Bay View Boat Club

The Bay View Boat Club is a very special place. A legendary part of San Francisco. It’s not for everyone as it’s a private club, but if you know a member the door opens up for you. It’s the best and most unknown place in the city to hoist a few pints of Anchor at. I hope it’s there forever.

Just to clear up one of the less than favorable reviews of the BVBC. A non-​member can’t be served a drink unless they’re a guest of a member because the ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control) could cancel their alcohol license in a hot minute if they were to find out. This is true of all private clubs with a bar. Probably would have been nice if the bartender had explained that but it also doesn’t sound like the reviewer was really receptive to any explanation. Her boyfriend requested and was served a soda. She was demanding a whiskey. Big difference.
You won’t find a more eclectic welcoming crowd than the BVBC anywhere.

Everyones your server here at the Bayview Boat Club! This unique boat club house is casual and friendly. I love all the nooks and crannies with the history found on the walls. I am not sure about the policy regarding membership and being served, but the times that I came in, I signed the book and I was served just fine. I happen to know a club member and I suppose I can toss that name around. If he’s in good standing, then I’d be alright. Second thoughts, maybe I should low profile my connections. You may or may not find the kitchen open and serving a platter du jour. So be prepared. Parking is pretty well situated.

Yep. Membership does have it’s privileges. Too bad those complaining below don’t have friends that are members.
Fabulously genuine, authentically the same twenty years on. As those of us in the know really treasure this fine little gem of nautiness.

We’ve used the launch here several times and on a couple of occasions my bf was able to get a drink here. On the day of the America’s Cup event, we had been out all day and I was wet and absolutely freezing and shivering. I walked in and there was not a soul around except for the bartender. I asked him if I could get a shot of whiskey.
He could see I looked like a wet shivering puppy and asked if I was a member. I told him no but the bf had gotten a soda that morning. He said «sorry, can’t help you.» I asked him what I had to do for just a shot to warm me up and again, «No»
I wasn’t sure what the membership meant. So I told him my cousin was killed in Vietnam and that two of my uncles fought in the Invasion of Normandy. «Sorry your cousin died but you can’t have a drink»
He must have thought I was lying and trying to play on his emotions for a drink but I was seriously cold, wet, and miserable. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I was in France.
Okay, so it’s not a VFW bar but what I don’t understand is if it’s such a special place for members only, then why is there no one at the door when people walk in? Instead they just let you think it’s a friendly looking place until you find out you can’t have one stinking drink unless you join which the bartender didn’t bother to explain to me how to become a member.
So I left with a bad taste in my mouth and unfortunately it wasn’t whiskey.

Came here for breakfast and cocktails to celebrate St Patty’s day. Fun filled, firemen served eggs, corned beef and potatoes and Irish soda bread with a full bar. Quite an experience. Had 3 gin n tonic before noon ;)

What a great place! Enjoy!

Wonderful location, kind, witty people and peace of mind! LOVE LOVE LOVE the hospitality and all the wonderful persons hanging around.

Very chill spot. The only way I get in is from a sponsor/​member and I sign in as a guest. The drinks are by far the cheapest i’ve ever seen and purchased. This place is awesome on a sunny day right close to the ball park.

This place makes me wish I had a boat, but also makes me glad that I have a friend who is a member. The members are salty, the drinks are cheap, and they have shuffleboard and pool. What more can one ask for?

Oh I am SO excited that this place is already on the Unilocal map, as I kinda wanted to review it, but I also wanted to keep it a secret. However, since the cat’s outta the bag, let me tell you about this Boat Club and the members.
It. Fucking. ROCKS!!!
I had a friend whose band played here for a private event.
Observations I made:
–The drinks were cheap ($ 3 for a full glass of wine, $ 2.50 for pints of beer)
–The men were easy… to talk with :)
—The location and view of the City and the Bay Bridge were phenomenal
—-The outdoor, adults only section with the wood burning stove made me ALMOST want to go camping (almost)
I met the coolest people at this lil club. I won’t name names because you’d be able to use that against me and sneak into this club uninvited. Oh, but I got names. I got numbers and I will be using those names and numbers to return here to drink cheaply and to rub elbows with down-​to-​earth boat owners that have a true love and respect for the way this club is operated.
I had conversations ranging from hookers in Thailand to crazy chicken rituals performed by Santerian high-​priestesses. You just can’t get better conversation than that from any olé place in the city.
I tell you, I’m ready to go buy a small water vessel and pay my dues just so I can be an official member of this wonderful little club.
I warned them that I’d be back. and they said they’d be happy to have me. Obviously, they ain’t right in the head but, that’s what gives this place moxie baby! It’s like partying with Pirates and who the hell doesn’t love a pirate?

My friends band played here recently and we had a great time. This is a private boat club but it has a real blue collar feel to it. The members were really friendly and we had beer, fish and chips, and a great view of the bay. The fish costs five dollars and they give you seconds if there is extra. As it turned there was no left over fish so the very nice guy who was operating the fryer gave my friend a TRIPLE DIPPED in batter polish dog. If you have a chance to go here its a great place.

