An edited guide for the curious thirst

San Francisco, in three measures — gin, vermouth, Campari.

Nine addresses — from a Financial District Negroni laboratory to a North Beach landmark of 1919, and out past the bridges to Burlingame and Sausalito — where the bittersweet ritual is served with the reverence it deserves.

Find your bar A brief history

Saints Peter & Paul Church over Washington Square, North Beach

Saints Peter & Paul over Washington Square — the heart of North Beach, the city's Little Italy.

San Francisco, a city of thirst

Fog, Campari, and a hundred years of practice.

San Francisco has been making serious drinks since before the Negroni existed. In the 1860s, Jerry Thomas — "the Professor," father of the American cocktail — tended bar in this city, and the lawless saloons of the Barbary Coast turned mixing drinks into a trade. When the Negroni reached Florence in 1919, San Francisco already had the bar craft waiting for it.

And it had the Italians. North Beach became the city's Little Italy, and with the immigrants came the aperitivo — the bittersweet hour before dinner, Campari and vermouth and a twist of citrus. A century on, the fog still rolls in over Twin Peaks at six o'clock, and the city answers it with a red drink. Nine addresses follow. All verified. None by accident.

The shortlist

Nine addresses worth the walk — and the drive.

Seven in the city, from the Financial District to the Marina, plus one down the Peninsula in Burlingame and one across the bridge in Sausalito. Each makes a Negroni you will recognise — and several you will not forget.

The Negroni programme · FiDi

Bar Sprezzatura

One Maritime Plaza, 300 Clay St #100, San Francisco, CA 94111

✦ A rotating Negroni list — five at a time, fifty since 2022 — plus a $50 vintage Negroni from 1960s–80s Italian bottles.

Bar Sprezzatura is the closest thing San Francisco has to a Negroni laboratory. On the plaza level of One Maritime Plaza, behind two-storey windows and furniture shipped from Venice, longtime Mina Group bar master Carlo Splendorini runs a Negroni programme that has cycled through fifty variations since opening in 2022 — five on the menu at any moment, from a Negroni Reverso to a Sbagliato Rosa. The showpiece is the $50 vintage Negroni, poured from 1960s Cocchi and 1970s amari so you can taste the drink as it was decades ago. Cicchetti by day, aperitivo by night. Start your evening here.

“It was smooth, botanical and very light — not as intense as I usually find negronis to be.”
— SF Examiner, 2025

HoursMon–Wed 11:00–21:00 · Thu–Fri 11:00–22:00 · Sat 16:00–22:00 · Sun closed
Phone+1 (628) 466-0230

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Since 1867 · the old guard

Sam's Grill

374 Bush St, San Francisco, CA 94104

✦ Paulie Fuller's house Negroni — pink gin over ice, a splash each of sweet vermouth and Campari, orange. Built by hand, no jigger.

One of the oldest restaurants in California, open since 1867, Sam's is tuxedoed waiters, curtained booths and a bar that has outlasted every trend the city ever had. Veteran bartender Paul "Paulie" Fuller builds a Negroni the old way — no jigger, no shaker — two-thirds pink gin over ice with a splash each of sweet vermouth and Campari, an orange peel and a slice, made with the speed of a man who has poured tens of thousands. There is a listed "Sam's Negroni" (Tanqueray, Cocchi, Campari) too. Come for the history; stay because the classic is faultless.

“Precision that only comes from making thousands upon thousands of these over the years.”
— SF Examiner, 2025

HoursMon–Fri 11:00–21:00 · Sat–Sun closed
Phone+1 (415) 421-0594

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The last Barbary Coast saloon

Comstock Saloon

155 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

✦ A faithful classic Negroni beneath the original 1907 mahogany — stirred, equal parts, one big rock, orange.

Where Columbus Avenue meets the old Barbary Coast stands the last saloon of that vanished, lawless waterfront — in continuous use since 1907, its original mahogany bar still in place, a bust of Emperor Norton presiding. Founded by Absinthe Group alumni, Comstock built its name on turn-of-the-century cocktails made seriously, and the Negroni is a house pillar: stirred, equal parts, a big rock, an orange peel, exactly as the old manuals intended. Brass rail, tin ceiling, ragtime some nights. No reinvention, no theatrics — a perfect classic in the one room in the city where the nineteenth century never quite ended.

“Walking into Comstock is like walking into a different era.”
— The Infatuation

HoursTue–Thu 16:00–24:00 · Fri 12:00–24:00 · Sat 16:00–24:00 · Sun–Mon closed
Phone+1 (415) 617-0071

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North Beach, since 1919

Tosca Cafe

242 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

✦ A North Beach landmark since 1919 — red leather booths, an opera-only jukebox, Negronis under the neon.

