Hemlock Tavern

Great bar, nice music!
Smoking area inside is pretty convenient in winters
Hideous restrooms!

This place is pretty chill. I stopped by here for a couple of beers after seeing a show at the Regency Ballroom. The bartender was nice and quick and the beers were cheap and delicious. I was by myself and I didn’t have a problem getting a seat at the bar and I didn’t feel awkward.

Awesome shows at good prices of local and touring groups. Cheap beer (24 ounce PBR can for $ 5). Cool bar staff and a very diverse clientele.

It was my first time coming to this bar. I was a bit dressed up, and as soon as I walked into the bar, there were a few chicks talking to the bartender who stared down at me and my friends. I found a spot at the end of the bar, and after a few minutes, caught the attention of one of the bartenders (A short haired blonde chick), and ordered 3 shots. She came back a few mins later with my drinks, and with the bill. I gave her my card, and she came back with the receipt in hand for me to sign. I signed my $ 30 bill and put my card away, as we all got ready to take the shots. However, before I could get a ‘cheers’ going with my friends, the bartender came back, and stooped over the bar and screamed, «REALLY? Was my service THAT bad that I didn’t get a tip?» I was kind of shocked that she even said something, or the fact that she couldn’t wait a minute for us to take our shot. I told her calmly, «No, we tip in cash! Don’t worry, we will tip you…» but before I could even finish my sentence, she stormed away. My friends and I were kind of shocked that she even did something like that. After trying to wave her down after finishing our shots, she kept ignoring/​avoiding us. She wouldn’t even walk our way. So I asked one of the bar managers to grab her so that we could tip her. He went over to her, pointed to us, and I could see her shake her head. We waited a few mins, but she never came. So, we left the cash tip at the bar and walked out. It was such an awkward experience. We will not be going back here.

Alternative music, higher priced drinks. We only stopped in for a round of shots and to use the bathroom but that still seemed too long. Bathrooms were weird and gross.

Short Review: if the faux scenester bartender thinks she is cooler than you, you may get terrible service. Management seems okay with this, which makes it hard for me to spend money here and bring bring friends here anymore.
The Story:
My girlfriend and I were meeting up with an old friend for a few drinks, so what better place to spend the night than the Hemlock Tavern?
We arrived at 7:15 pm and as you might imagine, it wasn’t exactly really busy at that time. (Wednesday)
We didn’t see our friend so we sat down and waited to order a drink. And Waited. And Waited.
After about ten minutes of no service, we actually noticed our friend had arrived earlier/​was already there and seated at the other side of the bar. So we left the «dead zone» (still with no drinks) and sat with her.
Now sitting directly in the bartender’s line of sight, I started waiting again to be acknowledged, or even asked what I wanted to drink. No results.
So I just started talking to the Bartender about the drinks I would like to buy as she prepared to walk past me again/​not take my order.
When I finished placing my order, I asked my friend if she would like another drink. She said she would, and turned to the bartender, smiled and said «Can I get another one of these, please?»
The bartender immediately cut her off before her sentence was done and said «I Don’t remember what you had, so…» in a snotty tone (There’s a nice way to say this, and Crown And Coke isn’t exactly an exotic drink).
So whatever. We get our drinks and sit and talk. My friend actually mentions that when she arrived she had a hard time getting a drink, and asked me if i thought the Bartender was unfriendly.
Some time passes, I finish my drink and put it on the bar and start trying to make eye contact so I can get another drink. No dice.
After a while I push my empty glass a little closer to the bartender side so it’s very obvious I have an empty glass, but this + attempting to make eye contact yields no results.
So now I can’t even talk with my friends, I have to remain fully focused on getting the bartenders attention. (Shouldn’t be this difficult when the bar is not busy)
After a painful amount of minutes goes by with no service/​or acknowledgement (Not to mention, no one in the bar waiting for anything besides me), I get her attention and ask to order another round. She looks at me, says nothing, and then checks the bar to to see if other customers wanted a drink first, before serving us. This is unacceptable assholery, in my humble opinion, and not what I expect from Hemlock.
So we finished that round, and headed out, in pursuit of a better experience. It was definitely not fun to have a bartender who was very cold/​unfriendly to us (no Hello, No Smile, no How’s it going, no can i get you another round, no nothing.)
We walked into Blur, and then Upcider and both places had outstanding staff in place which made the contrast to the service we got (or didn’t get) at Hemlock even more stark.

