This is my only go to when I visit and I visit a few times a year. Best bar hands down in the Marina and arguably the best bar in SF. And Brooke is the best bartender without a doubt. This is where you spend time or end your night!
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Randy Chase
The Horseshoe Tavern — Marina District, San Francisco
A Gonzo Field Report by a Man Who Should’ve Gone Home Three Drinks Ago
There are bars you enter, and there are bars you fall into like a wounded buffalo, bleeding hope and thirsty for redemption. The Horseshoe Tavern sits squarely in the second category — a neon-rimmed watering hole in the Marina where Patagonia warriors and half-feral locals collide in a swirling cocktail of bourbon sweat and delusional self-confidence.
The first thing you notice walking in is the smell: a defiant mixture of spilled IPA, ancient bar varnish, and the crushed ambitions of tech bros who thought they were just one more mezcal shot away from enlightenment. This is where misplaced swagger comes to die… and occasionally respawn.
The bartenders — God bless these wild-eyed barkeeps — serve everything with that perfect blend of indifference and mercy. They’ve seen it all: the finance guy crying into his Old Fashioned, the midnight philosopher preaching the virtues of microdosed democracy, the woman who calmly announced she was “leaving her husband for a motorcycle club called The Gentlemen of Doom.”
And in the corner? Always a birthday. Always a breakup. Always some doomed soul trying to resurrect their youth with Fireball and bravado.
The jukebox? A roulette wheel of questionable decisions. One minute it’s Springsteen roaring about the open road, the next it’s Taylor Swift reminding you that, no, you are not the main character in this bar — you’re barely an extra.
But here’s the thing: the place works. The Horseshoe Tavern is honest. It’s loud and slightly unhinged and unapologetically itself. In a city that’s turned half its dive bars into artisanal kombucha saunas, this joint is still serving beer in cold glasses and trouble on tap.
You don’t go to the Horseshoe to reflect. You go to forget. You go to find the edge of the night and maybe jump off it.
If you’re lucky, you stumble out alive with your jacket, your dignity, and at least a dim sense of where you parked. If not? Hell — at least you got a good story.
Final verdict: Four out of five hallucinatory seagulls. A Marina madhouse worth every dollar and every bad decision.
Food: 1
Duong Le
a true local dive bar where clientele range from the young college grads to retirees, and yet the vibes are good all around. 2 pool tables, and they have a vintage photobooth! 2 strips of 3 pics, $5.50
Atmosphere: 4
Bardh Kadiu
Really nice place and great service!
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Don Gibson
Good dive bar
Service: 5
Kyle
The best vibe and joint in the city.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Brandon Eads
Great dog friendly neighborhood bar
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Sofia Baig
The bouncer at this bar thought my ID was fake and I am 30 years old with a California ID?? He could not be reasoned with and was super rude. Just wanted to play pool :(
Service: 1
Daniel Judd
Dope place. Love the doggos
Melvin Perez
A couple of my friends and I were rudely not served by the bartender. That’s how you lose customers. Thanks!
Great stop on our way back to our hotel! Definitely will try to go back before we leave the area.
Cindy G
My son and daughter in law took us here as they live close and love it here! Played pool. Great friendly staff.
Larry Galdeano
Pretty good bar but needs to play audio for the games
Einstein Jr
I was here on a Friday night late and the female bartender was an incredible jerk. I was trying to be friendly and she wanted to pick a fight with me over nothing I don't know what she's doing behind the bar.
Branum Spliethof
Place is garbage the owner and her boyfriend pick fights for no reason. My friends had to talk them down. Bunch of idiots.
This is my only go to when I visit and I visit a few times a year. Best bar hands down in the Marina and arguably the best bar in SF. And Brooke is the best bartender without a doubt. This is where you spend time or end your night!
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
The Horseshoe Tavern — Marina District, San Francisco
A Gonzo Field Report by a Man Who Should’ve Gone Home Three Drinks Ago
There are bars you enter, and there are bars you fall into like a wounded buffalo, bleeding hope and thirsty for redemption. The Horseshoe Tavern sits squarely in the second category — a neon-rimmed watering hole in the Marina where Patagonia warriors and half-feral locals collide in a swirling cocktail of bourbon sweat and delusional self-confidence.
The first thing you notice walking in is the smell: a defiant mixture of spilled IPA, ancient bar varnish, and the crushed ambitions of tech bros who thought they were just one more mezcal shot away from enlightenment. This is where misplaced swagger comes to die… and occasionally respawn.
The bartenders — God bless these wild-eyed barkeeps — serve everything with that perfect blend of indifference and mercy. They’ve seen it all: the finance guy crying into his Old Fashioned, the midnight philosopher preaching the virtues of microdosed democracy, the woman who calmly announced she was “leaving her husband for a motorcycle club called The Gentlemen of Doom.”
And in the corner? Always a birthday. Always a breakup. Always some doomed soul trying to resurrect their youth with Fireball and bravado.
The jukebox? A roulette wheel of questionable decisions. One minute it’s Springsteen roaring about the open road, the next it’s Taylor Swift reminding you that, no, you are not the main character in this bar — you’re barely an extra.
But here’s the thing: the place works. The Horseshoe Tavern is honest. It’s loud and slightly unhinged and unapologetically itself. In a city that’s turned half its dive bars into artisanal kombucha saunas, this joint is still serving beer in cold glasses and trouble on tap.
You don’t go to the Horseshoe to reflect.
You go to forget.
You go to find the edge of the night and maybe jump off it.
If you’re lucky, you stumble out alive with your jacket, your dignity, and at least a dim sense of where you parked. If not? Hell — at least you got a good story.
Final verdict:
Four out of five hallucinatory seagulls. A Marina madhouse worth every dollar and every bad decision.
Food: 1
a true local dive bar where clientele range from the young college grads to retirees, and yet the vibes are good all around. 2 pool tables, and they have a vintage photobooth! 2 strips of 3 pics, $5.50
Atmosphere: 4
Really nice place and great service!
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Good dive bar
Service: 5
The best vibe and joint in the city.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Great dog friendly neighborhood bar
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
The bouncer at this bar thought my ID was fake and I am 30 years old with a California ID?? He could not be reasoned with and was super rude. Just wanted to play pool :(
Service: 1
Dope place. Love the doggos
A couple of my friends and I were rudely not served by the bartender. That’s how you lose customers. Thanks!
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
Great stop on our way back to our hotel! Definitely will try to go back before we leave the area.
My son and daughter in law took us here as they live close and love it here! Played pool. Great friendly staff.
Pretty good bar but needs to play audio for the games
I was here on a Friday night late and the female bartender was an incredible jerk. I was trying to be friendly and she wanted to pick a fight with me over nothing I don't know what she's doing behind the bar.
Place is garbage the owner and her boyfriend pick fights for no reason. My friends had to talk them down. Bunch of idiots.
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