Magnet Bar & Lounge

This bar is CLOSED. It’s now the Church Key — a small-​batch, micro-​brew beer and port/​wine bar. Check out Church Key’s reviews here:

I like this place. It’s super random but can be a lot of fun. The best night I ever had at Magnet there was a live band playing (don’t know how often that happens…) some great music including country music covers (I love country!). That night the bartender was also serving her own special concoction of a gummy bear shot. She’d infused some alcohol with gummy bears and the garnish was a little stick with gummy bears on it. Yum! She gave us our first one for free but then charged $ 5 after that which seemed a little much… you can also buy pretty cheap bottles of sake and they are often playing nerdy movies on the tv such as Space Balls (my guy friends were psyched). This bar is almost never packed and always a chill destination…

This place sucks donkey balls. Do not go upstairs, it smells like piss. The bathroom however, smells fairly decent.

It’s hard to rate this place less than 5 stars after receiving a warm welcome and complimentary champagne, beer, and cocktails by the owner’s friend, Marcus (Thanks!!!). Buuut, I’ve gotta be fair and throw out its pros and cons for all you Unilocalers:
Pros:
–Upbeat, fun music
–Chill atmosphere. It felt like I was hanging out at a buddy’s house! Bartenders were cool & their friends were fun to chat w/​.
–They have a Wii on the second floor. Neat idea– especially if you’re a bit faded!
Cons:
–Super empty. It was a late, Saturday night and the only people there were us and the owner’s friends. They need to get the word out and get more ppl in there ‘cuz it’s an eerie feeling to be in a place that’s that deserted.
–Artwork upstairs was poorly matted & hung crooked. It deserves better than that!
–Flowers on tables. A bit tacky. Simple candles would work better.
This place has potential, it just needs a little elbow grease. I’d be willing to give it another chance!

6÷8÷08 — the awful white tablecloths are BACK! They will never learn. We are throwing in our towels — best of luck! BTW: if you post Operations as Daily from 5pm-​12midnight, that means everyday… it was closed when we walked by around 7:30pm on Sunday.
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6÷1÷08 — the white tablecloths are GONE — thank goodness! This is a big step forward… we shall give them another try…
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5÷21÷08 update:
So there’s a sign on the window re: change of ownership. With that comes a small menu and white tablecloths. Yup, white tablecloths in a darkened bar — sorry, that’s just wrong to me. Oh, they also have Wii so you can really sweat it out.
Such a good location and a promising space…
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It’s not a «real» bar. Their biggest selection is the bottled beer, followed by a few drafts, a variety of flavored Soju and one red — yup, that’s it. Turns out they don’t have a full bar license, Soju is light in alcohol content and that’s how they can squeeze it in to make «cocktails» but truly it’s more juice than anything but have to give them a star for being «clever» and beating the system so to speak.
The bartender was mellow and cool but the incense he was burning was a little more than we bargained for… We were the only 2 persons there and a smooth bartender who may want to keep the patrons will likely ask if you want to start a tab or something — instead he asked for the $ right off the back before we even got the beer, turn off.
I do like the upstairs but they’ll need to do something to get this place pumping. If you want a quiet place to chill over a beer, this is the spot for you. If you want something else, hop to another pub or bar that are just steps away.

I will most likely not stick like a magnet to this place after one visit.
Note: This is a vodka bar… little did I know…
True story:
bf: pyramid & jack&coke
bartender: we are a vodka bar
bf: ok… a pyramid hmm…
bartender: ok so two pyramids?
bf: no, just one pyramid.
bartender: so what does SHE want?
bf:no she’s havin the pyramid
bartender: so 2 pyramids?
bf: NO one pyramid.
bartender: so one pyramid for the both of you
bf: no
bartender: ok, so 1 pyramid, but what is she having?
bf: no no. ok 1 pyramid and a vodka redbull for me
bartender: we’re out of pyramid
geeeze freaking louise. what are we in the 1^st grade and have to be «assigned» drinks to specific people?! 1 star lost for that. Who cares who’s havin what, the point is we’re buying drinks.
Another star lost: What bartender working in a vodka bar would wear a Jagermeister tanktop?! If I worked at Mc Donald’s I wouldn’t show up in a Burger King shirt.
Thirdly lost star for smelling like molded bleach.
So overall, not the best experience. I give it 2 stars only because they had jars of Vodka that looked like Baby fetuses floating in it. (which later I found out were vodkas with different fruits in it). To me=still baby fetuses.
Environment: Sort of small, dark ambiance. Art work on the walls that no one can see because there’s no lighting (what is the point of that). An upstairs, which I didn’t check out because it was closed. Small 1 bathroom downstairs in the back.
Not my type of place that I can really hang out and enjoy. I’m stickin to normal bars next time.

3 ½ rounded up…
This place always seems to be less crowded than the surrounding bars… the drinks are reasonably priced and the upstairs is pretty chill. Of course, this is all recounting from times where i started off there… when the night ends at magnet, it is usually much more crowded and at that point, i don’t think that i really care how much the drinks cost as long as they get to me FAST. so, if you are tired of the scene at the other bars in on grant street, hit up magnet…

It’s ok. NEVER EVER EVER ask for a Martini. Its not Vodka and it doesnt even come close. They know that, I know that, but, don’t be fooled. To keep you there, they may say it’s not too different, but, it’s a lie. ITS DIFFERENT!
Order a specialty drink or a beer. Leave it at that.

