The Wonder Bar closed its doors for the last time in September 2006. As new construction takes place in the area, it stands as a reminder of the past.
At the forefront of modern mixolgy in San Francisco, Alembic has a wide selection of whiskeys and bourbons, and a huge list of classic cocktails.
There is a restaurant and a beach area at Chambers Landing, but most people come in the summer to hang out on the pier and drink the Chambers Punch. You can bring a boat and tie up next to the pier, but it gets crowded on most summer weekends.
One of the great cocktail bars of the modern bay area cocktail renaissance. Make sure to try the Ginger Rodgers.
With a feeling not unlike the restaurant Absinthe in San Francisco, Flora has one of the best cocktail menus in Oakland.
Rye is consistently mentioned in the relatively short list of great bars that are pushing the art of the cocktail in the bay area right now. They use freshly picked ingredients and some of the more unusual liquors and locally made spirits to create some pretty original drinks.
While often times tiki bars are not known for their quality of drinks, Forbidden island is the exception. The drinks here are some of the finest in the bay area, and that is saying a lot because the bay area is in the middle of a renaissance right now for true mixology.
In the 1920s when Prohibition in America took hold many American expats took solace at the opulent bar at the Savoy Hotel in London. This also happened to be around the time that one of the patron saints of cocktail time, Harry Craddock was running the bar there.