Very disappointed. Met with 3 friends & was so excited to see them. Bar was too noisy-(small area) hard to hear people. This was a Thursday about 6pm (june 20th) Worst of all, the female bartender, long black hair, REFUSED to make us bloody mary's!!! She said it was "too hard". I have never experienced this.
Only good thing, bar is pet friendly-saw 2 dogs. I guess I could have brought my parrot & cat
Jane D
Being that I don't really drink - going out to bars has a different appeal for me.
If I'm going out to a bar or lounge - I like to make sure it either has great ambiance,  some pretty fabulous people at it, or some  quality live music.
The Riptide has all of that.
It's one of the most charming and cozy bars in all of San Francisco.
It's got a rustic inviting atmosphere - which is so fitting - considering it's right by the breeze of the beach. As you enter and leave you can smell the salt water in the air. Bliss.
The Riptide's bartender are unbelievably on top of things.The whole time I was here  - their main lovely bartender made sure that my water was constantly refilled (despite there being a self pour station). Each time he - added fresh wedges of lemon as well. So refreshing!
It was open mic night and from the moment I entered - everyone at Riptide was kind. The older Irish gentleman sitting next to me at the bar had such a warm demeanor. He talked lovingly about his grown children. All of Riptide was bubbling with kind-eyed regulars - many of whom were there for the open-mic. Everyone was supportive of all of the musicians and just happy to be out and surrounded by friendly faces.
My long walk to the beach was so well rewarded by an epic evening here - full of the nicest and most personable bar regulars and staff around.
I can't wait to spend more epic evenings here.
Trust.
This is my local go to bar. Especially Mondays with open mic and $3 Widmer's till midnight. Tuesday are also my fav day to go because the have karaoke it always ends up going till 2am and everyone usually picks some good songs to sing along to:). And Thursdays is lady's night! I really enjoy this bar and it's close to beach!
Review Source:I went here for my roommates birthday celebration and was quite excited for their bingo night (every Saturday from 5:30-7:30). Â The moment I walked in, I noticed that the placed was packed. Â We came in right around 5:30 expecting the place to be a little empty....wrong! Â I guess everyone, I mean everyone including their dogs, loves bingo night. Â The atmosphere is very casual. Its one of those bars that you can just go in with a few friends or chat it up with some of the locals around the neighborhood. Â If you plan on coming in for Bingo night, get here a little early. Â Dogs are allowed to be inside with their owners, which was interesting. Â There are three rounds with a lot of cool prizes. Â The 3rd round, which is blackout bingo, is very intense because everyone, with the exception of my roommate who wanted the egg slicer, wants to win the $50 tab. Â They also give out free jello shots on third round when O69 is called. Â Overall I had a great time, the booze was great, the company was amazing, and the girl calling the numbers during the game is hilarious! Â Definitely a place to check out!!
Review Source:My wildly talented SF-based friend told me this was one of the best open mics in town, so on a recent work trip I ducked out for a couple hours, raced across Twin Peaks to the beach and found myself in one of those places that feels like home. Kind, cool, no BS staff signed me up to play and got me on stage for the two song max bonanza that was going down. Everyone who played went whole heartedly all in, something about the fireplace, the piano, the grit, the wide age range, the inclusive blue collar sideways smile of it all... After I played, tough funny Irish men bought me whiskey and told me stories and I didn't want to ever leave.
Review Source:So we've been here a few times and each time I like it more. Yes it's a total dive but that makes it fun.
The prices and the atmosphere is just right. It's nice to have a fun place to go within walking distance.
Live music and no cover! You can bet I'll be back.
I've heard they have food....hmmm I may just have to go back next weekend to check this out!
Try living out in the Sunset or Parkside and suddenly you will see how important this bar is.
It is better than all the others way out here. Â It is. Â Really.
It is cozy. Â It is neighborhoody. Â
They have some decent beers and it tastes like they clean their lines. Â They always have a drink special and not always something you wouldn't want. Â
They have bands. Â
They have bingo and all sorts of other game/hang nights.
