The Swingin' Door

106 E 25th Ave, San Mateo
(650) 522-9800

Recent Reviews

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Marie-Rose Ramboz

Love this place, beer and cider on tap, friendly staff, good food, and karaoke on the weekends 🤩

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Elwood Engel

Been coming here for years. Like 30 years. Miss the old name.

Fish and chips. What elae do you need ouuta life?

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Dre' Tatum

Great little dive-y bar with tasty good and fun bartenders. The crowd is diverse and can be a lot of fun. I highly recommend it for the quirkiness, fun factor, and the good drinks.
No food after 10 at night on Wednesday, but there is karaoke. If that happens to float your boat.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: At the Bar, Beer Battered Pickles, Wings and Fries

Chris D

Tables and the bar are dirty. The bartender never wiped anything down during my visit. The freezer door in the kitchen is so dirty and gross. The cook is touching that, then touching your food. Nobody asked if our food was good or if we needed anything else. The fish was good. The hot ketchup they used to serve is now ketchup mixed with BBQ sauce (gross). The place has gone down hill since last I visited. I won’t be coming back.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 3

Service: 1

Jason Held

We came for the 'dualing' pianos, still mentioned on their website and on event calendars they promote throughout the bay area well into 2025.

However, there are no pianos, as we were informed by our very nice bartender. Not since Covid.

There was even no live music on a Saturday night at 9:45 pm.

So 2 stars for the inaccurate information.

So, while this is perfectly fine place to drink British beer, and the food looked decent, be aware of these facts if you are interested in live music. Don't make the same mistake as me, this is not the place to go.

Atmosphere: 3

Service: 5

Steve Conger

Wow, this place is in decay.

Use to be a hotspot that drew folks from as far north as San Rafael to very south in SanJose.

Why? New management that did away with dueling pianos, trivia and karaoke.

It is ā€œonly localsā€ now with a bartender that makes sure they have no customer service for anyone new.

juan gonzalez

The food was really good.

Jeffrey Stender

Always a good spot

Jim Mitulski

Four local pastors met here for lunch and we loved it!

Hit List

Stopped in for a drink before heading to sushi next door and was pleasantly surprised. The premium Martini was....uhm, let's just say prices are more than reasonable; honestly, they’re fantastic for the quality.

The only questionable part: A very inebriated patron at the bar already deep into her cups at 4 p.m. I mean… day drinking is one thing, but full-on drunk before happy hour? Impressive or concerning—you decide.

Jokes aside, the Guinness was solid, the prices unbeatable, and I’ll definitely be back to try the deep-fried grub. Cheers family!

Joe Conlon

Great historic place and menu!

Chris McLoughlin

Been coming to this place for years. Walked in there this evening, sat down, ordered and was served, then was told to leave as we weren’t there for the Meta private party. Totally understand if they have the place rented out, but put a sign on the door or something. The guy who seemed to be in charge of said party was an aggressive jerk. I’m thinking I’ve had my last beer and meal there. They do have good entertainment, especially with the Dixieland music on Tuesdays, and the food is good, but with the experience we had this evening, probably won’t be coming back.

Tricia Blount

Went for karaoke as advertised...no karaoke. Will try again.

gemma bartos

Stopped by on a Tuesday night and was really glad to catch a live band, which is rare occurrence these days. The food was great!! Definitely get the fish and chips with extra tartar sauce if you go. Unfortunately, the bar service was pretty disappointing. The bartender barely acknowledged me and she seemed uninterested in helping, which made the visit feel a bit off. The food was good enough that I’ll probably come back on a different night to try one of the karaoke events, but I’m hoping for a better experience next time.

Vincent Moore

Karaoke. Small patio. Local Only Vibes but welcoming. Learned a lot about a good Old Fashioned. Historic. Use Google. Look them up šŸ˜‰

Atmosphere: 5

Service: 5

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