie bar, which I happily ate, as I was at that point drinking on a very empty stomach. Also, the house rule? Ladies sit, and dudes give up their seats. (Whaaa? Dang...chivalry lives! And if not, you're pretty much forced out, so take that, dudes.) Â
Tiny bathroom, tiny bar, big ol' bathtub full of beer -- not gin! -- and a great honest little place. Hearts.
I've been to some small towns in my time. Places where your next door neighbor and the guy on the other side of town are the same person. Some would call it cozy or quaint, others claustrophobic.
The Black Horse is unapologetically small. Its smallness is its greatest feature. Not that it doesn't have anything else going for it. The décor--mostly football memorabilia (soccer to us yanks)--is tacked up with no real organization or explanation. There's also a large flat screen TV that inexplicably played a poker tournament on mute the night I visited. Who cares? There's also a corkboard with small denomination bills from all over the world pinned to it.
Like a small town, you get to know your neighbor. It's kind of unavoidable when you're so packed in that you're rubbing your goods and services against them all night long, and vice-versa. By the end of the night, you'll know what kind of cell phone everyone has in their pocket.
Just like in those great small towns that cover the country, there are unwritten rules to obey at the Black Horse. The greatest of these, is that women have preference on the bar stools. When a lady comes in, she gets the stool. No questions asked.
Drinks were nothing fancy. It's bottled beer + and cash only, at that. But it's all about community. And whether you're pressing the flesh with the guy next to you, or playing a spirited game of 1-4-24, it's definitely about the crowd (and being crowded) at The Black Horse.
The Chinese calendar has designated 2010 as the Year of the Tiny. Hence therefore twice removed, The Black Horse has been deemed bar of the year.
If my room at the Harbor Court is a womb, then the Horse is the birth canal. Seven seats at a bar that's a Fat Albert away from the frame-adorned walls. Bottled beer ($5-8, cash only) served from an ice-filled bathtub in which you'd expect to wake up, sans kidney. Tips in a hanging pitcher and a corkboard loaded with tacked-on foreign currency, just because.
The one TV on high is useless, as your face will be in the back of the head of the guy who's standing in front of you, just as the party-back of your mullet is filling the nostrils of the man standing behind you. Rest assured, assuming you're male, you will be standing. The first of ten Rules of the Bar mandate sacrificing your stool to any lady in an act of shotgun chivalry. The rules are enforced, much to the chagrin of two goobers who didn't want to move. Sorry Charlie!
It's here I learned of a magnificent dice game called 1-4-24. And because you learn the rules when you manwich your way to your first beer at the Horse, I'll spare you the details.
Go, drink, be born again.
I may have peaked. Â The Black Horse may be one of the coolest bars I and only ten other people have squeezed themselves into.
To call this place a hole in the wall would make people think that a hole is bigger than it really, really is. The fact that it is only 250sq feet big is in total adds to the charm of this bar that insists on no cellphones, cash-only and stools reserved for the ladies only.
People who aren't fans of bumping up against strangers should probably stay away. Â You'll end up talking to people, while having your personal space zone invaded like no other time in your life. Â The prices are great, the bartenders are fantastic and you'll have a wonderous time. Just make sure you brush your teeth.
This may be one of the tiniest drinking holes that I have ever imbibed in...not a bad thing?
Love the Chimay, love the dice, love the tight spaces.
If you love brew and a laid back vibe...this is the place for you.
No frills. No cash. No space.
Good times.
The end of my teeny tiny review.
Double midnight!
Besides the extra-small interior that everyone has already mentioned, the one thing that sticks out in my mind about Black Horse is the crazy dice game that's played on the tiny counter space within. Don't ask me how it's played, 'cause I'm slow to catch on and even slower to remember, but it has something to do with 1's and 4's and the number 22. And I'm not a bettin' woman, so you're just going to have to go there and see for yourself!
So to be honest, I only came here because I thought this Pub had a pretty cool name.
A few friends and I were brainstorming the other day of Pubs around the city we havnt been to. When someone proposed the Black Horse, we all agreed - saying that the name sounded pretty cool.
The first thing you notice when your there is how small the venue is. Most of the people there were standing, and if your lucky enough to find a seat, you HAVE (its their bar rule) to give it to a lady.
Another one of their rules is that you cant be on your phone (talk/test) in the bar, which is a freaking awesome rule! It forces your to socialize and not be anti-social and buried in your texting world.
Despite the venue being really small, the crowed itself is freaking awesome. Everyone there (including the bartenders and staff) are really friendly, and will often engage you in conversation seeing that you are banned from using your phone.
Botton line, awesome bar. I wish it was just a little bigger =)
It's nice to be a lady at the super tiny yet awesome Black Horse. Â Guys must give up their seat for you (it's a rule), and the bartenders are so friendly that I just want to hug them (but don't reach over the bar or go behind the bar, those are other rules). Â Great selection of beers, and I love love love that you can't use your cell phone in the bar - OMG you actually have to TALK to people! Â
Stop in, say hello to cutie-patootie James, and have a few beers. Â You might catch me there on a schoolnight :)
Hands down my favorite bar in SF. Thank you to Ruggy for showing me and Tiff this freakin awesome joint with it's rad owner/bartender and really really cool clientele. Seriously, every time I've gone here, I've had an absolute blast and met people I thought were totally awesome. And I always get to show this place to friends when they come into town and blow their mind completely out of their head.
