A few guys in the 'hood got together last night for a couple of beers. Somebody brought up their favorite bar. Then the conversation morphed into the world's best watering holes. What an amazing discussion. The only caveat was that you had to have actually been there. Like many of the folks here, some of us making the list had traveled quite a bit so the list of favorites was truly world-wide. Here's my contribution. Anybody want to add their's?

The piano bar at Clint Eastwood's Mission Ranch - Carmel, California

The Iron Horse on Maiden Lane - San Francisco, California.

The poolside bar at the old Royal Waikoloan Hotel - Kona Coast, Hawaii

The American Bar at the Savoy Hotel - London, England

Franco's - Positano, Italy

And, finally, what is, without doubt, IMNSHO, THE best watering hole in the world:  Bloody Mary's - Bora Bora

Doug

My own Livingroom with my friends.

Noel

Sitting on the top floor of Vesuvio Cafe in North Beach, San Francisco, sipping an Anchor Steam and watching all of the "crazies" walking down the street and waving at the tourists on the tour buses driving by. 🍺

4 hours ago, charliearon said:

Sitting on the top floor of Vesuvio Cafe in North Beach, San Francisco, sipping an Anchor Steam and watching all of the "crazies" walking down the street and waving at the tourists on the tour buses driving by. 🍺

YES ! Exactly that !

I live in the U.K. but I used to fly the 747 into SFO twice a week back in the 90’s , we had a limited route structure on the jet back then , vesuvio and Anchor steam became my “ local” despite living on the other side of the world. I’ve got a clip on my phone somewhere taken from the top floor of Vesuvio, of one of the crazies you mention performing a dance out on the sidewalk.

We also used to frequent O’Reillys on green street quite a lot, it was popular with aircrew. There were scale models of the various aircraft flown by the airline crews frequenting the joint up on the selves, an item of red ladies underwear was wrapped around our airline’s 747 model. These were actually  originally owned by one of our female captains, we used to shudder when we first sat down at the bar at looked up at them.

O’Reilly’s is sadly no longer there, it serves as a metaphor for fun in the airline industry in that sense. 

Edited June 12, 20205 yr by jon b

1 hour ago, jon b said:

....These were actually  originally owned by one of our female captains, we used to shudder when we first sat down at the bar at looked up at them.

I cannot hold a candle to any famous watering holes, plus I'm not that well travelled. However, I do have one question pertaining to the undergarments mentioned above. Did she know that they were draped around the model 747 in the pub? 😉

How well I remember Vesuvio. It was there one night that a buddy and I had one (two?) too many and decided to hoof it over to the Condor Club and see if Carol Doda was as good as advertised (she was). I worked for 10 years in S.F. in the late 60-s and early 70's and could go on about the experiences there for hours. But, such are the memories of old men when they finally realize that they have truly pissssssssssed away a good many days (and nights) of their youth..........Doug

Edited June 12, 20205 yr by W2DR
Fixed word not allowed..........

Drifter's Reef Bar, Wake Island.  When I flew C-141s off the west coast, we used to call ahead and see what they needed...beer, steaks, charcoal etc.  They had a ski boat and a jet ski there, and the crews would bring the food/booze and the permanent party guys took care of the rest.  Nothing like partying on a completely private beach in the middle of the South Pacific.

The beachside/poolside bar at the Hale Koa, Waikiki Beach, Honolulu.  Killer Mai Tais that would staple yer butt to the stool.  Went through there on a trip in the C-20H and the bartender still remembered my name when I showed up there on vacation like 12 years later.  Not sure what I did to be so memorable...  🤪

 

I grew up in San Francisco.  My first job was delivering newspapers on Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world.  Of course that was only one block of my route.  I had about three others all the way down to Stockton Street.

My Dad owned a print shop and did the menus for half the restaurants in North Beach.  A couple times a month he would take the family to one of them and invariably the owner would stop by the table after we had eaten, make some small talk with my Dad, and tear up the check. 

I recall one place.  I don't know the name of it, but whenever a lady got up to go the lady's room the whole crowd would chant, "We know where you're going!"

That was shortly after the war.  The late 1940s.  I don't suppose any of those restaurants are around anymore.

Not to change the subject, but whenever I visit San Francisco, dinner at Scoma's is a must.  Very good sea food.  On a par with the old Bookbinders in Philadelphia and Obrekie's in Baltimore.  But I don't think those are around anymore either.