They have a fireplace.
The Riptide is a great Sunset dive bar -  decent delection of micro-brews, friendly bartenders and patrons. Fireplace and projection TV showing sports are  added bonuses. For happy hour they usually have some sort of snanks such as nachos, grilled cheese, or hot dogs for soaking up the booze. Best thing was that there was not a 'hipster' in sight
Review Source:Now the Riptide will always have a small piece of my heart. I've had many adventures here- from celebrating my 21st to the infamous "dip" incident (among friend of course).
But when I left the avenues behind, the Riptide was left as well. Gone where the days when bored my roommates and I would sit and drink cheap beers discussing our latest romance. Gone where the days when I would pop in for a quick drinking before going out in the Mission.
But on a recent bizarrely sunny afternoon in San Francisco my friend and I decided to head out to Sutro Baths, i convinced them to stop in this old haunt to say a hello.
It was the middle of the afternoon, the bar was empty except for a few regulars here and their. There was a game on the television and Tom Waits was wailing from the jukebox. Memories from my younger foolish days came back to me as I was discussing molecular energy with a friend (just kidding- it was policy). I felt all warm and fuzzy inside again.
I started off with a beer, but after seeing the delicious bloody mary's that the sweetest bartender on earth was making, I went for my FIRST bloody mary.
She took her careful time and the concocted the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Using jalapeno vodka, a salt, pepper and chile rim and even using picked green beans and two pieces of sweet sweet bacon- I was delivered with a masterpiece that blew my mind.
In my existential state I came to a very important, life changing conclusion- Bloody Mary's are the bomb.
So thank you- Riptide for kindling my love for you yet again and thank you to the sweetest, most talented bartender in the world.
I will be back for another bacon bloody mary.
This place has got character.  And I love places with character.  More than once I've mused as to how I could sneak one of those lacquered tables out of this joint!  And did I mention, there's  a deer head on the wall... a deer head!  ha!  Or what, Is is a moose?  Too many beers!  I would recommend going when there's live music.  *Highly recommend.  The bartenders are super cool too!  Cash only, but there's an ATM.
Review Source:I had a charming Sunday night here, what a little gem! Could not have been happier. Walked in with a friend to live music of cowboys and country (they had a slide guitar, guys!) and enjoyed the performances as the band called various regulars up to sing or song or two each. Some were amazingly good, others less so... but all were entertaining. I really meant to find out the name of the mother/daughter duet duo. They were incredible!
The bartenders were on it and the place was soon filled. Bathrooms, your standard o-k bar experience.
The crowd was varied and unpretentious, from old cowboys, hipsters, frat guys and the the like. I couldn't believe I was in SF! Will definitely be back.
Thanks Riptide!
Really liked this bar, it was right next to Ocean beach and had a nice friendly feel to it.
They had live music and decor to match to boot. Really felt like a bar you could be a regular at if you were a local. I liked that they had history on the wall, and even had a quote to the effect of, "welcome to the edge of the western world" I am a sucker for adventurous type of culture tid bits. Had a couple good conversation, wish they had pirate music.
I miss authentic pirate music.
Awesome hole-in-the-wall surfer's bar. I'd recommend cabbing it out here because Muni has been known to go M.I.A. in this part of the Sunset.
Live music, bartenders who know what they're doing and don't patronize. Cheap, cheap, cheap beers.
The bathrooms are as expected, smelly and full of kegs. This place is great for a casual night of drinking and nobody to impress.
Major points for the fireplace.
We came in, grabbed a pint and immediately sat around the fire and chatted it up.
What a great neighborhood bar.
Lots of local color and character without feeling skeevy or gross.
A girl like myself likes that aspect of a divey sort of joint.
I want things to be cozy and dark, but not ominous.