Awesomeness incarnate!
The Black Horse would be my favorite bar ever if only they'd throw some sparkling splits in their bathtub of beer. Don't get me wrong I enjoy delicious beer, but I can literally drink about two in one sitting before I become full and truthfully I want to stay here longer than that. Perhaps someone from the Black Horse is reading this and is willing to put Sophia in their menu rotation? It's the can of sparkling wine that comes with its own sipping straw like a juice box and I think it would fit right into your eclectic selection and the ladies that you are so kind to already would love it.
Ah hell, who am I kidding really? The Black Horse is pretty much my favorite bar even with just the beer because it's just that awesome. It can hold maybe 16 people at once and there are people spilling out onto the sidewalks. It's crowded, but no one is pushy. It's the opposite in fact; everyone is friendly and trying to figure out how they can help you get in to get a beer. Plus they are very kind to ladies with rules about letting ladies have the seats at the bar and that guys have to stand. I like this show of chivalry.
And once you're sitting down (or standing up if you're a boy) you can engage in a game of 1, 4, 24 for $1. It involves dice and rolling certain numbers, but that's all I'll say - you have to learn for yourself if you ever make it there.
I think what I'm trying to say here is Black Horse, I heart you.
This is by far the smallest bar I've ever been to. Its not the size of the ship it's the motion of the ocean and in terms of coolness the Black Horse popped several Viagras.
The max capacity is about 20 people, and they only serve beer and wine that is kept cold via bathtub behind the bar. It really kind of resembles a college dorm room converted into a saloon.
The greatest part about hanging here is the fact that you get to know everyone in the place. You can't help, but strike up a conversation when sitting inches from the next barfly.
The bartender (I'm assuming owner) is super chill and will play dice with the patrons, but watch out he's got a hot hand.
Certainly not the type of place to hit up if you want to rage against the machine, but if a chill couple of beers is your tone for the night this place is right up your alley.
This is bar is like drinking in your best friends' basement when his parents are out of town for the weekend and his alcoholic father forget to lock up his good beer. What? Don't look at me like that. I know I can't be the only one who had this experience growing up. Words won't prepare you for how small this place is. You wouldn't believe me, so I won't belabor the point. Suffice it to say, it's small. Real small. But that's the appeal.
There are all sorts of domestic and imported beers. While there, I drank an Australian beer (IPA; light) and some Eastern European beer (Czech? I can't remember; it was dark in color like a stout but it wasn't as heavy as a stout). Wow. I am overwhelmed by the usefulness of this review. Apologies. In any case, the beers are all in a bathtub full of ice behind the bar. Awesome. The owner/barkeep can give you great details about all the brews, but still. Bathtub. Full of ice. Win.
Spending an hour and a half or so here made me feel like a bona fide San Franciscan. It was a terrific re-introduction to the city by the bay. I didn't see a Black Horse. I might have seen a cherry tree. Woo hoo. I definitely saw a Londoner. And, I was in a pub. So, I guess the name of the bar makes sense -- which is more than I am doing now. What am I saying? Uh, come here to drink beer out of bathtub and battle claustrophobia. A word of warning, though: resist the urge to do anything concerning the numbers 1, 4 and 6. Don't ask why or what, just resist. Trust me. My wallet is thinner for having stared into that abyss.
Things that are larger than the Black Horse:
-A '68 VW Bug
-Verne Troyer's trouser snake
-An iPod Nano
-The amount of words in Jay Cutler's vocabulary besides "you know." <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DL9WCPxDYBjg&s=270ae1b6deab1f2ceec938d5989a921d91acee1e66944ac1a91a2539c06f0e62" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/w…</a>
-The dollar amount currently resting in my bank account ($3.77)
-A stapler
-15 adult midgets in a hot tub
-This dog <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DLmN_m7F9C7Y&s=dd61e88b0e05fbb525098c150a34faa81d2863888f30e609b5217522e4df5c35" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/w…</a>
-George W. Bush's 19% approval rating in 2008
Hopefully by now, you have an idea of what I'm talking about. The Black Horse is officially the smallest bar on the West Coast, and the owner suspects it's actually the "Smallest bar west of the Mississippi." That term gets tossed around with more regularity than a Tiger Woods one night stand, but in this instance, I think it could be accurate. At capacity, the joint holds 22 people, and according to James, the owner of Black Horse, the most they've ever had inside at any given point was 25. That may sound like an extremely small amount of people, but to call this place diminutive is an understatement.
It's been said previously, but if you're a shut-in who hates people, it'd be a smart move to avoid this place at all costs. Due to the lack of square footage and available seating, you're forced to become BFFs with the other bar patrons real fast. For those lonely nights when a dark corner and a stiff drink are the only thing that'll suffice, go elsewhere - trust me.
