Bars are so ambitious these days, even bars as small as ones an earlier generation called "taverns." SFoodie loves them, we do ― the proprietary cocktails, bartenders who apprenticed with bona fide stars, luxury bitters, and eyedroppers full of dark tinctures. But sometimes? We just want a neighborhood place to throw down a few drinks in.
First-time owner Mike Limanon opened a particularly nice neighborhood place almost exactly a year ago and named it, appropriately, Bar Basic. Tonight, Limanon celebrates his tavern's first birthday starting at 5 p.m. with an open bar (till 6), giveaways and drink specials all night, and a special Wednesday night appearance out front by Filipino food truck Hapa SF (starting at 5 p.m.). With a year under his belt, Limanon says the thing that surprised him most about having a bar are the number of hours he's had to put in, though he's not complaining. The best thing? The way the neighborhoods's supported him. "They really feel like neighbors, just hanging out in my apartment having drinks." Drinks that probably don't involve hunks of flaming orange peel.
Bar Basic: 510 Brannan (at Fourth St.), 227-0449.
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