This place looks like crap but don't let that fool you. This place has some of the best burgers you'll find at a bar in SF. Ninman Ranch no less. They have a solid beer and whiskey selection. If you find yourself in the sunset district and want a beer and a burger  for less than $15 look up Terry's.
Review Source:"slit your wrists depressing" "mix of twilight zone and horrible" "dark and gloomy"- highlights (and good laughs) from reading these yelp reviews for Terry's Lodge- hilarious, but definitely rings some sort of truth. I can't count all the times I've walked past this place with my boyfriend and we've joked about this place being the spot for horrendous things to happen..no need to go further in depth. The painted black exterior and the neon flickering lights outside pretty much naturally induces these feelings.
This past weekend, we finally mustered the courage to actually go inside Terry's Lodge and LO BEHOLD, the inside was a lot bigger than we originally thought AND it was super cozy. The bartenders and the cook were extremely nice. I checked in on Yelp and the bartender informed me that by checking in, I get one dollar off ALL drinks. The prices for drinks at Terry's Lodge is already fairly cheap, 4 to 6 bucks for a cocktail AND THEN a dollar off each drink as well- Â HALLELUJAH!. Needless to say, we went overboard and our bodies hated us the next morning.
For a dive bar, they offer your not-so-typical bar food. They have burgers, fries, wings, and I was even informed that on Tuesdays- they have specials such as quails and/or seafood. And every Sunday, the bartenders come up with a weekly drink special. Seeing that the drinks were so cheap (4 dollars per drink- I kid you not) we decided to try all the "specials" they've had so far which included- DRAGON'S BREATH (has Tabasco), OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIE, GORILLA'S NIPPLES (151, lights on fire), and BIRTHDAY CAKE. These drinks were pretty creative and tasted better than expected.
Towards the end of the night, the owner bought us all a round (nice man) and the cook brought us samples of all his delicious concoctions. This was definitely one of those "fears" we're glad we decided to conquer. Once you get over the initial frightening exterior of Terry's Lodge, you'll discover that this bar has the friendliest, most welcoming and creative staff.
Came back on Fat Tuesday night, there were no celebrations going on, and it was a fairly slow night for them. I was in a terrible mood, so I just wanted to come in for a drink.
They raised their special prices by a dollar since I last came here, but that's okay it's still reasonable. I sat alone and got a newcastle + well gin for 7 dollars. The newcastle was on tap... last time I was here, it was in a bottle. Anyway, I drank slowly and was checked on multiple times. Then I got a jager shot.
At the end, the bartender was super sweet and poured me a bit more jager and we drank to chinese new years. Awesome. Good service, definitely put me in a better mood than before. With this new experience, I'm sure i'll be back for the food deals some time!
Again, good/decent prices
+1 star for good and friendly service.
Terry's was part of our route for bar hopping the weekend before Halloween. The city was out celebrating game 3 but surprisingly this place was a little empty. That however, did not stop the fun we had here! The bartenders are super friendly and the people who frequent here are more than friendly! I will definitely come back for another Irving Street bar hop!
Review Source:This place tops all dive bars as far as "dive" goes. Its a mix of horrible and the twilight zone. And for that it gets 5 stars. If you want a true honest dive, cheap drinks, nice bartenders who don't take shit, and a few weird people stumbling around in the back like zombies.... This is it.
Review Source:Well I was with a good group of friends just waiting for a ramen to be ready down the street so we decided to head to this place ...
Its a nice little space with seating at the bar and booths, Â as well and a pool table in the back with darts as well I believe ..
Bartender was friendly quick ... drinks were strong .. no complaints
this bar sucks?
Well it kind of does... but in such a good way, Bars are not like this anymore.
i want to be alone, drink my self silly, at 6am. No scene, no clean shirt, no worries.
this is one of the best. Much much better here than all the mediocracy that exist just a few blocks up in the inner sunset.
You just have to see it! I only wish they still had their old jukebox, but it's not their fault the future sucks.
Make no mistake, Terry's Lodge is a true dive...the real deal. Â No poseurs, no chandeliers, no velvet ropes...just strong drinks and real people. Â If you're looking for artisanal drinks made with exotic juices and ingredients measured with care and with a dash of fluff, take it somewhere else. Â Artfully decorated lounge areas with soothing colors and alabaster wall sconces? Â Forget about it!!! Â With that said and done, if you're looking for a great local neighborhood joint to drink a real drink with a good pool table, this is the place.
