Fig & Thistle

A cozy, quiet place for a quiet beer or glass of wine: excellent selection of bottled beer. Really friendly barman who seems to know all the clientele. Feels like a home. No pretension.

This is a nice place. It’s cozy. Has decent wine. Cool hidden location. They did run out of food at 10 PM but that’s not the reason I am writing this review. One of their bartenders, Chazz, is single handedly earning this place this awful review.
We were a big group and from the beginning of the night Chazz was rude to everyone, but we ignored it given that we were having a good time and didn’t want to bother ourselves with a rude staff member. However at one point a glass of wine spilled on my wife and I needed napkins to dry it up. Chazz refused to give me enough napkins and simply kept repeating that «he can’t give me all the napkins at the bar!» I was simply asking for a few napkins to clean up the mess, which is why the bar has napkins after all. I ended up taking whatever napkins he gave me and rushed back to our table to clean up. [side note: there was another staff member behind the bar who was great. He brought over a stain remover to help me remove the wine from my wife’s jacket]. Meanwhile Chazz walks over and condescendingly asks whether I need more napkins and then walks away with a smirk.
I get it. Everyone could have a bad day and may need a break. On a bad day, you may not want to smile at a customer or provide a great service, but going out of your way to walk over to your customers’ table to insult them needs a whole different mindset. In no industry that is acceptable and it’s especially not acceptable in the hospitality industry.

seems cozy if it isn’t Friday night. Loud and obnoxious. Decent wine list. If I were to go back, would be during the day. Try to avoid the poshy yuppies that move in herds…

It’s cute and dark place to take a date. Bartender was very nice. Very crowded from a Thursday night.

Talk about a shoebox of a wine bar, but this place is adorable! Fig & Thistle is in a great location in Hayes — close to many other fun restaurants and bars, so regardless of weather you’re starting or ending your night here, you have plenty of options nearby for food or drink. We came in with another couple and luckily, were able to grab one of the larger tables. There were probably only three options that would have fit our group of 4. Good wine and beer variety plus a few light bite options — cheese, charcuterie, and the like. I always appreciate the option to order a flight — always a good excuse to sample away and typically better value than ordering a single glass.
Definitely a fun spot to grab a glass of wine or beer. Just beware the tight quarters and limited seating.

Love, love love this tiny little wine bar. Nice staff, nice selections, not too many choices — sometimes it is nice to let the experts narrow it down to their recommendations! And they change the menu regularly.

Lovely hidden spot in Hayes Valley. I would highly recommend this place to anyone to meet up a friend or a date spot. They are very knowledgeable about the wines and also the cheese plate is decent.
If you happen to go there on a Monday night, there is a tarot card reader. :)

This is the cutest place EVER! Small, intimate, beautiful wood floors, dim lighting, and nice music. It feels like you’re in someone’s well decorated living room — perfect for catching up with a friend or going on a date.
There’s a small communal table in the middle, and seating at the bar/​along the walls — it’s limited though, so get there early!
They have both wine and beer ($ 3-​$ 12 as far as I remember), and a cheese and charcuterie board. I had the cheese board ($ 15), and it was perfect — delicious fresh bread, 3 cheeses (mouth watering), almonds, apple slices, and almonds.
I have no choice but to use this overly used phrase… this place is truly a «hidden gem!»

Neat fancy spot to take someone you want to impress with a tasty wine and ambiance. Hotspot for dates and tech company bros.
Wine selection is neat and there are wines for just about anyone. Pours are nice and not stingy. Prices are a bit on the high side, but if you are not too worried about money– this is the place for you.
Décor is cute and contemporary hipster aged wood chic. Taxidermy birds and a bunk bed are staple decorations. But I must mention when I was here it was already quite dark and it was hard to see anything.
Clean bathrooms. Overall — nice place. Would go again.
Especially good if you are a single girl and want to snag yourself one of those elusive tech bros.

Expensive ($ 15+) glasses of wine, but adorable atmosphere tucked away on a side street in Hayes Valley. If you’re mentally prepared for how expensive it’s going to be, I think this is a pretty cute spot to take someone before dinner or even after dinner.

Cute wine bar and good music
great music on weekends too
fyi — lots of hipsters

Such a cute place. Wine was good, ambience was great, the cheese plate was delicious, and I loved the presentation of the wine flight. I’d come back and recommend it!

This place is your neighborhood bar hidden in an ally. Super casual and very hippy, they only serve local beer and wine here no spirits. Which averaged about $ 5 – 10. Oh yeah they don’t carry change so if you get a $ 10 beer and you only have a $ 20, either get another beer or tip them $ 10. Best way to pay is through CC. They ambiance is very hippy they have a bunk bed in which you can sit on, it’s very small so if you plan on going here with 6+ people it’ll be packed.

Is $ 15 a glass of wine a rip– off or a treat– yo– self extravaganza?
Let me tell you, their Sonoma Pinot took me PLACES. It’s just off the main street in Hayes, and the outside is super cute. It’s a beautifully painted stoop with blue lanterns, and the inside is equally romantic. Dark– lighting ensures that you look like a Halle Barry poster. They have a chalk map of California detailing where all da winez are made. Plus, they have wine flights with novel varietals.
Seriously though, the moment I took my first sip I couldn’t help but smile real big. YUM.

We went here while waiting for dinner on a Saturday night. The atmosphere is really cute and we ended up sitting at the bar.
We met such great people! Behind the counter Bombin (hope I spelled it right) had amazing recommendations and the way they showcased the wine on the chalkboard wall was so cool!
For sure a new spot for good wine and good people!

