San Francisco Blog

When myopenbar.com started several years ago, the Web site and its weekly e-mail newsletter were something of a guerrilla operation, sharing information on open-bar events around New York City with people who weren't invited by the hosts. As the number of subscribers grew and the service expanded to other cities, liquor companies started using it as a marketing tool to reach the sought-after but ad-resistant 20s and 30s demographic, creating open-bar promotions specifically for the list. Or so I read in The New York Times.

It might be the post-holiday slump, but in the several weeks I've been following our local branch, sf.myopenbar.com, I've seen only a few genuinely free drinks on offer, and most of those had some hoops to jump through. The list does, however, publicize a lot of happy hours, openings, and other events with drinks for $1-$2. One correction, though: Takara Sake's tasting room recently instituted a $5 charge.