A nice long bar and industrial fluorescent lighting further reinforces that feeling...Leaving Las Vegas vibe is right and that's a good thing.
Been pretty quiet here on the weeknights that I've popped in lately. Â I'm guessing that all the madness is happening early on or in the daytime. Â Open at 6AM...that says it all.
They just recovered the pool table...real nice now and with a very fast cloth. Â Noticed a new looking flat screen TV on the wall, not sure if they just put that up or if I just didn't notice it in the past from all the drinking.
Great bartenders too...Christopher is totally cool and is one heck of a pool player as well as a car guy. Â I recently popped in on a Friday night and had a wonderful bartender named Rebecca who told me that she used to work at the Sand Bar before it became The Riptide. Â I remember the Sand Bar! Â Now that was a dive! Â Those were the days. :)
Disclaimer - As with any good dive bar, you never know what will happen or who will show up and that is the true essence of a genuine dive. Â The concept is that your evening can be heaven or hell depending on the crowd. Â Then again, that is what makes a true dive great! Â Do you have a strong liver? Â A sense of adventure? Â Five stars!!!
Terry's Lodge can be exhilarating or depressing depending on the clientele who either waltzes in or stumbles out.
My biz partner used to live on the block so a quick hit on the weekends was hard to pass up.
Terry's has a great dive bar resume: Â the alluring smell of pine sol and cigarettes, a pool table illuminated by a hanging light, and bathrooms that will remind you all to quickly that you have reached your alcohol intake maximum.
Some days you'll see locals slumped over the bar - Â who look 90 but are probably late 30's - babbling with Irish accents. Â On weekends the ever present hipsters show up to crowd out the locals with their impossibly tight pants and head jerking hair.
After I've been to Terry's my clothes smell like the place the next day. Sometimes that too is exhilarating ..... sometimes depressing.
I didn't even know this place existed.
Glad, ODC was DJing here one night.
I like this place, an old neighborhood bar which everyone is a local.
Great friendly service, the vibe is awesome and drinks are cheap.
They have a great steak dinner on Fridays after 6pm for only $8.00. WOWERS!!!
Best.....Kept....Secret in S.F.
To review and give details onto why this place is a awesome secret spot or to not. Would I be labeled as selfish if I didn't tell you guys why?
Put it this way. Remember the most recent Anthony Bourdain's episode where he filmed in S.F/Bay Area? He should have went into Terry's Lodge instead of the other bars/eateries here. But at the same time he shouldn't because with the influx of yuppies and hipsters roving around- it would have ruined what this place is.
S.F dive bar culture in there. They don't even try- it is what it is. From the regular drunks who hang out there with half their shirt tucked in to the neighbors who get off work to have a drink. It's all there. The old Irish bartender with his heavy accent is friendly and remembers people to the kitchen lady who cooks up the delicious meal on Fridays.
I said too much already. 5 Stars...yup. Bye.
This place was my waterin' hole of choice back when I worked at Irving St. Animal Hospital. Â There was nothing like rolling up my scrubs after an eleven hour shift, ordering a pint and a shot of jack, and chain smoking with old men who could have been my grandpa and uncles.
This place is family run, and is generations old. Â True old school Sunset, from back when it was a mostly blue collar Irish hood. Â
Great neighborhood spot. Â I really hope it can stick around without getting too gentrified. Â Apparently they have food too, but I never ate there.
This place is about as 415 as it can get, if 415 means stumbling onto a bar on a dark, deserted foggy street in the Avenues (where both Mission and Marina trash alike fear to tread), finding the door thanks to just the faintest of neon signs, and entering a smoky, bunker-like pub with no windows and no bullshit.
Many will say "THE AVENUES BUT WHERE ON MISSION IS THAT LOL" or "LOL LIKE IT'S NOT WORTH THE DRIVE LIKE IT'S TOO FAR LOL", which is a good thing: those folk don't come here, for they are not welcome. I don't think I am, either, but they'll pour me tall Turkey shots and keep the Bud heavies going until I pass out. Is that 415? Not sure.
There is a wonderful charm to a place like this. An institution for the down-trodden to the up and coming.
