In late 2003, when H. Joseph Ehrmann purchased a weathered dive bar in the Mission District and refurbished it into Elixir, Vieux Carrés and Boulevardiers were the furthest subjects from his mind. “The cocktail thing was not a thing—it wasn’t even on my radar,” Ehrmann says.“My focus was on being a neighborhood bar, and when I opened, it was all about beers and shots—not cocktails.”
But a Bay Area cocktail shift was clearly underway. Venues like Harry Denton’s Starlight Room (which reopened as Starlite in 2024) and 15 Romolo had been nurturing talented bartenders for years, and Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant was introducing the Tommy’s Margarita to the world. The bars at Absinthe Brasserie & Bar and Slanted Door (the latter now closed) were functioning as cocktail talent incubators, with bartenders including Marco Dionysos, Jeff Hollinger, and Jonny Raglin at Absinthe (Hollinger and Raglin would go on to open Comstock Saloon), and Erik Adkins, Jennifer Colliau, and Thad Vogler at Slanted Door working to develop a distinctive San Francisco take on the art of the cocktail.
Everything clicked into a higher gear in 2006, with the opening of Alembic and Bourbon & Branch. Brian Sheehy was a co-founder of Bourbon & Branch, and credits founding bartender Todd Smith with helping to create a bar that would last decades. “Todd had 20 years of cocktail and spirits knowledge that he poured into the cocktail program he created for Bourbon & Branch,” Sheehy says. “And the top cocktail bartenders in San Francisco all looked up to Todd, so they lined up to support him and joined our team.” Bartenders including Jon Santer, Dominic Venegas, and Neyah White (who would go onto establish an influential cocktail program at Nopa) were early faces behind the bar, and Bourbon & Branch helped introduce cocktails including Smith’s Black Manhattan and Santer’s Revolver that would go on to become modern classics.
Another 2006 newcomer was Rye, opened by Jon Gasparini and Greg Lindgren (the partners behind 15 Romolo) and, later, managing partner Phil Mauro. Gasparini says Rye marked a bit of a departure for San Francisco bars. “There weren’t a lot of standalone bars in 2006 doing fresh, culinary-driven drinks—that was usually associated with a restaurant kitchen,” Gasparini says. “Cocktails were very precious and important, and we were doing the West Coast–style program with herbs and muddlers. We made it really hard on ourselves, but we’ve figured out over time how to make it easier.”
In the decades since, some influential spots have remained as many others experienced a shorter lifespan, while still others have found a second wind. (Gasparini and Lindgren closed 15 Romolo post-pandemic, but after extensive refurbishment, it’s set to reopen by this fall.) There’s no perfect plan for creating a bar that will endure, but Ehrmann—who long ago added a cocktail program at Elixir—says it helps to pay attention to changing tastes. “Fads come and go, trends come and go—when I first opened, vodka was the biggest-selling thing, then everybody hated vodka,” he says. “Then it was whiskey, and now it’s agave—you have to be cognizant of what people want.”