They only serve beer (out of a bath tub) and they enforce their bar rules with the heavy hand of a supreme court judge. By no means will you be sentenced to execution for violating the laws of this itty-bitty London Pub, but you'll be politely asked to avoid using your cell phone and you'll have to prove that chivalry is not dead by vacating your seat if women outnumber men inside the bar. So if you're the kind of guy that has no manners, and you can't resist checking Twitter from your Crackberry for more than 15 minutes at a time, you might be better off trekking a few more blocks to get tipsy in the Marina. As guilty as I might be in regards to being a slave to my iPhone, it's a relief to suspend day-to-day activities and reliance on technology to enjoy a few good brews with strangers (A.K.A., friends you just haven't met yet), in a truly remarkable setting.
If you're checking out the place for the first time, like any bar in the city, do your best to venture out on a weekday. Weekends can be an absolute disaster, and this isn't the kind of place that has a high turnover rate for bar goers. Once folks get comfy, they're usually in for the long haul.
I had to look through the reviews as i had never read them, but i've been going here for years. Its a sleepy little spot that pumps. Ultra small bar. Basically there is behind the bar and in front of the bar, and a small area for darts. Super cool spot to hang, but dont try to come here with a group. it'll never happen. The whole bar may be able to fit... 20 people? Great drink/beer selection. One of SF's (little) gems.
I'm just wondering who is the 1 Yes vote in the survey under Coat Check???
Good place to get tanked and learn where the ye olde english saying, "getting tanked," comes from.
Back in the day when you drank too much out of the above "tankard" you were said to be "tanked" ... if you got so "tanked" that you passed out, there was a chance that somebody might think you had actually died. Since back then they didn't have experience with taking pulses, they often buried people alive who were actually in a drunken stupor or otherwise comatose.
If you see me passed out in here, please, don't bury me. I'm not dead, I'm just tanked.
Tanks.
Obviously opinions change continuously...
After visiting the smallest bar in the city for the second time, but this time actually being able to enter made all the difference.
The one bartender is personable and welcoming. How could you not be when you are 2 feet from each other at all times. Conversation was good and the idea of the place made me feel more comfortable.
I'd recommend coming here on week night. I wouldn't recommend ordering a cheese platter (the only dish they offer) I don't know how it could be sanitary to eat in the little joint, but a beer and laughs is just fine.
______________________________________________
my original 2 star review:
I'm stuck in a box and there's no way out........
I admit I haven't been inside. I have walked by it numerous times and I cant fit and if I could I'd be stuck between eeks a mouse and a dirty bar stool. Smallest Bar in SF, what is cool about that?
How can you run a business out of a closet. I wonder what rent is... One star for still being open after a billion years
One star for trapping customers (I don't know how you do it, but it's something to be proud of)
Do you live in a teeny tiny studio? I'm not talking the sort where there is room for a bed and a couch, plus a hallway, bathroom and full kitchen. I am talking you walk in the front door and have to step over your twin sized bed to get to the bathroom and mini fridge/ hotplate combo that the landlord qualifies as a "kitchen".
When you start feeling claustrophobic and need to be cheered up over your cramped living quarters just pop over to the Black Horse and grab a brew. It is cozy, and by cozy I mean, you just made a new friend of everyone in the place without even trying, cozy. This little pub will make your place look like the Taj Mahal.
On the upside it is owner operated and will allow you, legally, to smoke inside. Cute LITTLE place.
Sometimes its hard to feel like "Mr. Big" in this city- you know what I mean, you walk into the bar, and the sum total of every client looks up at the new stranger coming in with a look of well....drunken happiness.
well, this is definately the place. WIth an awesome beer selection (double points for the chimay blue and quad points for the spaten Oktoberfest) and the cheese/chutney plate was to die for. And with the place being so small, there's no way you could not make friends with everyone in the bar in say, 5 minutes....which can be a bad thing if you do like I did and agree to play the sadistic (but cheery) bar staff  a game that is a crazy mix of simon says combined with tazer technology, and if you lose then......yeah, it must have been the beer......
be warned, cell phone technology- unlike tazer-enabled simon says games- are frowned upon muchly!
This bar is huge, I had a party for about 300 people here once. Oh wait, just took my medication, must have been hallucinating... Actually, if you can get 30 people in here I'd be surprised, and that's a good thing.
The Black Horse is truly that bar where everyone could potentially know your name, well at least after a few pints. Everytime I stop in, there's always someone telling a story. On the flipside, if you're talking to whomever you're with, there's a good chance that another patron will chime in with his/her own opinion.
No cell phones allowed, you'll get nasty looks, and the usually gentlemanly bartenders will ask you to leave. Don't be that guy.
Charmed. Â I am absolutely charmed. Â If this pub asked me to dinner, I would blush and giggle and then run out to buy a new outfit and maybe even a pretty bra (because I'm thinking you are totally gonna get to second, Black Horse...). Â
I've been twice in the last three days. Â Too eager?
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