Swank Cocktail Club

Cool vibe, locals, moderately expensive which is a rarity these days in SF. Bartender Olga rocks!

Love this place! Great for girls night… The drinks are sooooo good! Really cool retro, Madmen look– Would definitely recommend this place!

Interesting bar with an interesting crowd. Had never been here before and came around 9pm on a Wednesday — they had trivia going but it didn’t seem like the type of place to have trivia… not many people were playing and most of the people I saw in this bar were doing work. The lights were all the way on (bright) which seems a bit unusual for a bar at 9pm.
I ordered one of their cocktails, they were out of the ingredients. Tried to order a different cocktail, they were out of this one as well. Lucky #3, tried to order a beer, they were out of that too. Finally I decided to go with the 21^st Amendment Watermelon beer — they DID have that. But it was pretty warm (which i am not a fan of).
Not the best experience and not sure I’d come back but i did like the small patio outside.

I love Swank… and ever since Solstice left the hood and the Weird Hare moved in with its too loud crappy music and 20 year olds, I like Swank even more…

This was the first stop before we went to the Vogue for the showing of Janus, Little Girl Blue. Its been years since bars were a part of a night out. So, it is a bit hard to review this one.
The cocktails were good. I liked my Manhattan and S liked his Virgin Mary. It seemed that the bar tenders were a bit overwhelmed. I’m not sure if it was because the crowd was large or there was some confusion about how we could use the drink tickets.
We were also served appetizers and pizza and they were good to. I would definely come here again. It seems that this would not be a pickup bar. But maybe that was because most of the people who stopped here before the movie were in couples.

This place was fun and cozy. Bartender could make anything under the sun! They had both well and top shelf. Here is a nice twist… the booze wasn’t watered down. Bartender could tell I was coming down with a cold. She gave me her Airborne. Felt better the next day! Again. locals came here. Everyone was friendly!

Delicious watermelon sangria!!! And great specials!
We heard some sweet vibes from the sounds of CAVU! We hope to hear more love music in the future!
We’ll be back for more sounds and sips!

We went here on Saturdeay night and they had some live music. It was really fun to chill out on the comfy couches and hear some awesome bands. The ambiance is cozy and super nice without being pretentious. We tried a lot of different food from the menu, it was okay. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here but it made some great snacks. My favorite was the bacon wrapped dates. Each goat cheese stuffed date is wrapped in an entire piece of bacon. yum! I don’t think they have coffee anymore, although they used to have Blue Bottle. They had Almanac IPA on Tap… Almanac is dope! I’d definitely come back and I hope they have more music soon!

Perfect after work drink spot to unwind. Great cocktails and small bites and intimate setting in a nice neighborhood. I love taking a girlfriend here to catch up over a few glasses of wine. It has a welcoming feel and a good selection of quality drinks — whether it be wine, beer or cocktails.

Wow, not coming back here again. The bartenders took our order for food, then forgot to give the order to the kitchen so that after waiting for 30 minutes, they told us «oh, sorry we forgot and the kitchen is now closed… but here is a bowl of nuts». Not cool. Then we have a bunch of drinks and tip appropriately, though he decides that it wasn’t enough so decides to make little comments about us to other tourist patrons at the bar about us being «local yokels» (great idea, insult folks who live and work in your neighborhood because they are local). Not cool. The drinks were ok and the one person who ordered separately and got a pizza… well, it was barely better than microwave pizza. If I were stranded in a snowstorm in bumphuck, Michigan in a hotel bar with nothing around, this place might be tolerable, but not when I’m in the magical city of San Francisco with gazillions of better options to spend my hard-​earned cash where I will not have terrible service with poor attitude and awful food at high prices. Eek! Methinks not.