The space is nice and they have an interesting wine and beer selection at decent prices, but those decent prices go right out the door when your bartender pre-​selects the tip percentage on their Square register when you close your tab before she turns it around for you to sign. She just poured wine and beer, she did NOT mix a fancy cocktail, and yet, I ended up paying enough tip to buy a couple more beers.
By the way, is that even legal?

Something about this place reminds me of Beacon Hill, Boston. If you don’t believe it, just google Beacon Hill Boston and see the images of the street. I ought to know. I spent a bit of time there last year and had gotten to know all the neighbors after my morning coffee and breakfast at the Paramount.
After City Arts and Lectures (it was John Waters, very good), the evening was winding down and one could very quickly conclude that Thursday night in San Francisco is a ghost town. One would be right. At 9 PM the place is nearly deserted. Suits me just fine. A large table was waiting for me. So I ordered the mix plate of charcuterie and cheese. As I have finally reached the cross road of white vs. red, I have finally gotten on the band wagon of white. The staff recommends a Portuguese white as it’s more stone fruity. He’s right, I liked it more than the Rose from Sonoma.
The bunk bed is odd, it pretty much faces directly at me from where I’m sitting. It was empty for a little bit then a couple, in their 20s, showed up. Looking around, this is a bit of a millennial crowd, more on the sophisticated side of the spectrum, given the attire and the mannerism, but still, very young.
The bar serves a fairly good amount of beer on tap, suitably so, to serve the aforementioned clientele.
It’s tucked away, right next to my last summer’s crush, Monsieur Benjamin. For people like me who wants a little privacy, while enjoying a glass of wine, it’s perfect. Find that big table in the middle that faces out, you can do quite a bit of people watching, without getting the feeling that you are being watched.

I’ve been a fan of Fig & Thistle for almost two years now. With the growth of the wine bar scene in SF happening as of late, Fig & Thistle offers a comfortable and intimate environment for one to enjoy wine and good conversation.
I’ve been here a handful of times now and can say that the best time to come seems to be later in the afternoon around 4:30 on a Sunday when there seems to be wine tasting or later in the evening after the HH/​dinner rush leaves.
There menu is cute and places the wines on a map based on where they are made. Their meat/​cheese/​bread plate is worth it as well if you’re hungry.
The owners and staff are super friendly and don’t mind helping you pick something out or help you figure what to order next if your wine knowledge is dated or you are just starting out exploring the wonderful world of wine.
Pros: Comfortable and intimate ambience, friendly staff.
Cons: Smaller venue so it can get crowded during busy times.
Bottom line: Great quiet intimate spot for a first date, post dinner or early afternoon relaxing glass of wine.

I’m sadly disappointed with this spot after my latest visit. I’ve been a few times before and enjoyed myself — it’s a really tiny place with fun décor and a good atmosphere. You order your wine (glass or bottle) at the bar and then chill.
Well a few weekends ago I came here with several friends and the bartender was a real snob. The menu was smaller than I recalled (but that could just be me misremembering) and there weren’t that many red wines to choose from. We decided on the Sangiovese and I went to the bar to order a bottle for us. The bartender said they were out, but that he had another wine he thought was similar.
He poured me a tasting and I tried it and said it was good. He then starting pouring me a glass although I hadn’t thought I actually ordered it. Okay, honest miscommunication since my «it’s good» could have been interpreted that way. I told him that actually we wanted a bottle, but could he tell me the price first. It was $ 58 compared to $ 40 for the bottle we wanted originally. Now that’s a pretty big price difference in my opinion, so I went to check with my friends and they agreed that we wanted something more affordable. I went back to the bar and asked him what other reds they had. I think he was annoyed because he’s poured a glass of wine that I now didn’t take. He asked me if price was the issue with the first bottle, and when I gave an honest «yes», he said we’d have a hard time because «you get what you pay for» — those were his exact words.
Besides that being a rude thing to say to a customer, I actually find that absolutely not true with wine. Just because it’s expensive doesn’t make it better, particularly considering everyone’s unique tastes. I’ve had $ 5 bottles of wine from Trader Joe’s that were great and I’ve tasted $ 75 wine up in Sonoma that I didn’t really care for. On top of that, a wine bar should only carry wine they consider good, regardless of price. I straight up told him that and he reluctantly agreed. I then gave up and ordered the Merlot which was the only other red under $ 50 — I’m not typically a huge fan of Merlot but this one was fine, so we hung out and drank it and overall had a good time enjoying each other’s company.
Luckily by the time I went up to close my tab, it was a different bartender on duty. I seriously sighed with relief that I didn’t have to deal with the first guy, because honestly he made me feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. Yes it’s a wine bar but you don’t have to be a judgmental snob and scoff when we don’t want to pay for a bottle almost $ 20 more than the one you ran out of… seriously dude.

This little place gets quite LOUD on a Saturday evening, but it’s a charming space (used to be a therapist office) with bar, table and bench seating. Make use of the front steps too because this place gets packed.
I would give this place 4 stars, but the red wine selection was not that great (Sangiovese was sour and frankly undrinkable, the Tempranillo was a-​ok, not much to write home about), and being a WINE bar, I expect more. The charcuterie and cheese combo plate was quite lovely though with two kinds of cheese, two kinds of meats, marcona almonds, fruits and fruit spread — I would recommend this! Maybe they should be a charcuterie and cheese bar rather than a wine bar ha.
Service was spotty — one dude was one-​word answer kind of standoffish and was quite pushy about opening a tab (hold on guy, we’re not going anywhere and we’re hanging out at the bar so it’s not like we are going to run away) and the other dude was much nicer and friendly.
I’m not sure I’ll be rushing back here unless they make vast improvements in their red wine list being a wine bar and all. Until then, I’ll be checking out other places in the area.