Definitely want to go back for when our gracious host DJ's here. And maybe even Bingo? I could be up for that. ;)
LOVE! this dive bar... Walked down with my roomies last night for a couple pints-
2 stars for the decor- really old random swag, a fireplace, a moose, a plethora of old timey photos and the register straight from the wild west
(snowboarding videos projected on a giant screen- nice touch)
1 star for the dj- played lots of punk, reggae and funk... and looked like Dante from grandma's boy lol
1 star for the service- it was packed but the sole bartender was on top of it
Verdict: a badass neighborhood pub with flavor, I'm smitten
A really chill bar that has bingo night, pretty funny actually.
Its located near the beach and something about this place feels really relaxing. Especially the tables/booth.
This place gives me the same comfortable feeling I had when I was just chilling at a bar in Taiwan. Beer and laptop...the only difference is that I can't smoke at Riptide.
DIY yourself ladies night grilled cheese warrants driving out to 46th street (it's not underwater! The streets DO go that far).
Yummy grilled cheese, cheap cheap $3.50 beer, really nice bartender (she said bye to us, and I got confused.. that NEVER happens), and a FIREPLACE. Yay, yay, yay :)
Brooke says I should give them 5 stars, but I think she should make her own yelp profile and stop questioning my star giving scale.
Sometimes when I get out I get WAY out! The Riptide is so close to the beach that you can hear the friggin' Waves!
WHOA!
THE PLACE HAS SOME AWESOME DJs! the place is small and quaint. the drinks are standard. the dudes are dull, the babes are better than you would think.
I have rocked and sexed tin this club and you could too if you knew what you were doing!
Divey, laid-back, bar in the outer sunset near the end of the line for the Muni L-Taraval. Â I remember back in my college days when this place used to be called the Oar House. Â Had to be careful who and how you said that since it could easily be misheard and misunderstood for another word that sounded just like it. Â "Where were you?...Oh, I was at the whorehouse...The what?...The Oar House!!!" :) Â After that, it became The Sand Bar. Â I loved the Sand Bar, it was a toilet, a drunk tank...a place where there was always a party going on at any time of day...man, I miss that place!
After that, it became The Riptide and everything changed. Â I was there when it first opened and thought it tried way too hard to be wannabe Mission. Â The crowd changed again after that and then took a turn for the worse temporarily, but now it finally seems to have finally found itself and is a nice neighborhood bar...it is now what it should have been in the first place.
Good drinks, reasonable prices, mellow crowd and a roaring fireplace to boot. Â Bonus points for being next to Brother's Pizza and near the 18 Sloat and L Taraval Muni lines.
Free chili and  nachos the night I went in on a cold night seeking a martini.  So that was super cool.  The cheese was the whiz kind too so it was so good yet so bad.
Tables are all kinds of glazed wood shaped in one area. Â Place is right by the beach and it has a fireplace that you can practically sit in.
Asian Persuasian, Caucasian, college girl tempations..
A beer and a half and I'm wasted.
Thursday nights are poppin' make sure you're updated.
Don't talk to tall whiteys who are sedated, might injure the medulla oblangata. Degraded.
Once found a hotty, from Calcutta.
Lots of mother lovers, I recall one, I think he's name was Danny Glover. Â
Rowdy boys spilled one on my sneaker, I gave them a fee waiver.
White on white crime outside, entertaining as ever.
A man walks into a bar, maybe never.
Wild College days are over.
I came here the Friday of Halloween weekend with three friends. Let me just say that the last time I was here, it was a Wednesday afternoon and I was one of 6 people in the place. Not so exciting. Fast forward to my last visit: We walk in at midnight--my friend just turned legal--costumes and all. The place was PACKED! So much life and noise! Deeefinitely a different picture than scenario #1. The bartender pulls out a full-page menu of special Halloween drinks, and we get on with business. (Which by the way packed a strong backward punch in me at the end of the night. Strong drinks indeed.)
A little while later, we're posted up right at the bar, and everyone's throwing me compliments on my costume and wanting a picture. I'm not trying to gloat/brag/whatever you will, my point is that the crowd here is very friendly, sociable, approachable, amicable, I can keep going...It was a very comfortable alternative to our next night at a gay bar in the Castro where the same costume returned absolutely no compliments or photo requests, only questionable and/or judging looks that l understood only as "What the eff are YOU?" (Feel free to sue me for wearing the same thing two nights in a row. It was indeed a superb costume, and I was on a budget.)