Noel

53 minutes ago, W2DR said:

How well I remember Vesuvio. It was there one night that a buddy and I had one (two?) too many and decided to hoof it over to the Condor Club and see if Carol Doda was as good as advertised (she was). I worked for 10 years in S.F. in the late 60-s and early 70's and could go on about the experiences there for hours. But, such are the memories of old men when they finally realize that they have truly pissssssssssed away a good many days (and nights) of their youth..........Doug

Your reply reminded me of my favorite George Best quote:

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

 

 

1 hour ago, HighBypass said:

I cannot hold a candle to any famous watering holes, plus I'm not that well travelled. However, I do have one question pertaining to the undergarments mentioned above. Did she know that they were draped around the model 747 in the pub? 😉

Oh yes, but she was always a little coy about  how they actually ended up there !

The common story was that the proprietor, Mr O’Reilly himself had “ obtained “ them  one evening.

If you knew the characters involved you’d understand why it caused us to shudder whenever we saw them. 

I’ll put it this way, W2DR wouldn’t have been in a hurry to see her performance at the nearby condor club 😉

I dunno. I was never known for being real picky around closing time.............😄😄😄

8 minutes ago, W2DR said:

I dunno. I was never known for being real picky around closing time.............😄😄😄

A "2" at ten O-Clock becomes a "10" at two O-Clock...  😱 😈 😉

4 hours ago, w6kd said:

Drifter's Reef Bar, Wake Island.  When I flew C-141s off the west coast, we used to call ahead and see what they needed...beer, steaks, charcoal etc.  They had a ski boat and a jet ski there, and the crews would bring the food/booze and the permanent party guys took care of the rest.  Nothing like partying on a completely private beach in the middle of the South Pacific.

The beachside/poolside bar at the Hale Koa, Waikiki Beach, Honolulu.  Killer Mai Tais that would staple yer butt to the stool.  Went through there on a trip in the C-20H and the bartender still remembered my name when I showed up there on vacation like 12 years later.  Not sure what I did to be so memorable...  🤪

 

If it was that memorable maybe it's a good thing you've forgotten about it.............😁

 

4 hours ago, birdguy said:

I grew up in San Francisco.  My first job was delivering newspapers on Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world.  Of course that was only one block of my route.  I had about three others all the way down to Stockton Street.

My Dad owned a print shop and did the menus for half the restaurants in North Beach.  A couple times a month he would take the family to one of them and invariably the owner would stop by the table after we had eaten, make some small talk with my Dad, and tear up the check. 

I recall one place.  I don't know the name of it, but whenever a lady got up to go the lady's room the whole crowd would chant, "We know where you're going!"

That was shortly after the war.  The late 1940s.  I don't suppose any of those restaurants are around anymore.

Not to change the subject, but whenever I visit San Francisco, dinner at Scoma's is a must.  Very good sea food.  On a par with the old Bookbinders in Philadelphia and Obrekie's in Baltimore.  But I don't think those are around anymore either.

Noel

Indeed Scoma's IS a must. Whenever we had friends or relatives come to town and they wanted to see Fisherman's Wharf, the go-to place for dinner was always Scoma's. And yes, sadly, Bookbinder's is gone. When we were living in Manhattan in the '90's we'd sometimes drive down to Philly just to have dinner there. A really great restaurant. As far as I know Obrycki's is still open, At least it was a couple of years ago. We visited some friends in Baltimore and they took us to dinner there. So many good places to eat and so little money for bigger pants...and belts to make our waistlines look smaller.........Doug

"I never went to bed with an ugly woman, but I sure woke up with a few" - or so the man said!

In the 60's there was a small, *old Hawaii* style motel/hotel in between the Hilton Hawaiian Village and the Ilikai. It was called the Waikikian. The bar and restaurant were called the Tahitian Lanai. Wonderful place where, on Thursday nights, the local Hawaiians would come and sing at the piano bar. Fabulous!! Mai Tai's disappeared at a rapid pace.

4 hours ago, rmeier said:

Your reply reminded me of my favorite George Best quote:

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

 

 

That sounds a lot like the guy who said "after I inherited a million dollars I spent 80% on women and whiskey and just pisssssssssed the rest away".