The Interval at Long Now
DrinkSoMa#21 of 50

The Interval at Long Now

San Francisco, California

Photo: The Interval at Long Now

A bar and café inside the headquarters of the Long Now Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to long-term thinking. The space houses a prototype of a 10,000-year clock, a library curated to last centuries, and a cocktail menu that's more thoughtful than most philosophy departments. It's the most intellectually stimulating place to drink in San Francisco, possibly anywhere.

Insider tip

Order the manual of civilizations — a cocktail menu organized by era. Sit near the clock prototype and think about deep time.

Get Directions
See all 50 picks in San Francisco

More in San Francisco

You might also like

Tartine Bakery
CoffeeMission District

Tartine Bakery

The line out the door at 18th and Guerrero is a San Francisco institution for a reason. Chad Robertson's bread changed the way a generation thinks about flour and water, and the morning bun — caramelized orange sugar, shatteringly crisp — is the single best pastry in the city. The space is tiny. The wait is real. None of that matters once you're holding that first bite.

Zuni Café
EatHayes Valley

Zuni Café

The roast chicken for two at Zuni is the most famous dish in San Francisco, and it deserves every word ever written about it. Order it first — it takes an hour — then eat the Caesar and oysters while you wait. The copper bar is one of the great seats in American dining. Judy Rodgers built this place, and even after her passing it remains immaculate.

City Lights Booksellers
ShopNorth Beach

City Lights Booksellers

Lawrence Ferlinghetti's cathedral of independent thought has been on Columbus Avenue since 1953. The poetry room upstairs is sacred ground — a low-ceilinged space with a sign that reads 'I sit here and am content.' The curated shelves are still defiantly literary, political, and strange in the best way. This is not a bookstore. It's a manifesto with a cash register.

Drink picks elsewhere

More drink we love

DrinkDowntown · Austin, Texas

Garage

A low-key cocktail bar above a parking garage downtown. It sounds like a joke but the space is beautiful — midcentury modern, great sight lines, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Congress Avenue. The cocktails are clean and well-built, the crowd is mixed, and nobody's trying too hard. That's the whole point.

DrinkChelsea · New York, New York

Dear Irving on Hudson

A cocktail bar on the 40th floor of the Aliz Hotel with panoramic views that make every other rooftop bar in the city feel like it's trying too hard. The cocktails are organized by era — Prohibition, Jazz Age, Mod — and the execution matches the ambition. On a clear night, with the city spread out below you, the drinks almost feel secondary. Almost.