Smuggler's Cove

I want to love you, but there's no place for a wheelchair to party here.

Cocktail snobs, tiki fans, pirates and rum fans should absolutely check this place out. Unless you're in a wheelchair. Like too many SF venues, this is a tall narrow building with no elevator. The ground floor is almost all bar, and there's one tiny wheelie-height ledge (not a table, one of those kinda-bar shelves). If you wanted to hang out with friends here, forget it - you're gonna be sulking at the base of the stairs with your very tasty drink and maybe one or two other people crammed in next to you. If there's a bathroom on this floor, I didn't see it.

Everyone else: get there early or go on a weeknight as it gets crowded. Don't expect dancing or music, or food. Don't bring a huge group - this place is kinda tiny.

If you want a tiki bar, head for the Tonga Room, the Outers (Trad'r Sam) or Alameda's Forbidden Island, all of which are bigger and can handle a wheelchair that wants to be with some friends. Likewise, you can get awesome cocktails (tiki or not) elsewhere. If all you're doing is stopping in for a quick drink on your way somewhere else, it's worth a try. The drinks really were awesome, but if all I want is a great cocktail, I can go someplace with a table. Sorry, tiki pirates.

My absolute favorite place to have drinks in the city, especially with out-of-town guests. Smuggler's is a great theme bar, without being campy. The drinks are legitimately first-rate, and there's really no other place like it in the city.

Neat place to come when there's no line. The big volcano drinks have more sugar in them than alcohol but they're festive for sure. There's lot's of pirate themed decor, but not a lot of room. It was crowded but the bartenders were handling it like champs. I love it when they hush people for just shouting out their orders out of turn.