SFoodie hates the term "gastropub." Hates it. But this city has more and more restaurants that technically qualify. Some are brewpubs where you can eat something more substantial than potato skins and greasy burgers. Some talk up their "beer program" (SFoodie sees that phrase and looks around for our assigned seats and the popcorn stand) and employ a cicerone, also known as a beer sommelier. Whatever you want to call these beer-focused destinations, here are our five favorites:
5. ThirstyBear Brewing Company
Microbrews and Spanish tapas don't seem like the most intuitive pairing, conceptually, but ThirstyBear's owner, Ron Silberstein, has made them work for more than a decade. It helps that Silberstein's wide range of beers are well made, from the lightest of the wheats to the darkest of stouts, and certified organic to boot. The tapas aren't uniformly oustanding, but the tortilla would satisfy a Castilian grandmother, the patatas bravas are always a hit, and the kitchen has a knack for seafood.
4. Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery
Dave MacLean's Haight-Ashbury brewpub -- soon to be joined by a sister location in Dogpatch -- is a destination for its bitters, IPAs, and barrel-aged beers. Over the years, Magnolia's Grateful Dead-inspired decor has been covered over in more traditional brewpub garb, though more than a few references to Jerry Garcia & co. remain. Recently, chef Ronnie New has returned to the kitchen, setting the quality of the food back on an upward trajectory. And Fried Chicken Thursdays sell out week after week.
Along with Toronado, which doesn't serve food, the Monk's Kettle is San Francisco's primary beer-geek destination. On tap are rare Belgian trippels, domestic sour beers from tiny breweries in the Midwest, and cult California brews, and the bottle list has the depth expected of leather-bound wine lists at Masa's and Acquerello. The food under new chef Adam Dulye has become lighter and more complex (sample dish: Pacific Tombo, sunchoke purée, olive-oil-poached cherry tomato), and the waitstaff is trained to offer pairings for most dishes.
2. Suppenküche
Yes, you can order beer by the boot at Suppenküche, but it's a destination for German beer lovers as well as guzzlers. There are more than a dozen on tap, an ever-changing rotation -- from basic pilsners to bocks and rare hefeweizens, not to mention SFoodie favorite Köstritzer Schwarzbier -- and the Octoberfest selection of seasonal beers brings in geeks from all over the Bay Area. Suppenküche has always been as much about the food as the beer, though, with light, clean fare that shows its Californian influences. And no one looks askance at you if you accompany your Saturday-morning Nürnberger bratwurst with a half-liter of beer. Except your partner, of course.
1. Starbelly
Certified cicerone Rich Higgins (also the brewmaster at Social Kitchen) manages the beer program at Starbelly, and it's one of our favorite lists in town, chosen with food pairing in mind: few double-IPAs with their palate-killing bitterness, tons of Belgians and American Belgian-style ales, plus curiosities from Italy and Mexico. Adam Timney's California cuisine is thoughtful but not overthought, in touch with the season and the times, and easy to find yourself eating on a regular basis.
Runners up: Tipsy Pig, Rosamunde Mission, Delarosa, and Pi Bar. If you count being able to eat shawarma and brats inside Toronado, that'd be one of our favorites, too.
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