This place is really great. Great history at a fabulous location. I know I have some pictures of the place (the plaque, and stuff) around here somewhere…

Guy & Gal dudes… Get you a friend who can sponsor you in… the drinks are $ 3.00…It’s so boat in here you can smell the creosote… I recommend
Dingle Night… one thursday a month… If you have to ask who or what dingle is… you probably won’t get in

This place is a gem.

I always thought private clubs were full of people who can’t function in normal society, until I went to BVBC. The place has been around for ages and it has a long bar and a pool table.
The members are there to have fun, not brag about who has a bigger or more expensive boat. And they take turns bartending.
There is often food free for the taking. It’s bar food, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers.
Who can beat $ 2.50 drinks these days? And yes, that includes mixed drinks and a good beer selection.
Want to visit? Befriend a member…

the only unpretentious club with an awesome view and $ 2.50 drinks in the bay area! the bartender pours generously, there are bands, great terrace and garden area too.
in an effort to have a smaller footprint, no more plastic cups as the low brow is getting higher along with all the development going on around it. gone are the days you could toss a m1000 from the deck into the bay and watch the lovely water column or see people smiling as they call the fire dept when a neighboring bush ignites.
this is where *real* people hang out. members and guests only but i hear you can be a member with a dinghy.

Bay View Boat Club definitely has a bohemian attitude towards sailing and boating. You can read between the line just by their name — they call themselves a boat club not a yacht club. Accordingly, they don’t take themselves very seriously except for having fun. They have a core group of active boaters and they like to do thing a bit unconventional.
For example, BVBC sponsors a sailboat race every year around July called the plastic classic regatta. This is a regatta that invites aging once-​popular fiberglass boats (circa 1960 – 70’s) to participate rather than the «real» classic wooden boats. For a couple of years, they decided it was a great idea to invited the famous Broadway stripper, Carol Doda, aboard one of the mark boat and flash her boobs at the boats as they round the buoy. Carol, you see, was well know topless stripper back in her days and have a pair of huge silicone breasts as part of her stage persona. Like the old fiberglass boats, neither one can be really regarded as true classic forms, but they both are certainly molded from similar classic plastic forms.
Sadly (or happily), whether it’s due to political correctness or Carol’s bodacious boobies no longer had the same draw it once had, this practice was soon abandoned after the novelty worn off. But the sailboat race continues without the theatrics at the mark. However, I give BVBC, an A (E?) for effort and a badge of courage for daring to come up with the idea.
As for the review of yacht club food… I believe BVBC members get their sustenance from liquids injected in their mouth, so I’ve never eaten there to evaluate…

The Bay View Boat Club is a small fun place to hang out
and watch a band. You can get a beer for $ 2.50, sit right there at the
bar and chat in real time!!! There’s dancing if the spirit moves ya, a
pool table and a view of the bay. There’s a kitchen with giant pans.
I have cooked many a meal here and spilled many a drink.
You need to be a member or a friend of a member.

We had a surprise engagement party for a friend here last night, and it was an absolute blast! Never mind the fact that the bride-​to-​be was too sick to make it. =(The groom was a trooper and stuck around to enjoy the food, drink, and festivities with the dozens of friends that had gathered.
It is a «members only» club (no… nothing to do with the jacket fad from the 80s), so you must be a member or be «sponsored» by one. That basically means someone has to vouch for you. The bartender can always vouch for people, so if you’ve been before, for whatever reason, chances are you’re probably welcome to cozy up to the bar on future occasions.
The drinks are crazy cheap here — as already noted by others. The prices seem arbitrary, but always surprisingly inexpensive. Each round, the bartender would set the drinks down, squint one eye, and cock his head as he looked up a bit, as if to ask a higher being how much the round should cost. Following a deep breath and brief moment of reflection, he’d present the price, almost with the tone of a question, as if you were about to engage in a negotiation.
Where else can you get a pint (of import) for $ 3? Actually, when he said $ 3, I looked down and saw I had, in addition to the usual «yuppie food stamps», three singles and a ten dollar bill. What to do?! I can’t *not* tip, especially when the drinks are so cheap, but breaking the ten-​spot would require a bit of extra effort for both of us. While I quickly and silently searched for an extra single, he must’ve sensed my dillema. A new price was announced: «$ 2.50.»
There are several areas of the «Club» to explore… Aside from the bar area, there’s a pool/​game area, outdoor covered seating, as well as an outdoor patio where you can enjoy the sun and fresh breeze. Last, but not least, be sure to explore the garden area … there are benches, tables and chairs hidden away among the scenery where you can escape for more solace, quieter conversation, or silent reflection. But if you’re looking for meditative solitude, what the hell are you doing at a dive bar? ;-)
Well, it’s there for you anyway.