Tosca opened in 1919 and never stopped being North Beach — red leather banquettes, a mural of Tuscan hills gone amber with age, an opera-only jukebox, neon in the window. Bohemians, dockworkers, film directors and senators have all leaned on this bar. The famous house pour is the "Cappuccino," a boozy Prohibition-era chocolate drink with no coffee in it — but the Negroni belongs here too, ordered in a red booth as the jukebox turns over an aria. Now run by restaurateurs Anna Weinberg and Nancy Oakes, the room serves Italian-American supper and a century of San Francisco nights. The most cinematic place in the city to drink a Negroni.

“The Negronis are to die for.”
— Google review, 2024

HoursTue–Wed 17:00–22:00 · Thu–Sat 17:00–23:00 · Sun–Mon closed
Phone+1 (415) 986-9651

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Birthplace of the Leeward

Pacific Cocktail Haven

550 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94102

✦ The Leeward Negroni — high-proof gin, coconut-oil-washed Campari, pandan cordial. Kevin Diedrich's now-copied classic.

PCH is the bar other bartenders name first — a fixture on the World's 50 Best regional lists, rebuilt three doors down after a 2021 fire without losing a step. Beverage director Kevin Diedrich's signatures pull from across the Pacific, and the one that travelled is the Leeward Negroni: high-proof gin, Campari washed with coconut oil for a velvet texture, pandan cordial in place of vermouth, no citrus. He built it for Negroni Week 2016 and it has been copied onto menus around the world ever since. Spirit-forward, tropical, unmistakably San Franciscan — the single most influential Negroni the city has produced.

“His oft-copied, then-groundbreaking pandan Leeward Negroni.”
— Bartender.com, 2025

HoursMon–Sat 17:00–24:00 · Sun closed
Phone+1 (415) 398-0195

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Best New Bar, 2025

Valley Club

398 Geary St (Hotel G, mezzanine), San Francisco, CA 94102

✦ The Lovemaker — gin fat-washed with cocoa butter and raspberry, Campari, Cocchi vermouth. "A Negroni with training wheels."

Mitch Lagneaux's first solo room, tucked on the mezzanine of Hotel G just off Union Square, was named Best New Bar of 2025 by both Eater SF and the SF Standard. Every cocktail is $18, and the one to order is the Lovemaker — number one on the list — a deliberate Negroni riff with gin fat-washed in raw cocoa butter and infused with raspberry, Campari and Cocchi Vermouth di Torino. The Standard likened it to "biting into a cherry cordial with rose petals at the center"; Lagneaux calls it "a Negroni with training wheels" for the bitter-averse. Low light, velvet, a serious bar dressed as a hideaway.

“It's SF's sexiest bar — and it's serving some of the city's best cocktails.”
— SF Standard, 2025

HoursMon–Thu 17:00–24:00 · Fri–Sat 17:00–01:00 · Sun closed
Phonetext +1 (415) 841-3375

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A page of Negronis · Marina

Frankie's

3213 Pierce St, San Francisco, CA 94123

✦ A whole menu page of Negronis — and a Negroni flight — from the team behind Norcina.

Frankie's opened in the Marina in February 2026, a martini-and-Negroni bar spun off from the restaurant Norcina by chef Kait Bauman and general manager Angelo De Lorenzi, and named for Bauman's English Labrador. One whole page of the menu is given over to Negronis — including a Negroni flight — while another runs martinis, among them cheese-washed and smoked riffs. The mood is convivial Marina: marble, low light, a room where you can drink with one hand and pet a dog with the other. Young, but it took the Negroni seriously from day one — and putting a flight of them in writing is a rare and welcome thing.

“Frankie's debuts with excellent martinis.”
— SF Standard, 2026

HoursSun/Tue/Wed 14:00–24:00 · Thu–Sat 14:00–02:00 · Mon closed

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Down the Peninsula · Burlingame

Barrelhouse

305 California Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010

✦ The Maverick — a Negroni built on Campari infused with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and cardamom.

Twenty minutes south of the city, across from the Burlingame Caltrain station, Barrelhouse has been the Peninsula's serious cocktail bar since 2011 — proof you needn't be in San Francisco to be made a proper drink. Its Negroni riff, the Maverick, infuses the Campari with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and cardamom, pulling the bitter spine of the drink toward Southeast Asia without ever losing it. Hip but unpretentious, full of locals and travellers straight off the train. The single best reason on the whole Peninsula to bend the city-limits rule.
Note: Barrelhouse is in Burlingame, about 20 minutes south of San Francisco — outside the city limits.

“[The Maverick] spices up a negroni by infusing the Campari with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and cardamom.”
— Punch, 2024

HoursSun–Wed 18:00–24:00 · Thu 17:00–24:00 · Fri–Sat 17:00–01:00
Phone+1 (650) 340-8642

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Across the bridge · Sausalito

Poggio Trattoria

777 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 94965

✦ A barrel-aged Negroni — Boodles gin, Campari, sweet vermouth, mellowed in cask.

