Gold Cane Cocktail Lounge

The bartender is friendly and hooks it up. During the day on a weekday, the place has customers but isn’t too loud, just how I like it. The music is a hit or miss, but that’s a matter of taste. I prefer slow tunes.

I love this place! Very welcoming and friendly, the Gold Cane is a hidden gem in SF.
Pros:
— THREE private stall bathrooms (men, women, outside). Excellent for the shy pooper.
— Large two-​tier back patio for smoking and/​or catching a glimpse of the sun. Chill.
— Drinks are very reasonable. $ 4ish beers and $ 5ish cocktails. Lots of taps and a full bar.
— Pool table and Addams Family pinball machine.
— The jukebox has a huge selection of music and people tend to choose music that makes a body feel good.
— Book and media sharing shelf.
— Friendly staff and patrons.
— Mostly locals, though it does get busy during any Haight-​busy events.
— Lots of seating.
— Near both Buena Vista park and Golden Gate park.
Cons:
— Cash only. There’s an ATM with a $ 2.50 fee, which is better than I’ve encountered elsewhere.
— Outside patio closes at 10pm during the week and midnight (?) on weekends.
— Near Haight & Ashbury so parking sucks. Parking is either metered or restricted by the «J» parking permit. Avoid if possible.
— Internet/​data service is spotty.
The pros definitely outweigh the cons!

Three stars because the bartender is nice and funny, beer is cheap, enough room to seat, pool, and decent music.
But it’s still kind of a lousy bar (creeps everywhere) that I would not qualify as «a nice place».
So yeah won’t come back.

Devoid of tourists. That in and of itself makes this place great. The bartenders are sweet and not arrogant. The beers are cheap and plentiful. Small back patio (closes early for noise reasons though.) Pool table. Great large table in the window with excellent people watching. This is my go-​to first date bar ;-)

Cheap and stiff… Divey with a back outdoor patio, great juke box and small pool table… A great place to get drunk for cheap…

Yep — it’s a dive bar but MY dive bar. Always full of characters, back patio, pool table and stiff drinks. Cool bartenders.

Had two pitchers of bud light and both did not taste good.
Smells kind of weird but has a pool table which is dope.
Only accepts cash so that’s not good for your credit.
But hey this is my first visit.

The bar tender was an asshole. I left a dollar tip for the first beer. No tip for the second, then on the third he made some off-​handed comment claiming that I don’t tip.

Best dive on Haight. Local booze, local people, local dogs and local treekids from the park. Decent pool table. Whats not to like.

Oh my goodness, we had such a wonderful time here last night! This is my second trip to the area. I thought I had found my favorite bar on Haight Street the last time, but I was wrong. This bar is a bit of a dive, just the right place for avoiding crowds and relaxing after a busy day. Perfect spot to have a conversation and hang with friends without worrying about what you look like and if you will get service sometime in the next hour.
Drinks were cheap! The cheapest we have found here. They make the drinks stiff too, so you get your money’s worth. The selection was great. We were able to watch a few different games on the TVs.
I’m pretty easygoing, but the ladies’ restroom gave me a moment’s pause… There is a window directly next to the toilet that was frosted, but you can kind of tell if people are outside. That was odd, but after a couple of the aforementioned stiff drinks, who really cares?
Tip: like many places here, they are cash only. They have an ATM, though.
Our night was made by the bartender, Brandon. A nice, helpful guy who was attentive and friendly. Stop by to see him!
This place gets five stars because it was the highlight of my night. We will be back.

When you just want a drink, maybe watch something, and sit down, the Gold Cane is there for you like that lady on your emergency numbers list when your mom forgets to pick you up.
It’s been my reliable standby when wanting to watch a popular sporting event and Kezar and Martin Macks are packed. I almost got yelled at by my 49’er-loving pal one year because it was some end of season game and I made her late. We got a good standing spot at the Gold Cane and even made some new friends.
Solid, reliable, and a great place to keep your friend from yelling at you.

Really awesome dive with amazing locals. Some lady told me how beautiful I am (never happens) and then doused me in perfume, in a fun way. Our bartender was awesome and gave us tons of good SF tips. If he ever reads this, we did indeed go to Lands End and it was awesome. Hope to see you around NY!

It’s been awhile since my last review of the Gold Cane and thankfully my budding interest in Irish Car Bombs stopped years ago. My now preferred drink of choice is water… nothing beats getting super hydrated on a weekday night.
I’ve always been a fan of the Gold Cane. The energy is always genuine and it’s never too crowded. The scene is just easy.
Their outdoor patio is one of my favorite aspects about this place. It’s nothing fancy — but being able to enjoy fresh air and a robust full moon on a mellow night is a lovely thing on a weekday night in the Haight.
Trust.

Fun inexpensive dive to hang out at on Haight Street. Never been or noticed it until I went tonight with a group from bocce ball. Beers are like $ 4. You can play pool for $ 1. There’s only one table. It’s a fun place to hang out at with a group.