If you’re looking for a bar in Presidio Heights, there aren’t a ton of options and Swank is one of the few. It’s a very serviceable bar with a few wine options and beers on tap. It’s generally easy to find a seat and is a good place to kick back and relax. On the down side, their hours are limited as they are not open on Sundays. I generally feel like hotel bars should be open longer than normal bars, so that was a bit disappointingly

This place is not swanky. It is very small and very poor beer selection: very empty surprised they’re still in business not trying to write a bad review or be mean, but these r the facts.

Perfect if you are staying at The Laurel Inn next door. This bar makes great cocktails, and has a ton of room whether you want to hang in a nook with a date, or you have a group and you all want to kick it on a couch. Great vibe. Alex, who I think was a manager, was legit. Great guy, makes great drank!

They are closed for morning coffee service. Would have been good to know before walking all the way here.

I think this place has an inviting atmosphere with a sophisticated air of funk and fun. It has food, drink, coffee and tunage, as well as an awesome Trivia night on Wednesdays. I just like the people who come around and lounging on their many sofa like recliners. Good bar staff as well, very nice folks.

Best coffee in city! In this café always feel like you at home. Fireplace warms your feelings… Like this atmosphere of 80’s!

Not bad, Not great.
The bar was understaffed but the bartender was hardworking and still put on a smile :) She was packed! Working hard.
The dates + bacon were amazing though… bacon was perfect and the filling was delicious.
Artichoke dip was a bit oily but still tasted good.
Pizza however, I would not reccomend. The crust was heavily floured. hard to describe :(but pizza had no flavor. The onions/​shallots on our pizza (The Laurel) were so burned to a crisp there was no more onion/​shallot flavor. The mushrooms were just thrown on the top.
Drinks were good, not crazy mixology or out of the box concoctions.
An older crowd, but the space is nice for an intimate outing :)

9am on a cool Saturday morning and I’m standing outside waiting for the bus. And I notice not 1, not 2, but 3 men with strollers independently go into this bar over a 10 minute period!
As a mom of a toddler I start to wonder. Is this some special elite bar for parents? Where the rich go to have a hair of the dog while the kids play? Or perhaps something more nefarious. I don’t know… maybe baby fights being held in the back room? I had to know what was going on in there!
A sign on the door quickly cleared things up, as the 1^st dad to enter came out with a cup of joe. They are a coffee bar in the morning and a regular bar at night! How trendy! And being part of a hotel it makes sense the patrons and the neighbors would be interested in this.
The barista was working overtime. He was very skilled, grinding and pouring, grinding and pouring, until he had 3 pour overs knocked out in record time and was ready to get to me. The whole time I’m glancing out the window down Presidio, hoping I won’t miss my bus.
I order my coffee, he’s on it, record speed. I’m going to make my bus, I know it! I paid him, it’s too late to turn back now! The cup is ¼ filled.½ filled. no bus yet! Do I want room for cream? Yes! But wait it’s stopped dripping and he needs to top it off! And ZOOM there goes the bus.
Was it worth it? Heck yes! I always leave a disgustingly large window of time to get anywhere so I got my coffee, was oddly impressed by how basic the rest was. Sugar. Cream. Stirrers. Napkins. Period. Easy.
I then sat down near the fireplace, witnesses several more dads (and the occasional couple) come in to get coffee, and eventually my bus came and I was still 10 minutes early for my appointment!
I can’t comment on the nighttime action.

This is the bar that’s right across from the JCCSF. It’s a great little place me and my basketball team go to after playoff games to grab a beer. The bartenders there are friendly. The beers are decent prices. The area is dark but there’s a TV on the side with the couches. Overall, there isn’t that much room for a lot of people. On the other side of the couches, there’s a few small tables people can sit at. This place is more of an intimate bar when chilling with a few people.
Pros:
–Friendly bartenders
–Across from the JCCSF
–Lots of street parking around the neighborhood after meter hours
Cons:
–Area is small, not that good for large groups