Dust on the floor would make you think that you are the first person inside for 1,000 years but in reality that isn't dust but the scuff marks of years and years of heavy boots hitting the floor. Drinking bottled beers and listening to a juke-box that hasn't been edited in 25 years. True SF class.
This is one of the diviest, emptiest, oldest-age-grouped bars I've been to. It is gritty and depressing and awesome and I love it.
I came to Terry's Lodge to bitch about some guy to my friend, and by the end of my first beer we had the bartender shouting, "Douche!!" every time I mentioned another asshole move the guy had made. That kind of support can really mean a lot to a jilted girl who's out of pride and low on love. We faced some heckling from the other bartender ("Less talking, more drinking!"), but the drinks were strong and quick to appear.
Being that I order beer and whiskey almost exclusively in bars, this place has been very good to me. If your drink of choice veers more along the colorful cocktail road, I recommend you take your boozing elsewhere.
This place is dictionary definition dive bar. I learned how to drink in public here (it was a raucous trial-and-error period) with a large group of my underage friends, and would recommend it as a fabbo place for 19-year-old aspiring drunks everywhere.
Outside it looks exactly like a shitty bar should, the neon sign replete with burned out letters. Inside, there is a bar, a jukebox, a pool table and a bathroom, and little else. There might be one of those video game machines on the bar. The decor is mostly team photos of Gaelic football clubs from the 1980s and 90s.
The (legal) patrons are mostly Irish FOBs and depressing neighborhood sots, and the atmosphere is most readily described as cigarette smoky (they have speakeasy ashtrays--metal Altoids boxes--ready to be stashed away at a moment's notice) with a tinge of desperation. You can go in your bathrobe and not be underdressed.
The bartenders will sneer at you for ordering anything remotely resembling a frou frou drink, which is defined here as everything except beer or hard liquor served neat. They'll make you feel like you should apologize to them, and you probably should.
It kind of reminds me of Paddy's Pub from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", only dingier and less spacious. When we used to go there regularly it was pretty easy to drink them out of Guinness and Jaegermeister, if that's your bag. Most other thick black liquids seemed well-stocked.
I'm not sure what is keeping me, as a true lover of dive bars, from giving Terry's a 5-star rating. Perhaps it is its isolation in the neighborhood combined with the depression factor. And the number of times it made me throw up as a lad.
This is the diviest of dives, like the Triple Lindy from "Back to School".
With the letters of the sign gradually burning out and the pho windows made out of thick glass blocks that barely let in a speck of light, Terry's ranks pretty high on the dive bar scale.
It's the kind of place that alcoholics who have made it to old age despite themselves go to drink and chain smoke by noon everyday. Probably even on the same stool with the same bartender and co-patrons that have been here for decades. This place has definitely seen a lot of souls and there is a chill in the air that leads me to believe that it may have even sucked a few of them up to to keep in its belly.
I imagine that when they open Terry's each day it is like unearthing a time capsule filled with joy and tragedy from it's own nostalgia and even some that has managed to trickle in from the world outside.
Terry's appeal is definitely in it's old school charms and that is the novelty to us when we are younger. But I think those who visit too frequently may just wake up one day and find themselves trapped in this time capsule wondering how life managed to pass them by.
Wow.
This bar stinks.
It smells like smoke.
The people and bartenders aren't very nice.
The decor is horrible.
It's a total dive bar.
And that's why I gave it 5 stars. Â Sometimes I just want to go sit at a bar and order a Bud and a shot of Jim Beam. Â I don't want to wait 20 mins for a drink, hear about today's basil infused vodka, or feel like I'm under dressed.
I love taking out-of-town friends here since it's so close to my house. Â It's a great place to get completely trashed or if you just want to throw back a couple without having to talk or listen to techno. Â
Cheers.
(I can't believe people are knocking terrys for being "bleak." Â Hey guys it's a dive bar. Â What did you expect, a bright cheery dive bar with huge bay windows and fresh flowers? Â Get yourselves back to the FiDi bars if you want that.)
