When family gatherings grow tiresome, numerous Mission bars beckon


Question: What drinks pair well with turkey? 

Answer: Whaddya got? 

For those in need of a brace before visiting family, unable or unwilling to visit family or hoping to hold their Thanksgiving festivities in a bar, the Mission District has you covered: Here’s a list of the establishments that will be open on Thanksgiving. 

This is not necessarily a complete list, but it is a list that demonstrates the value of: A. Having a phone; B. Answering that phone; C. Returning voicemails, texts or emails. 

If your establishment is open on Thanksgiving and it’s not on this list, please email Joe.Eskenazi@MissionLocal.com and it’ll get fixed as soon as is humanly possible. 

On to the list. Happy Thanksgiving. 

Casanova Lounge, 527 Valencia St. between 16th and 17th streets: Open from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thanksgiving. Normal hours of 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. the rest of the week. 

Uptown, 200 Capp St. at 17th: Open 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. 

Jukebox at Uptown bar, at 17th and Capp streets, is closing after 39 years in the Mission.
Uptown bar, at 17th and Capp streets, is closing after 39 years in the Mission. Nov. 2, 2023. Photo by Junyao Yang.

Sycamore, 2140 Mission St. at Sycamore Street: Doors open at 2 p.m., and people are encouraged to pack for a potluck. It will be open until “midnight at the earliest.” 

El Farolito Bar, 2777 Mission St. at 24th Street: Open from 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

500 Club, 500 Guerrero St. at 17th: Open from noon to 2 a.m. and the regulars are doing a potluck. 

Elixir,  3200 16th St. at Guerrero Street: Open 6 p.m. to midnight. 

Phone Booth, 1398 South Van Ness Ave. at 25th Street: Open 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Clooney's Pub san francisco, california.
Clooney’s Pub. Photo by Yujie Zhou, Oct. 24, 2023.

Clooney’s, 1401 Valencia St. at 25th: (Bartender answers phone): “Oh yeah, we’ll be open! There’s a potluck from noon to 6 p.m.” 

(Voice from other side of bar): “The sign says 6 a.m.”

Bartender: “Look, I guarantee you there ain’t no potluck at 6 a.m.!” 

Voice: “Read the sign!” 

Bartender: (Sighs) “Come in at noon. There’ll be something for ya.” 

Clooney’s will be open from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. There will be a potluck at midday; there’ll be something for ya. 

The Napper Tandy, 3200 24th St. at South Van Ness Avenue: Opens at 11 a.m., and the kitchen is open until 8 and the bar until 10. You can order “turkey dinner with all the trimmings” to watch while the 49ers devour the birds. 

Pop’s Bar, 2800 24th St. at York Street: “We will be open for the Niners game on T2.”

Dovre Club, 1498 Valencia St. at 26th Street: Doors open at 2 p.m. and a potluck will commence at around 3 p.m. The place will be open until midnight, but should be open later if the bartender determines “it’s worth his while.” 

Ruth’s at Treat Street (formerly The Blind Cat), 3052 24th St. at Treat: Doors open at 1 p.m., and the bar will stay open “until at least after the Niners game.” Leftovers from a Friendsgiving will be served at the bar, but co-owner Kim Cruise says “they will have been refrigerated, and not looking at all like leftovers.”  

Photo courtesy of Pop’s Bar.

Delirium, 3139 16th St. at Albion Street: Potluck from 2ish until 6ish. There will be a potluck, lots of turkey and DJs. Bar open 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. 

The Knockout: 3223 Mission St. at Valencia Street: “The 15th Annual (We Think) Krazy for Karaoke Thanksgiving Night Hullaballoo” will be held from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.  

Dahlia, 1799 Mission at 14th Street: “Love: Show Love, Feel Love, Receive Love” will run from 7 p.m. to midnight.

DRink up:

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Managing Editor/Columnist. Joe was born in San Francisco, raised in the Bay Area, and attended U.C. Berkeley. He never left.

“Your humble narrator” was a writer and columnist for SF Weekly from 2007 to 2015, and a senior editor at San Francisco Magazine from 2015 to 2017. You may also have read his work in the Guardian (U.S. and U.K.); San Francisco Public Press; San Francisco Chronicle; San Francisco Examiner; Dallas Morning News; and elsewhere.

He resides in the Excelsior with his wife and three (!) kids, 4.3 miles from his birthplace and 5,474 from hers.

The Northern California branch of the Society of Professional Journalists named Eskenazi the 2019 Journalist of the Year.

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