Thursday, August 27, 2009

The Buena Vista

We stopped in at a San Francisco institution - er, tourist trap - The Buena Vista, for a night cap last week. The Buena Vista's claim to fame is inventing Irish Coffee. It is in an old building with a massive, long bar and views of San Francisco Bay. Despite its history as a drinking establishment, The Buena Vista had nothing to speak of in terms of beer - a house lager, some A-B stuff and Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale. I find it funny and a bit sad that a famous bar has adopted to the new "short pint' trend, as my SNPA was served in a 14 oz pint. (The picture I took on my iPhone is too grainy and blurry to post.) On a positive note, I tasted the Beer Rovette's Irish Coffee, and it was excellent. The Buena Vista reinforced my opinion that when you go to a place famous for one thing you shouldn't expect surprises outside the renowned item.

2 comments:

Steve said...

My favorite non-beer bar in SF. Stop in for an Irish Coffee the Friday night before USC plays Stanford on The Farm. Man those Irish Coffees are good.

Short pints suck though. Interestingly enough, I've actually unexpectedly come across a couple places recently that pour imperial pints, in an age when it seems like nobody does more than a "normal" pint.

Rational Realist said...

My review of the Buena Vista was a little negative. It was a neat bar with a great ambiance. I did not go there looking for a great beer selection.

Good news on the imperial pints in an age where a "normal" pint is getting rare