My bf and I stopped at Swank the other night for a cocktail before dinner. It was rainy out and Swank was soooo cozy. Fire going, mood lighting, soft talking — it was perfect. I was going to just order a glass of wine, but the specialty cocktails looked so good, I ordered a vodka, honey and basil concoction that was totally refreshing and not overly sweet.
Swank is a great spot to hang out if you’re hitting up one of the nearby restaurants for dinner. We were told that many of the tables were reserved that evening, but we were there early enough that we could enjoy the table until the party that reserved arrived.
The good news: you can reserve a table here! That means if you have friends joining you or you want to throw a party, you can reserve a table, half the restaurant or even the whole restaurant for a private function! (And affordably to boot!)
Very warm, friendly environment with a nice bartender and strong drinks. What more can you ask for? :)

Right across the street from the Jewish Community Center. Easy place to pop in for a cocktail. Moderate prices and decent higher end drinks. Don’t expect crazy mixology, but a step up from a usual Stoli and soda bar. Nice lounge seating.

Swanky for sure.
My friend decided to take me here after grabbing a quick dinner recently.
This place used to be something else far less swanky, but seemes to have been transformed into something similar to the W hotel environment… chic, classy, modern and all around very San Francisco. Small, but still equipped with plentiful lounge like seating, as well as a decent amount of seating within the bar area.
We sat up at the ultra sexy, dimmed lit bar. I had a glass of Malbec to start which turned out to be fairly decent. I then had a glass of Mumm Champagne. My friend had some vodka like cocktail.
The service we received from the bartender was exceptionally friendly and attentive.
My only complaint this evening, was that it was LOUD!!! I guess they were having an engagement party, so the place was far more packed than it usually is. At least based upon my friends saying as well as the bartender’s.
Overall, my experience was quite enjoyable despite the loud crowd that preoccupied most of the place, and I would still love to come back and have another glass of Champagne or perhaps some specialty cocktail.

I use to come to this place back when it was called the G Bar, or maybe it was called the G Spot. Ironically, it wound up closing because no one could find it. I just remember it being a cool bar nestled in the Laurel Inn on California at Presidio.
It has since re-​opened as Swank, a slightly more upscale lounge that looks like something from the show «Mad Men.» Don Draper would definitely approve of the stiff cocktails, intimate fireside lounge, and female clientele. It’s a good spot for secret rendezvous.
Some friends and I swung by Swank last the other night to catch up over a few drinks. Unbeknownst to us, Wednesday is Trivia Night. Before we knew it, we were competing with eight other teams to see who knew the most useless pop-​culture knowledge. It was a blast! It’s free to enter, and the winning team gets like $ 30 off their bar tab (which, for the record, adds up quickly after a few hours).
The drink menu is pretty standard (you got your wines by the glass, classic cocktails, beers on tap, yada yada yada…).
I was surprised though by the quality of the bar bites. We all shared a spinach/​artichoke dip and a hummus/​pita platter. And the pizzas also looked pretty tasty.
I would definitely put Swank on my must-​revisit list. If you’re looking for a fun place for a first date, I’d highly recommend their Wednesday Trivia Night.
BTW, if you’re ever asked which Stephen King novel was turned into a hit 1990 movie, the answer is «Misery» (and NOT «Pet Semetary»). Had I known that, I could’ve saved $ 30 bucks on my bar tab!

An early morning Blue Bottle drip coffee to go,
in a setting the characters of Mad Men would enjoy.
There was no scotch in my coffee… I checked.

Actually, not so swank.
But now at least I know. The bartender, after apologizing for not having a cocktail waitress, came to the table and graciously took our orders. A glass of wine, as I recall, was about $ 12. A delicious bowl of hot nuts treated with lemon oil was $ 4. There was a fireplace, too. But the room was an L-​shape, and very simple. The «coffee club» part of the name referred to, well, coffee in the morning.
Maybe this would be a great place for a nightcap before retiring to one of the hotel rooms above, but I don’t think I’ll be taking friends here to impress them. Well, unless they are into hot nuts.