Truly excellent beer selection, great bartender. 30 minutes before closing time an employee decided he was Sheriff and demanded my friend and I clear the smoking section, then followed us to the curb to complain about us leaving a single piece of trash behind, which we only did because he was rushing us out. Tremendously rude and unprofessional.

Sketchy crowd. Guy picked a fight with me, still don’t know why, I didn’t retaliate at all and they kicked ME out of the bar.
I’ve never been attacked in a bar before that and the fact that management would endorse that kind of behavior is a clear sign of the kind of bar you’d be walking into.

This place was different to say the least. Very punk rock, hardcore metal place. When you walk in, it is crowded not so much where you have to push people but in the sense that you do have to be forceful to get through. I went here around 10pm and there was no cover. The bar is set up in the middle which was great because your seen from all sides if your looking to get a drink. If you do want a table I would suggest coming earlier than 10pm because all the tables were packed when I got there but it’s ok I wasn’t looking to sit anyways. There is another room in the back where I’m guessing bands come to play because when I walked in there and it was really musty and people in there were sweaty it was gross and smelled like b.o. Looks like there was a band of some kind because they were packing up but no instruments so maybe I came late for the show. Overall if you like hardcore metal or punk music and want to socialize with your friends over a beer, I would walk in just to see if it’s your type of bar if not no big deal.

Chill place. Grabbed a few drinks relaxed good people watching good music enjoyed myself.

I’ve been coming here for over ten years and I can’t say enough about the bar and staff. Yes it has more of a dive feel but has transitioned very well with the change of Polk at over the years. If you love stiff drinks, a separate live venue, an awesome and good looking bar staff or just want a new watering hole to rest your bones and watch any of the local sports teams on a projector then this is your bar as well as mine. I love the hemlock!

the Hemlock kicks, they have the essential things a bar should have ;
friendly people– even the doorman– not much attitude that I detected
good, reasonably priced drinks (not the frou frou kind)
w/​good beer /​rye selections/​daily specials
a tight back room for music, great for sweaty rockin’ punky loud bands
a separate walled off smoking room
no food, but the street is full of grub.
perfect location in the middle of the busiest mostly straight hook up district in town–
if I was 30 again this would be one of my main stays, but we still had a great time and would recommend to anyone looking for non Mission hang.

Captain Ahab. R.I.P.
Only show i’ve seen here (i think) and it was the BEST EVAR. we sang, we danced drenched with stoli sweat and who knows what else. it was loud. it was fun.
the bar was ok too.

Performance starts at 9, therefore arrive at 8:30-ish, thus securing an excellent vantage point and certainty that one will not miss a single note.
WRONG. Wrong, little confused Hawaii girl. Get to Hemlock at 8:30 and NO ONE will be there and you will feel confused and awkward and have to sit alone with your lime and tonic and pretend like being completely by yourself is your most favoritest thing to do in the whole wide world.
Lesson #1: In SF, sometimes being early is not being on time. Sometimes being early is being alone.
However. Despite the somewhat shaky start to the evening the experience turned out great. After a half hour of feeling generally lost and self-​conscious, I finally ventured upstairs ($ 8 cover unless you have «ins» with the performers) and met people! Then I had a group to sit with which was ten thousand times better than sitting by myself. Then I met more people. And more people. And people I knew finally showed up and introduced me to even more people that I would end up partying with until 4am.
Lesson #2: Even though it feels like they won’t, people will show up to Hemlock and it will get crowded and they will be fun. Just. Wait.
If you want to talk you can hang out downstairs. If you want to hear the live music you can hang out upstairs, run downstairs for more alcohol, then go back upstairs. There are in-​and-​out privileges in this place.
Lesson #3: Endless options. Not sure if that’s a lesson.
The performance space is not particularly large, but good enough. I stashed my jacket with the super nice sound person and joined the crowd to bob-​and-​sway to the music. Not much of a dancing crowd though there were a few people who just laid it all out there like no one was watching (but we were all watching). The bands were high energy and fun, the crowd was eclectic and interesting, and it was a really good time.
There was also a smoke room from which you could emerge with the sensual odor of a starlet from the twenties or whenever it was that people thought smoking was a good idea. Though really, if you do smoke you can do it in indoor comfort instead of being relegated to the elements on the street. It is also made of windows so you can wave to your friends who choose to only destroy their liver instead of their liver AND lungs as you marinate in your cancer molecules. People will also be able to see how cool and mysterious you are.
Lesson #4: You can creep that much closer to lung cancer in comfort and warmth, which is far better than creeping towards lung cancer in the freezing cold. You can also look cool.
Ah, I simply must mention how wonderfully the workers treated me (including the money guy, the sound guy, and the bartenders), making this anxious girl venturing about on her own feel right at home.
Lesson #5: Awesome workers make the night better. Always.
BTW, I found the bathroom facilities to be usable and decent. Interestingly, I never did encounter any sort of line and always secured the stall that actually has a door. No issues here.
Hemlock Tavern. Sweet.