To sum up, The Riptide is the place to go if you want a fun crowd to surround your entourage, if you need an upbeat place to party solo after a bad breakup/shitty week, and the music is great. Not to mention the drinks are relatively inexpensive. The ATM was giving me some trouble, though, so bring cash before you go on your way.
And for those that are wondering, I was Slash.
This place is okay for your neighborhood dive.
And though I thought it was illegal, it's like, a dog-friendly bar too. There were 2 dogs there when I went on a Friday night. They said a lot more hang out during the day.
The prices weren't amazing, but not bad. We got two beers and 3 shots of tequila.
I'd say we were the hottest chicks in there.
The hanging moose and crocodile heads were amusing.
The ladies restroom was a Hepatitis-C level of disgusting.
Yeah.
Cool little hokey spot way out there in the Outer Sunset. Â It'll just be packed with locals wearing plaid flannel shirts and blue jeans on any given weekend night. Â They seem to be pretty chill, when I went there was a group at a table who straight up just brought a bag of Trader Joes chips, dip, and cookies to snack on while they drank and watched the bluegrass band play. Â
The decor and ambiance of this place makes you feel like you're in some Alaskan hunter's watering hole. Â Totally out of place in a city like SF yet at the same time.. expected. Â Pretty standard beers on tap, but hey they had Lagunitas IPA so I was happy. Â
I was the only Asian guy in the entire bar when I went, so that was new.
I spent quite some time in Nevada City at one point in time (because of love, not because of insanity). The Riptide reminds me EXACTLY of a bar I have been to several times in Nevada City. This is good for me (memories) and bad for an SF establishment (mullets). Still, a good blue-collar time can be had by all. There are lots of boys in their 20s here. If you like boys in their 20s, this is a good place to cruise. Cougars, take note.
There's live music. At least there was live music the night I was there. And after a few PBRs, you can dance around like a freak fool and no one will care at all. The location means you should probably drive but the alcohol component means you should probably walk or take MUNI. Which explains who all of these strange people are. They're beach people. And beach people are a whole other breed.
The first time I heard someone playing an electric ukulele I did not think I would find myself in the midst of one a second time... by choice or chance. It is just not the sort of instrument that should be played out of its traditional form, which does not include wires or plugs.
I certainly did not think I would find myself in the midst of one at a bar that I fondly remember as the Sand Bar, a drug den and downtrodden stomping ground settled on the edge of civilization in the Sunset.
However, this is no longer the Sand Bar. It is now the Riptide and instead of witnessing a deal going down or a brawl ready to erupt by the fireplace tucked in the back you have to stand back a bit and listen to someone bastardize music in a venue much too small for even a good musician to play.
The decor has cleaned up since the days of the Sand Bar as has the clientele. The drinks are a fair price and the service is efficient. The majority of the drinkers here look to be a nice mix of semi-wholesome boozers who come here because there really isn't anything else around.
I wonder what happened to the shady characters who used to come here.....I would pay them double the price of whatever they were slinging to take care of the guy with the uke.
This might be the coolest bar in the city (Shhhhh!!! don't tell anyone i said that)
Once inside you could be in the midwest for all you know. taxidermy (moosehead that was drooling mistletoe for the holidays), good music, cozy fireplace, cute surfer boys, friendly bartenders (free drink on my birthday). first time i went here i definitely got looks like i was from outta town. i like that.
Holy crap, an open mic night that was GOOD!
Now, I dont have anything against the concept of open mic. Â God knows you'd never get me in front of a room full of strangers performing. Â So I admire the courage it takes to get up there. Â But...usually I just end up tuning out open mic nights in favor of drinking...anything. Â Except I was lucky enough to stumble into the Riptide one night when we decided we would go carousing around the lovely dive bars of Parkside and the outer Sunset (on a Monday! Â oh yeaahhh!). Â And you know what? Â There were some awesome people performing. Â And there were doggies in the bar! Â That was a plus. Â Every night is themed differently so I'm going to have to go back and check out bluegrass night.
