Cafe du Nord
This 1907 speakeasy in a Mission basement attracts one of SF’s cooler crowds. They come here for great drinks—courtesy of the Bon Vivants, the city’s best cocktail collective—quirky music (a recent foray into the Viking Room in back revealed a keyboardist and a drummer in tuxedo jackets), and snacktastic food like pork trotter tots with charred-scallion ranch, supervised by Flour + Water’s Thomas McNaughton. (He also runs the Basque resto-bar Aatxe upstairs.) All in all, it’s a grown-up good time that still feels cool. And the dark wood paneling and low lighting means that trouble—the good kind—is always just around the corner.
PRO TIP: If you make it till midnight, Champagne and oysters are half price until closing at 2 a.m.
THE DETAILS: Open from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. nightly.
