Whether you want to spend St. Patrick ’s Day chugging green beer out of a leprechaun - shaped bucketful , or you ’d rather celebrate by sipping a quiet pint in the back of a cozy , saturnine - woodwind - paneled Browning automatic rifle , there ’s an Irish bar in San Francisco with your name on it . We ’ve round up the best Irish pubs of all assortment , from authentic , Dublin - cheer watering holes to crowded , cheap - crapulence institutions – even a mysteriously lucky maculation absorb in local lore . Here ’s to San Francisco ’s best Emerald Isle pubs . Sláinte !
Kells
on a higher floor , you could stomp around the old hardwood floor to the Dropkick Murphys ; downstairs you ’ll almost definitely stop up making out with a sweaty stranger to top 40 hit and ' 90s coxa - hop . Kells is somewhat much a before-30 San Francisco bucketful list item .
Irish Times
This summercater bar is a popular happy minute destination yr - round for its $ 5 draft selections and plentiful TVs , but if you come here at 9 am on St. Patrick ’s Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , you’re able to sip a pint of Guinness , enjoy traditional Irish ground beef potato pie , and follow the parader as they make their agency through the city – without ever result your bar crapper . Just like Saint Patrick intended .
The Plough and Stars
This homey bar goes far beyond serving a perfectly pelt pint of Guinness ( although they do that as well ) . The Plough and Stars server live Celtic music most nights of the hebdomad , and has remained a home - away - from - home for local Irish occupant since it opened in 1975 . So yeah , it ’s kind of earn its status asSF Weekly ’s " Best Irish Pub . "
Maggie McGarry’s
An Irish bar that plays host to one of the best ' 90s extend bands on Friday night – hell yes . It ’s super college in here , but that ’s what fix it fun . Plus you could always catch the association football equal ( or " football game , " if you assert ) .
Irish Bank
You might actually feel like you ’re in Dublin when you take the air down the semi - concealed cobblestone alleyway that leads to Irish Bank . The space out front is sate with tables full of well-chosen time of day - goers enjoying pint and pub grub , and the Department of the Interior has an adequate amount of transportive European appeal , thanks to sour Sir Henry Joseph Wood and cozy corners . Show up on both March 12th and March 17th to take part in the bar ’s larger-than-life St. Paddy ’s Day block party .
Kennedy’s Pub and Curry House
If you prefer curry with your Guinness instead of corned bitch , header to this vivid mash - up , where you may laden up on delicious , punk Amerind eats in the eating place , then head over to the Irish side of the articulation for a pint and a game of pool or darts .
O’Keeffe’s
Perhaps the diviest nosedive bar in the whole city . If you want to be border by actual Irish people on St. Patrick ’s Day , this no - folderal tearing hole – possess by a prissy Irish woman with an adorable lilting accent mark – is where it ’s at .
The Little Shamrock
The Little Shamrock has lived up to its lucky name in many way : this junction has withstand two ruinous earthquakes since it afford in 1893 , stimulate it the city ’s second - sure-enough bar . Just as impressively , a chance encounterbetween the bar ’s owner and a frequenter salvage the popular watering hole from close in 1974 . Today , the bar remain a cozy position fill with couches , display board game , and tchotchkes – let in a shelf of books from mystery author John Lescroart , who features the prevention in every one of his Christian Bible .
Durty Nelly’s
possess by natives of the Emerald Isle , this down - home , humble spot is broadly speaking fill with heavy accented regular chowing down on either a traditional Irish breakfast or fish ‘ n ’ crisp .
The Bitter End
Featuring flit , pool , trivium , and a cozy fireplace , this bi - level stripe is the game room / auberge that you ’ll probably never actually own , but at least you’re able to visit . Feast on luscious , chinchy taphouse grub – the taste-tester platter includes everything from buffalo wings to courgette control stick for less than $ 10 – and try of the city ’s best sheepman ’s pie .
The Phoenix
If you want a traditional Irish bar experience , but want to steer decipherable of FiDi or North Beach ’s St. Paddy ’s Day mayhem , this spacious topographic point , located decent in the midst of the Mission ’s taquerias and hipster bars , is your lucky four leafage trefoil . Serving Harp , Smithwick ’s , corn beef , cabbage , and soda kale , The Phoenix has everything you demand for a right Irish celebration .
Buena Vista Cafe
While it ’s in tourist - trap central , you ca n’t genuinely call yourself a San Franciscan until you ’ve had an Irish coffee at America ’s birthplace of Irish coffees while watching ( and hear ) a cable car baseball bat by .
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The Buena Vista|The Buena Vista
Kell’s
The Plough and Stars
The Irish Bank
O’Keefe’s
Durty Nelly’s
Phoenix Irish Pub