Oh yes. There are a few bars left in the city where you could listen to punk and not feel ironic. I love the smoking room and the drinks are basic and the price reflects this. Cannot be mad at this institution.

We had drinks with friends here before heading to dinner nearby.
It was a little early, so it wasn’t as loud as other reviews mention.
The beer selection was good, and it was busy, but not too crowded to have plenty of room and be able to chat without yelling.
Enjoyed my time there, and would come back if I was nearby.

Cash-​only, hipster-​divey-​bar in San Francisco.
Pretty casual place to come by for a drink, solid drinks and a relaxed environment.
There’s a stage in the back of the bar where they host open-​mic nights (the one we saw was a poetry challenge sort of event).
Not really a destination, but a nice stop on the road on your way to somewhere else.

If you like your bars cheap, loud, and full of good looking people, Hemlock is the place to be.
Granted, this is not a fancy lounge with $ 13 handcrafted cocktails. If that’s your bag, seek refuge elsewhere. I am more interested in dive bars with punk rock music blasting and lots of tasty beers on tap.
Peter the bartender was a total sweetheart. I can tell he cares about his guests quite a bit. The rest of the staff were exceptional, very friendly and efficient. I hardly had to wait more than a minute to have my drink order taken. The ladies and gents behind the bar were buzzing around like honey bees on speed, serving all of their customers in record time. I was really impressed, and made sure I tipped every time I ordered another round.
Four pints into the night, and I was feeling properly sauced. I saw four awesome bands in the back of the joint: Yi, Bad Daddies, Quaaludes, and The Younger Lovers. Really fun show, really lovely people. I danced around and moshed like the best of them. A cute guy put his arm around me in the pit, and I swooned a little bit. Wish I had asked for his name.
Rock on, Hemlock. Five stars all the way.

Which Hemlock is your Hemlock? The Saturday night smash of people? Punk rock shows? Sunday when it’s you and maybe three or four other people? I love all these Hemlocks.
Cash only can be a pain but once you get used to it, it makes sense. The jukebox is just killer and the bartenders generally pretty damn cool.

I don’t really understand the appeal of Hemlock Tavern. I’ve yet to come here on a busy night so perhaps that’s why?
Based on my visit, it’s a fine place for a quick drink before moving on to another destination. I was pleasantly surprised by how cheap and strong the drinks were. I did not go beyond the dingy plastic curtain as they were still sound checking for the show that night but I was somewhat curious.
The staff? Pretty random. The door guy was pervy and hit on my friend hard in a rather unappealing fashion. The bartenders sort of grunted as a way of acknowledging our presence but they were quick at assembling our drinks. My friend and I were carded on three separate occasions (at the door and by two different bartenders), which was tedious. Good to know I look my age.
The people? Not so friendly but it was early so I can’t really judge. I definitely wouldn’t have gone up and started a conversation with anyone there based on the vibe of the place that night.
The women’s bathroom is ridiculous. You either have a shower curtain or cheesy looking, swinging saloon doors to hide you. I’m really glad no one else was in there because I’m not into that sort of exhibitionism.
If I was already in the neighborhood, I’d consider coming back to check out the live music much later in the night.