Terry's Lodge has got it goin on
Terry's Lodge has got it goin on
Terry's Lodge has got it goin on
Terry's Lodge has got it goin on
Terry, can I come over after work
(after work)
We can try to avoid that drunken jerk
(drunken jerk)
Is this the only place we could get a cheap drink
(get a cheap drink)
The smoke is burning my eyes and I need to blink
(need to blink)
You know I'm not the little girl I used to be
I'm all grown up now, Terry can't you see
Terry's Lodge has got it goin on
It's all I want and I've waited so long
Terry can't you see
You're the perfect bar for me
I know it might be hodge podge
But I'm in love with Terry's Lodge
Terry's Lodge has got it goin on
Terry's Lodge has got it goin on
Terry do you remember when I got real drunk
(got real drunk)
You gave me some potatoes and a big steak hunk
(big steak hunk)
I tried to eat it but I was gonna puke
(gonna puke)
so I put a dollar in the internet juke
(internet juke)
And I know you think it's just a fantasy
But it's so dark inside and I can barely see
Terry's Lodge has got it goin on
It's all I want and I've waited so long
Terry can't you see
You're the perfect bar for me
I know it might be hodge podge
But I'm in love with Terry's Lodge
And I know that you think it's just a fantasy
But your mean so much more then those lame bars on Geary
Terry's Lodge has got it goin' on
It's all I want, and I've waited so long
Terry can't you see
You're the perfect bar for me
I know it might be hodge podge
But I'm in love with Terry's Lodge
Funny story about this place...when my parents first moved to SF in the late 70's, my Irish grandfather came out to visit and *had* to stop in to Terry's Lodge. Â For his childhood friends had sent many letters back to the Emerald Isle about Terry's and all the laughs and good craic they shared together in this quaint village pub. Â So, my parents make the trek out to the Sunset from Russian Hill to bring my grandpa to this Sparta of Spudland and he knew pretty much every person in the bar, including the bartender. Â
I wouldn't be surprised if my grandfather's childhood friends are still sitting in a stool at Terry's right now.  My friends love this place, but  Terry's will just never grow on me that way.  It feels like a bar that should not be a bar; with the boxes stacked high, the house lights blazing, the inside smoking, the piss-drunk 80-year-old Irishmen, the nearly inaccessible restrooms....
I love me some dive bars, but Terry's is a little much for me. Â
+1 star for getting free drinks sometimes.
BEST DIVE BAR EVER!!!!!!!!!!
If thats what u truly want! Hours are 6am - 2 am, cheap drinks, good food on Fridays, pool table and darts! If its not ur style go to Yancy's. Â The owner is a sweet, old Irish man & most of the patrons are old skool and lots of Irish construction workers! Â (If u go at the right time)
**In my opinion dim lighting, cheap drinks, darts & pool make for a great DIVE bar!
Mike has hit the nail on the head with regard to the slit-your-wrists dreariness of this place; I will not dispute that. Â It is, indeed, a seemingly deliberate masterpiece of dive bar hopelessness. Â
If they cared about their patrons they would also sell revolvers.
However, I would argue that Terry's Lodge is the PERFECT dive bar. Â Many other dive bars have quirks and elements of character to season their diveyness. Â Not Terry's Lodge. Â Terry's Lodge is the quintissential dive bar stripped naked and laid bare. Â That's pretty special, if you ask me.
Not only is this bar suspiciously shitty by san francisco's cosmopolitan standard's, but it is shitty by one-horse-town nowhere-else-to-go standards. Â It's like nothing I've ever been to in San Francisco, and sometimes, that is a nice break.
Could a place have creepier lighting than Terry's Lodge? Maybe they feel the need to compensate for the lack of windows.
How about the drunk man standing at the bar (if teetering is standing), dancing occasionally (if teetering is dancing) and yelling at everyone. He and I had a nice healthy debate about the finer details of the Fairmont Hotel!!???
They have a "pay a dollar, roll the dice, win the jackpot in the jar" game that was quite popular the evening I went. Drink prices were fair. Its a dive, but too bright to be a dive. It seemed to be catching on with the younger crowd much more than I remember last time I was there...which was a long time ago!
Worth checking out if you appreciate a good dive bar.
The bartender was extremely friendly on the weeknight that I went into the bar so that's always a plus for me. Â It wasn't being run by some smug hipster, but instead it was a woman who had been there for years. Â The service was excellent.
