A Gulp Worth Taking

The other night, a friend and I organized a happy hour for 6 pm.  It would be a large group of us (around 16 people) and we decided on Mars Bar in San Francisco, located at 798 Brannan Street.

Mars Bar is easy to miss.  It looks like a dive bar from the outside, and there is simply nothing notable about this place from the outside.  Once inside, you realize that it has a large bar, and the space is actually quite roomy, and once you turn the corner, there is an outdoor patio with approximately 15 tables.  NICE!

The rain had just cleared in San Francisco, and the night was chilly, but they had some massive commercial heating lamps going atop the tables and it was toasty in no time at all.

I started with a Blue Moon wheat beer, but when my friend arrived, she told me to follow her; there was a special drink she wanted to buy me.  “Upside down yadda yadda yadda,” she said, I couldn’t make out the last part.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I am not big on “foo-foo” drinks.  I either drink hard alcohol plain cocktails like gin and tonic, or straight up beer.  The only “foo-foo” drink I do have a weakness for is pina colada, so I wasn’t expecting much from this “yadda yadda” drink.

Well, color me surprised.

The “Upside Down Chocolate Pineapple” is truly, truly, TRULY delicious.
It’s made with vodka, not rum as one would have expected, and it’s basically chocolate goodness in a drink.  Never in a million years would I thought put chocolate and pineapple together, but that very well may be why I am not a bartender.  I’m told that one of their own bartenders invented the drink, so it’s basically available only at Mars Bar.

I did try some of their food – the pulled pork sandwiches and buffalo wings.  Both were good, neither knocked my socks off, but I did see a plate of calamari pass me by that overwhelmingly tempted me to reach out and grab one – but I maintained some dignity and refrained.

Mars Bar is a good location for Happy Hours, and can accommodate a large group if you get there early enough on Fridays.  Other nights, it’s not as crowded so getting a table for your group should be simple.  I did notice that one large group had reserved their table, so perhaps a call to the restaurant will enable you to hold a large table for your group, if over a certain number of people.

They had one waitress servicing the whole restaurant, and keeping tabs straight was a bit difficult as she seemed to charge to whichever card she wanted.  Normally, this may have set the two people who had open tabs to complain.  But when there is only one server available for all of your drinks, and you’re too lazy to go to the bar and service yourself  – you shut up and take it unless you want to drink her saliva or end up with E. Coli in your Grey Goose.

Now remember:  UPSIDE DOWN CHOCOLATE PINEAPPLE!!!!!!!!!!!

Service: 5.5/10
Ambiance: 5.5/10
Food: 7.5/10
Addictive Factor: 5/10
Overall Rating:  6.00/10