Lou Bustamante

The ballpark portion of China Basin is great for many kinds of drinking, but up until now, seriously delicious and well-crafted cocktails worthy of arriving late to the game for was not one of them.

Perched directly above the newish Thai restaurant Root sits Alchemist, a dark, steampunk-inspired bar. Pipes, gears, and dark wood with copper accents make you feel like you're in the Victorian future, and large comfortable leather couches making lingering way too easy. Silent movies project on the wall, making the space feel even more future-retro, but the modernist theme ends at the décor.

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Lou Bustamante

The Rebound Fling--it's a total lactart

When a prescription to "drown your sorrows" is issued by your friends to numb the pain and heartache caused by the conclusion of wonderfully tumultuous spring fling, it'll most likely include either ice cream or beer. We personally prefer a rebound, especially when it comes with beer and ice cream at the same time.

At Ice Cream Bar, the Cole Valley old time soda fountain and ice cream emporium, you can do all of those at once, like in the deliciously sassy The Rebound Fling ($11, Speakeasy Payback Porter, morello cherry ice cream, sour cherry syrup, lactart).

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Lou Bustamante

The Vesper Lynd

Few bars have endured as much turmoil in the scant three years it's been open as the Burritt Room. Despite a parade of very talented bartenders and bar managers moving through, many cocktail menu changes, a grand remodel with the sale of the bar to restaurateur Charlie Palmer, and the addition of a restaurant component -- the Burritt Tavern -- the one thing you could always count on was a good drink.

Thanks to a new menu by lead bartender Josh Trabulsi who transitioned into the bar when the space got a revamp last year, the quality of the cocktails has reached a level equaling some of the best in the Bay Area. This is due in part to Trabulsi's skills, but more importantly, the cocktails seem to articulate a sense of place. These drinks feel right for the Burritt, a small, but bustling place that conjures a nightlife hideout in an intersection that connects locals with tourists.

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Lou Bustamante

We were on our way to dinner at Nick's Cove, that cozy collection of cottages and a restaurant on the edge of Tomales Bay and purportedly the place where the barbecued oyster was invented. We were certainly there for oysters, but also to escape the hard landscape of the city for a few hours. The transition began in earnest after leaving highway 101 in Petaluma, the lush grassy hills dotted with cattle darting in and out of view as the car traveled along the two lane country road towards highway one. The bucolic scenery zipping by was so lush with spring grasses and wildflowers that even with the threat of cold and pollen wasn't enough of a deterrent to rolling down the windows for deep breaths of sweet air.

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Lou Bustamante

Even as our collective drinking palate continues to develop to appreciate spirits once considered too challenging (like smoky peaty single malts whiskies, rustic and flavorful mezcal, and bitter European liqueurs), we still may have a ways to go until people learn to love grappa.

Grappa (also known as marc or agua ardiente) is unaged distillate made from the solids leftover from winemaking called pomace -- a mass of skins, pulp, and seeds strained of the juice fermentation process. The spirit is simply a brandy, but the fear of its brash intensity with funky flavor swagger and high proof is not completely unfounded. There is a good amount of poorly distilled homemade and commercial grappa (as you'll find in every liquor category), the kind that St. George Spirits distiller once described as, "What we give dinner guests who don't want to go home."

But at Bar 888 inside the InterContinental Hotel, wine guy John Wight is working to showcase how interesting and versatile the spirit can be when made right.

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Lou Bustamante

The Woodsman at Bloodhound is a take on the Old Fashioned.

When Bloodhound opened in 2008 (making it 36 in dog years), that stretch of Folsom was a rather lonely one with a few outlier clubs and leather shops. The bar's success and longevity is certainly due in part to the bartending skills that owner Dylan O'Brien honed over the years, but also because it has effectively juggled the role of being both destination and neighborhood bar. As the area saw an increase of housing and office development, Bloodhound took the opportunity to offer more, like being an early supporter of the food truck movement with the Chairman and Casey's Pizza food trucks regularly setting up in front of the bar.

Since then, O'Brien has gone on to open up Prizefighter in the craft cocktail-emergent East Bay with Jon Santer. With all those changes, including a new menu (see the full menu below), I was curious if the dog could still hunt.

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Lou Bustamante

Don't let the "brasserie" portion of the name fool you; the cuisine at Bluestem is all American. Named after the preferred grazing grass of cattle ranchers, the focus of the restaurant is decidedly on beef, with marrow, steaks, and tartar showcased on the menu. The bar incorporates a few of these Americana twists as well, like the viral-video namesake, Honey Badger ($11, Maker's Mark Bourbon, honey whiskey liqueur, lemon, BBQ water).

A drink built around a whiskey sour with the inclusion of barbecue sauce and spiced rim sounds more nastyass than badass, but owners Adam and Stacy Jed's attempt to recreate the flavors of an American cookout with bourbon work. The Hoegaarden foam "stripe" like the animal adds some texture more than flavor.

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Lou Bustamante

Pasa Tiempo cocktail

There were close to a dozen glasses in front of me, nearly the entire cocktail menu at the newly opened Padrecito in Cole Valley, all sitting in various states of consumption. The wave of drinks crested with the newest cocktails up front, the older and emptier ones ebbing towards the back, while the sea of liquor pushed and pulled like the tide. But two had beached themselves close to me, and despite my better judgment, I was close to finishing them.

I notice my personal telltale sign that the tipsy riptide was pulling me out to sea as I "lose" my phone in one of my own pockets (you fiend!). I fight the current's pull with an order of the Chicharrones with Fava Bean Sikil Pak dip ($9), but those two cocktails were so gorgeously bright and sparkly with citrus, that I couldn't help wading back in for "re-tasting" dip.

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Lou Bustamante

The word "lounge" in the name of a bar usually implies sleek bottle service places with dress codes and the kind of patrons that necessitate large, frightening doormen. But step into Azucar Lounge and the arrangement of sofas and coffee tables parceled out like little living rooms clarifies that here, "lounge" is a what you're expected to do.

Owned and run by Jon Ojinaga and Edgar Tamayo, the pair features fresh produce driven cocktails with a Mexican spirits focus using fresh produce to inspire the bar.

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Lou Bustamante

I'll be honest: I had a certain amount of apprehension going into Hakkasan. Between Willie Brown's warnings about the cost of a meal being so high you'd be strained to make your mortgage payment, the odd street level kiosk that smacks of Vegas style pretense, and the idea of this being an outpost of nine global locations delivering the same formula, the whole concept seemed so out of touch with San Francisco. In terms of first conceptual impressions, Hakkasan came off more like the old guy at the club trying to hangout with the cool kids, than a new harbinger of an international sophistication.

While I can't speak about the experience in the dining room, at the bar they do an outstanding job dispelling those concerns and deliver a unique, entertaining, and elegant experience that won't end with you working off the tab in the kitchen.

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