If you’re looking for a dive bar, this place is great. If you’re anticipating anything farther up the classiness ladder, keep looking.
Despite living in the Haight for 2+ years, I’d never even considered venturing foot across the threshold of what appears to be a very dark den of sketchiness. It’s one of those spots on Haight St that I find myself actually stepping off the sidewalk to get farther away from as I walk by. I didn’t ever even bother to glance at the name. So now you may be wondering, this sounds horrible and yet you rated it 4 stars?!
Last Saturday night, the boyfriend was browsing Unilocal for a drink spot in the neighborhood. We just weren’t in the mood for our usual haunts — The Alembic or Zam Zam. He noticed that there was a bar on Haight with a shocking 4-​star rating that we’d never heard of. When I looked at the location, I knew it was one of those totally sketch-​from-​the-​outside-​pass-​quckly-​by spots (along with Trax). But I mean, I’m willing to try almost anything once. So over the Gold Cane we strolled.
Highlights
— $ 4 draft beer (Blue Moon, Anchor Steam, etc)
— $ 3 draft beer (Coors, Bud, etc)
— $ 6 well drinks (Soco + Coke… it was a weird urge, don’t ask)
— vintage jukebox — and some great classic rock tunes were playing that night
— friendly white-​haired bartender who quite probably has been tending Gold Cane bar for nigh on 40 years
This is the type of bar where you’ll find a contingent of neighborhood regulars taking shots of Jack, a few pool players, a lone ranger or two, and a table of random chicks who accidentally wandered in from the Marina. It’s an interesting mix. Add to that the family portraits circa 1975 hanging behind the bar along with a «No Smoking» sign in Chinese, and honestly I’m sold. Next time I’m hankering for a cheap beer, I’ll wander over to the Gold Cane.

The drinks are cheap but the bartender does not have a good attitude.
We walked in and looked for seating on the back patio. There was no seating but it looks cool out there so try for that it you can.
We sat at the bar. The other patrons seemed cool. The bartender took our order and we got 2 beers. He was friendly an asked how we were. He seems cocky but I’ve partied in orange county and DTLA enough to NOT care. But then he poured his drinks with the spout away from him and then he started to pour a Guinness and walked away.
We had already had a round and tipped, but my boyfriend (a bar manager) stopped his Guinness tap about 3 mins into it’s pouring. I’m an average joe and we were right in front of the tap and I was the one who told my bf to turn it off bc I thought I was saving the day… I wasn’t.
The Bartender was asking around «who tapped off my beer?!» And he seemed upset and we owned up to it. We apologized. He was like «don’t do that». That’s all he said. He was pissed.
Idk. I get being territorial. I do. But we are visiting from 6 hours away and have a background in the business and the staff here gives no fux.
We’ve gone around town all day and there are much friendlier bartenders elsewhere. I’m sure the rude bartenders have their reasons but play the game. Yaknow??? Hi I’m nice. Be nice. I’m from out of town. Ugh.

We were only here for one quick beer before further adventures, so I can’t get too in depth in my review. This place was perfectly low key, though, and the bartender was so friendly! The place isn’t fancy or over the top in any way and seems welcoming to everyone, which was nice since we were caught feeling a little out of place during parts of our trip. Remember, it’s cash only, though!

This place is magical!
Of the coolest bars in SF, pretty much everyone will tell you that it’s Zeitgeist. However, Gold Cane is a better, less hipster, friendlier version of Zeitgeist… The bartenders are just good folks, not alternative fashion plates! :o)

Pretty decent dive bar in the Haight. If you’re looking to escape trendy and crowded bars and just want a place to sit down and enjoy a drink with your friends, Gold Cane is the right spot.
Beer selection on tap is fairly standard, with nothing you’ve never heard of before. The bartenders are friendly, but won’t strike up a conversation with you. Pretty typical.
The great thing here is that the place is so large, finding seating is usually not a problem. If you can, grab a table by the window; makes for great people watching in one of SF’s quirkiest districts. The furniture isn’t too comfortable, but it gets the job done.

We stopped by here for a quick drink and to get off our feet after some intense shopping up in the Haight. Honestly, we should have gone to Hobson’s a few doors down. The bartender was distracted and busy talking to other customers instead of taking our drink order (and he wasn’t serving, he was being way too chatty/​friendly, which is *extremely* frustrating when you’re waiting for service); the music was super loud, to the point that conversations were nearly impossible with someone right next to you; and ultimately the bathroom was super gross: it smelled like pee and had an open window with people standing underneath. That latter bit wasn’t too bad (although a bit uncomfortable) until someone opened a door next to the open window and was pretty much at eye level to my eyes as I was sitting on the can. OH HELL NO.
It wasn’t the worst experience I’ve had, hence the two-​star rating instead of one, but I’d make a point of going to Hobson’s over this place in the future. Or I’ll try out some of the other pubs and divebars in the Haight-​Ashbury area over this.