Lately i've been doing a lot of thinking about life- and where i'm going, specifically, what type of old dude i'm going to be. The scienterifically executed polled consensus from my friend's seems to be i'll be that dirty old grandpa i'd thought i'd be. So with that in mind, its time for me to start  "dating" dive bars, looking for that one for me to call home and bring that old crotchety saltiness we all know and love from "that old guy" in the corner. What does that have to do with the Riptide? Read on.
This place has got everything you'd want from a dive bar, and freakin' more! Good beers, wood panelling, distressed everything- and even some dogs running around. Awesome! Monday was open mike night and i've got to say, it was by far the best i've ever been to in the city- with everything from bluegrass to boogie woogie piano (!). The crowd was pretty freakin' cool too- hipsters mixed in with other regulars and everyone was getting along (could be the strong drinks). yah- apparently there are hipsters in the outer sunset- who knew. Probably a result of some porkbarrel diversity program spending that requires hipsters to be bussed out from Zeitgeist and Casanovas to other, less skinny-jeans wearing neighborhoods (read: outer sunset)
I think I may have found a dive bar/future home of Tim V winner..... time to start getting old, who's gonna help me with being crotchety? Line forms on the left.....
The Riptide is a pretty fun bar, but I am not "allowed" to go because it is my husband's "club", where he goes free of ball & chain to get his drink on.
Just to keep things lively, I occasionally do go to the "club", drag him out by the hair, berating him at the top of my lungs for drinking up the family's meal money and falling in arrears with support payments for his other kids. That's always a crowd pleaser!
*******************
(all of the above is untrue except that the Riptide IS a pretty fun bar, and the MIster prefers to drink with his BFF w/out the company of his wife.)
It is a relaxed enough place that if I did drag him out by the short & curlies it would hardly raise an eyebrow. 5 stars.
What would I do if I was lucky enough to be out at Ocean Beach during an actual sunset? Â Watch it from the Cliff House? Â Watch it from the Beach Chalet? Â Nah. Â I'd stay on the beach and watch it, then walk over to Riptide for a beer. Â
For a city surrounded by water, we have precious few bars where you can actually smell the sea. Â Throw in the wooden ship wheel decor, the neat double-sided bar, the trashy drink specials posted on the wall, the Beach Chalet's very own Riptide Red on tap, and a live band with harmonica that gets the place surprisingly packed with a lively but laid-back crowd from who-knows-where, and we might just have a winner in my search for a local bar (never mind that this is technically farther from my house than most places in the Mission--it's (extremely) west side and that's what counts).
*******************************UPDATE*************Â************
I was just informed *get this* that the owner of The Ridetide actually IS from Oklahoma! What an amazing coincidence! I was also informed by a member of the band that play the night I was there, the song about Jesus is actually making fun of born again christians. Even better! I must have missed the sarcasm in the singer's voice. I think I must give this Riptide another visit.
**************************************************Â****************
This bar is WAY the heck out there... but it's still in the San Francisco city limits, right? Cuz from the look and sound of this place, I think I'm back in Oklahoma:
1) There is a live country band.
2) The country band dedicated a song to all the "born-again Christians" in the crowd.
3) The chorus from that song goes: "Me and my best friend, Jesus."
4) There is a dead mammal hanging on the wall.
However, I must say that the beer selection is much better than most Oklahoma bars.
The Riptide also had plenty of tequila. I mean, with that country music playing,... what am I supposed to do? WHAT WOULD MY BEST FRIEND JESUS DO?
I can now proudly say I have danced on top of a bar. When the (sweet Alicia) bartender whisked me up during the DJ's offering of  "Rio" - I felt as if I could fall backwards into the lively crowd of 80's fans and be body bounced about ever so gently. Somehow I stayed on the bar, "dancing on the sand" with Durran Durran.