Cross the Golden Gate and follow the waterfront into Sausalito, where Poggio fills the ground floor of the historic Casa Madrona hotel and looks out across the yacht harbour to the city it faces. Northern Italian to the bone — wood-fired, market-driven, named Marin's best Italian by Marin Magazine — it keeps a genuine Negroni programme, including a barrel-aged build of Boodles gin, Campari and sweet vermouth that comes out of the cask rounder and softer. Aperitivo with a bay view and the fog spilling over the headlands. The northern anchor of this list, and well worth the drive.
Note: Poggio is in Sausalito, across the Golden Gate — outside San Francisco's city limits.

“It might be the most definitive [Italian restaurant in Marin].”
— NorthBay biz, 2025

HoursDaily 6:30–11:30 (breakfast) · 12:00–21:00 (Sun–Thu) · 12:00–22:00 (Fri–Sat)
Phone+1 (415) 332-7771

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A geography of thirst

Where to drink, and why.

The Negroni clusters downtown — but the two finest reasons to leave it sit twenty minutes south and one bridge north.

Financial District & Jackson Square 94104 / 94111

The Negroni's downtown heartland: a fifty-deep programme at Bar Sprezzatura, an 1867 classic at Sam's Grill, and the last Barbary Coast saloon where Columbus meets the old waterfront.

North Beach 94133

The city's Little Italy, where the aperitivo first came ashore. Red booths, opera on the jukebox, and Tosca's neon burning since 1919.

Union Square & the Marina 94102 / 94123

Where the modern craft scene lives — PCH and its world-travelled Leeward, Valley Club's velvet hideaway, and Frankie's whole page of Negronis in the Marina.

Beyond the city 94010 / 94965

We bent the rule twice: south to Barrelhouse in Burlingame for the Maverick, and north across the Golden Gate to Poggio in Sausalito for a barrel-aged Negroni by the bay.

A map of the bay

A downtown core, two outriders.

Seven addresses sit within a short walk between the Financial District, North Beach and Union Square. The other two are a Caltrain ride south and a drive across the bridge north — both worth it.

Three readings of the same glass

The Negroni, the San Francisco way.

San Francisco did not invent the Negroni — but it gave the drink one of its most copied modern variations, and it bottles and barrels it like nowhere else. Three readings of the glass.

San Francisco's own

The Leeward Negroni

Created by Kevin Diedrich · Pacific Cocktail Haven, 550 Sutter St

30 ml High-proof gin
30 ml Campari washed with coconut oil (for a velvet texture)
30 ml Pandan cordial — in place of vermouth
· stirred, no citrus; served up or over one large rock

Built by Kevin Diedrich for Negroni Week 2016, the Leeward keeps the drink spirit-forward and bitter but sends it across the Pacific: coconut-oil-washed Campari softens the edge and adds a luscious texture, pandan cordial stands in for the sweet vermouth. It has been copied onto cocktail menus around the world. The clearest answer to the question of what a San Francisco Negroni even is.

The Classic

Any address on this list, asked for politely.

30 ml London Dry gin
30 ml sweet (red) vermouth
30 ml Campari
· stirred, big rock, orange peel

Equal parts. Always. The 1:1:1 ratio is the contract; Sam's and Comstock pour it with a straight face and a steady hand, exactly as a hundred years of bartenders intended.

The Barrel-Aged Negroni

Poggio Trattoria, Sausalito · and a Bay Area tradition

· gin, Campari, sweet vermouth — built and rested in oak
· weeks to months in cask
· rounder, softer, the edges sanded off

The Bay Area took to barrel-ageing the Negroni early and hard — Presidio Social Club bottled one, Blackbird aged whole cocktails for years, and Poggio pours a cask-mellowed Boodles build by the Sausalito waterfront. Time in oak marries the three spirits and softens the bitterness into something rounder. Order it where you find it.

From the Barbary Coast to the bay

A brief, biased history.

1860s

Jerry Thomas, the father of American bartending, works in San Francisco — and the saloons of the Barbary Coast make a craft of mixing drinks. The city has its bar trade decades before the Negroni is born. Italian immigrants begin turning North Beach into Little Italy.

1919

Florence, Caffè Casoni. Count Camillo Negroni, back from cowboy adventures in the American West, asks barman Fosco Scarselli to stiffen his Americano — gin in place of soda. The drink takes the count's name. The same year, Tosca Cafe opens on Columbus Avenue.

Today

For years Campari's American headquarters sat in San Francisco. The city's craft renaissance turned out a generation of serious bars; in 2016 PCH's Leeward Negroni travelled the world. From a $50 vintage pour downtown to a barrel-aged one across the bridge, the bittersweet hour is in good hands here.