Cash-only bars in San Francisco

Hit the ATM first. These holdouts still run on paper — usually the cheapest, diviest, and most stubbornly old-school rooms in the city. Worth the detour for a fistful of twenties.

11 spots across San Francisco.

Mission

Dovre Club

Mission · $★ 4.5 · 141

a cash-only corner Irish bar, good beer on tap + a pool table

Shotwell's

Mission · $★ 4.6 · 502

the corner of Shotwell and 20th has been a bar since 1891 (originally Schlichtmann & Bredhofy Grocery Saloon), current building dates from 1906 — bullet holes from long-forgotten scuffles are still in the walls

wine by the glass and beer on tap

Polk Gulch

Hyde Out

Polk Gulch · $★ 4.4 · 167

a warm neighborhood dive (cash only), a well-stocked bar + a jukebox

Outer Sunset

Pitt's Pub

Outer Sunset · $★ 4.4 · 230

two-drink max on the Hurricane rum cocktail, pool tables and pinball

Inner Richmond

O'Keeffe's Bar

Inner Richmond · $★ 4.8 · 89

a dark, cash-only Richmond pub, pool tables and a jukebox

Haight-Ashbury

Zam Zam

Haight-Ashbury · $★ 4.4 · 498

Persian-styled bar, cash only

stiff classic cocktails

Lower Haight

Molotov's

Lower Haight · $★ 4.2 · 313

punk-rock dive, two pinball machines, $1 games

Chinatown

Buddha Lounge

Chinatown · $★ 4.3 · 480

red lanterns and icicle lights year-round, wall-spanning Buddha mural

stiff classic cocktails

Mr. Bing's

Chinatown · $$★ 4.5 · 439

open since 1967 — San Francisco Legacy Business, originally owned by Henry 'Mr. Bing' Grant until 2017, now Irish-owned

craft cocktails

Cow Hollow

The Black Horse London Pub

Cow Hollow · $★ 4.6 · 312

smallest bar in SF — fits maybe 25 people, beer only — keg in a bathtub of ice, no cocktails, no taps

Final Final

Cow Hollow · $★ 4.5 · 477

Cow Hollow / Marina edge — opened 1956, cash only

Can't pick from 11? That's what the lever is for.

Spin the slot machine →