A girlfriend had previously turned me onto the "skinny bitch" - Vodka and Diet Coke. This was my drink of choice in which I found pleasure in ordering and hearing myself do so. So, I ordered a few rounds for friends who then became hooked on the strangely good concoction.
I was at the Riptide back in November of '04 - the day it "snowed" in San Francisco. Â As a Michigan native, I found it funny to hear the "hail" called snow, but made no effort to correct people who so clearly were beyond thrilled. Anyhow - a photo of this day hangs on the wall at this bar, reminding me how long I have been boozing it up at this fun little quirky outer sunset neighborhood spot. Monday's are great for open mic., Friday's there is usually a great 80's style DJ - michael. And, Saturday's really good live music. Check out the calendar online for more details as they also have happy hours and other events.
The Outer Lands scare me. Â I think I'd rather be dropped on O'Farrell or Shotwell at 3am rather than Noriega & 47th. Â There's something weird going on out there. Â I don't know if it's the high salinity of the fog everyone's breathing or what, but something ain't right out there. Â I know, I've lived at 25th and 34th Aves.
Case in point- the Riptide.  My friend and I were trying to hit a few new bars in a night (to add to the total I've decided to try and link to in every review <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftroymccluresf.livejournal.com%2F275948.html&s=7c1cd73b98e162bede29a9e8deb7287653e5ff02d14ed5f933225730ab883deb" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://troymccluresf.liv…</a>), and figured Brothers Pizza + Riptide would be a nice combo.
We stepped into Riptide and got the immediate sense we were interrupting something. Â It was a lot like those Old West movies where the newcomer walks into the saloon and everyone stops and looks (and the piano player with the Rollie Fingers 'stache stops playing and looks terrified. Â Why is that guy always so scared?). Â Never mind that we're a couple of Irish Catholic SH Sunset/Richmond kids, and could therefore very well have been conceived in the bathroom of this place; we were apparently ain't local enough.
Once the regulars quit glaring at us, some lady next to us started talking about horse tattoos or something. Â I wasn't listening because I was trying to figure out WHAT WAS FLOATING IN MY BEER. Â (The beer was too warm for it to be ice, and I decided for my mental health to stop thinking about it right then and there.)
So it was a bit weird and uncomfortable to us, but I must admit I could also see how it could be a comfy neighborhood dive. Â It kinda walks the line between good dive & bad dive, like Hockey Haven. Â The bartender was pretty chill, too. Â I wouldn't be against returning, but the whole place reminded me a little too much of the bar from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"
"'Merry-Go-Round Broke Down.' A fairly looney selection for a dismal bunch of drunken reprobates."
I mourned the passing of The Sand Bar when it changed hands and closed for renovation. Â When it was reborn as The Riptide, I approached the front door fearing the worst...that of a tragic remodel involving sheet-rock walls, cheesy neon lamps, and a tolling of the bell for yet another neighborhood watering hole.
Thankfully, The Riptide's new owners didn't ruin the place.  To the contrary, they've performed the delicate balancing act of cleaning up a decomposing neighborhood bar while leaving it's rustic charm largely intact.  The result is a place that's changed for the better.  Years of filth have been scoured away, and decrepit timbers have been replaced. But still, the hearty soul of a meeting place with history  remains.
A central bar sits in the middle of the room, with most of the seating on the West side. Â TV's for sports are small, but decently placed. Â Limited wood on the walls along with a brick fireplace help create a humble ambiance with a rough-cut charm. Â It's an overall feel that no cut-and-gut remodel with new materials and contemporary styling could ever duplicate. Â
The mid-day/after-work crowd is an odd mix: An easy-going group of young surfers  and a smaller segment of old-guard codgers.  Later at night the clientele gets younger as the beach crowd trickles in and the music gets turned up.
All in all, I like it. Â It's a friendly mix of young and old where the two actually interact. Â And while the night crowd gets a little young and noisy for my tastes, I could really see liking it when I was in my twenties. It's out of the way, it's near the beach, and there's a pizza place two doors down. Â I've came, I've seen, I'll be back....
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