It was more of a neighborhood bar than anything. Â A friendly place to get a cheap drink and not be bombarded by loud music or even loud people. Of course, that's on a weeknight. Â
Yes, the construction is pretty unimpressive inside, but it wasn't as filthy as some of the hipster dive bars that I've been to in San Francisco. Â Luckily, there weren't a bunch of hipsters slumming with each other in an attempt to be cool.
I have to say the highlight and lowlight of the evening was the long conversation I got in with an older woman in a tiny mini skirt who had one to many rounds. The lifelong denizen of the area certainly had some colorful comments to make - even when we no longer really interested in hearing them. Â Hey, she gave me her lighter on the way out.
If you don't like places where people smoke, definitely skip this one.
It just doesn't get any grittier than this. Â A faded neon sign stands guard over a windowless storefront completely void of decor. It's the type of place that you can pass by every day for years on end and never really notice. Â
I stumbled on to Terry's during a walk down Irving street. Â During the daytime, the exterior gives no clues as to what's inside or if the place is inhabited. Â The only sign of life on the outside is the absence of a padlock on the clasps that span the double doors. Â The unusually quiet appearance of the exterior lead me to believe the place was closed. Â Expecting to find the doors locked, I was mildly surprised to feel them open with a gentle push...
Nothing much changes once you're inside. Â Alas, if bleakness could be considered an art form, Terry's Lodge would surely be judged a masterpiece. Â The South wall facing Irving street looks like it was a window at one time. Â The glass is long since gone, replaced by an aging sheet of plywood spanning the entire wall, and graced by stacks of empty cases of beer. Â Incandescent lights recessed in an off-color yellow ceiling create a bizarre level of illumination that one might call dingy-almost-dark, while the only sources of sunlight coming into the place are two shafts of light that enter via the windows on the doors, creating visible beams that pierce the lightly smoky air to leave a pair of shoebox-sized sunspots on the well worn floor.
It's hard to imagine that a place could become this dreary on accident. Â It's almost as if an extremely talented person made a Terry's a project, the goal of which was to create, maintain, and fine-tune the most dismally bleak environment conceivable. Â It's too bad. Â The old-guard bar, fixtures, and furniture have considerable charm that's hidden by the dingy lighting. Â Yanking out the plywood on the South Wall and putting in glass would brighten the place by several orders of magnitude and release a hidden soul that's lain dormant for decades...
Several beers are on tap.....everything else is in bottles. Â There didn't seem to be any food available, though I did see an aging sign advertising "Terry's Famous Feed" on Mondays and Fridays for $8.00. Â
Just about every dive bar I've patronized has a cultural uniqueness, a hidden charm, an amusing peculiarity that allows me to recommend it on some level.... Â Terry's Lodge is an exception...After a quick look around, I drew a blank while trying to concoct a good reason to praise it. Â Terry's is a must-see for all dive-bar connoisseurs. It's gritty. Â It's dreary. Â The bartender is nice, but the patrons are foul-mouthed and surly (Update 1-08, Been back numerous times....clients aren't as bas as they were on my first visit). Â I have no doubt that remote parts of our country host drinking establishments whose coefficient of blandness rivals or exceeds that of Terry's Lodge. Â But Terry's is in a class by itself in the Outer Sunset. Â It's masterful misuse of lighting, lack of ambiance, and limited selection weave a tapestry of banality whose scope is unmatched in all of San Francisco.
Terry's Lodge is easily the best bar within 3 blocks in any direction from the intersection of 15th and Irving. Â I would imagine that people don't travel great distances or in great numbers judging by the other patrons at the bar, which kind of seems like an afterschool program with alchohol. Â This place is kind of stuck in the seventies, but not on purpose as I believe they have an internet jukebox. Â
I give it three stars, because it stands as an oasis near my girlfriend's house. Â Otherwise, there's not much going on at Terry's Lodge except for billiards, where league play happens on a regular basis. Â They also have free pool on Saturday nights. Â If you live in the neighborhood, it could be a great place to take over with your other alchoholic friends. Â Sometimes they have food there to soak up the alchohol, but they didn't when I was there, a Saturday night. Â I suppose it is worth noting there were about six people there, but considering it was Saturday night and there's free pool (and only one pool table), that's not such a bad thing. Â Could be a good place for a pool shark to go and win some $$$, but that is an unsubstantiated assumption.
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