I pretty much agee with Carla on this one.
It’s pretty uncharacteristic of me but I fell in to the bartender’s booby trap and felt pretty sleazy about it. Lucky for me, sleaze is the theme of the night.
I walked over and talked to the men at the end of the bar about Polo shirts, and Jäger, and anal sex jokes, and myspace.
Then I headed back to Pleasanton with the rest of my boys.

I think I drank too much Soju here on my birthday last year. But with a drink called «Sexy Time» that tastes like you’re drinking a piece of fruit, it’s hard not to.
I dig the lounge-​atmosphere and gallery/​DJ booth/​loft drinking area upstairs. Great for some quality chillaxin’ away from the NB meat bars.
But most of all, I like coming here because the bartenders are super friendly and laid back and will make you several pineapple shots whether you ask them to or not on your special bday.

I love this place, but when I wanted to take my buddy to it tonight to have one of its famous infused vodka rocks (turns out it’s soju rocks, oops!), it was closed… er well, maybe the curtains were just drawn, but it looked dead (it was a sunday, which should be normal operating hours). I was disappointed with that, but considering the fact that I was bummed it was closed, should tell anyone how great this place is.
I fucking love it!
edit: seems like they aren’t open sundays anymore, which is really too bad, but what’ll you do, right?

The owners are way cool, just a couple of mellow dudes from the northwest who know how to make a place solid without making it pretentious. The upstairs is the coolest I think, super loungy, with cool art.
The kicker: They sell olympia beer.

«Sweaty balls».
That’s what my friend exclaimed as we walked through Magnet’s door. There last night to support our favorite DJ, Bootleg, we made it to North Beach after a brief stint at Blue Light (god help me).
The music was, of course, on point. The tiny place was jumping. Upstairs (more of a loft than an actual floor) people were breaking it off and it felt like the floor was actually sagging.
Minus one star for the stench of man meat. But hey, who am I to judge? Smelling like sweaty balls might be a pro for someone.

i love this bar … its sexy and sultry and totally cool. The décor is sexy, the door men are sweet as and the bar man … phhwwwoooorrrr!!!
he also makes the best vodka soda with fresh lime … mmmmm!!! Im so glad this bar is so close to where i live!

Perfect location. Totally cool bar. Nice owner
Okay, I’ve never been in this place recently, but it once was a really cool and tranquil North Beach coffeehouse and I really loved hanging out here.
Like most good things in SF, it closed and re-​opened under new ownership as Magnet. I visited SF a few months ago and the owner was kind enough to let me go in to my beloved ex-​coffeehouse and take photos. A totally cool guy. I wish the spot the best.

pineapple vodka infusion… in a rocks glass. Oh yeah they get four stars.
All my companions drinks were good too (of course I tried everything — this is VODKA we’re discussing!) and the upstairs has a long padded bench plus movable cubes for seating.
Considering the drink selection, perhaps those cubes should have backs on them?

Since I decided to party this last weekend as there was no Monday, the first stop was at Magnet. This joint is a small North Beach bar, with 2 levels. It was so small that I met 10 Unilocalers, and there wasnt much place to move.
The service is pretty decent, and a bizarre thing to take note is the huge turntable set on the top floor.

my favorite «almost bar.» Soju is an experience, but it’s true that sometimes a girl just needs her jack and coke.
Still this is a great bar to hang out and meet people. It’s chill and comfortable and the dog is very sweet too. Upstairs next to the DJ there’s a lot of room to dance and comfy seating for large parties. The bar-​tenders are very friendly and make a point to engage their guests.
They have cool bbqs too!

I love the Magnet dog! And I like the cozy feel of the bar. Magnet is located on a narrow street, so hanging out in front is nice too. Feels a touch like New York when you do.
It heats up fast when the place gets crowded, so don’t wear a heavy sweater or be prepared to discard it soon after you arrive.
Magnet loses points for attracting a crowd that uses it as a pre-​Marina stomping ground. Should it manage to shake them, or should this be a fluke, I’d rate it higher in a heartbeat.

MAGNET IS AWESOME!
yeah, yeah, I know all caps thing can be annoying but I actual am shouting.
Such a comfortable space!
It is stlyish without getting into the realm of posh it has just a pinch of dive bar in it which keeps it interesting and unique. But it is a looong way from dive — This bar LOOKS nice, it SMELLS nice, it FEELS nice.
You can sit on these excellent red couchlike seats along the wall upstairs or in a cozy little booth on the ground floor, there are some tasty vodka drinks & Chimay on tap, the DJs are very good, (the music is just right, loud enough to provide a little energy to the atmosphere but low enough that you can still have a converstation) and they have cool art on the walls
(Eric I saw your review… meet me at Magnet in the next few days and you can explain to me why my taste in art is so bad that I think the stuff on the Magnet walls right now is cool)
Plus, the owners/​bartenders are the sweetest! (Mike being the sweetest and hottest of the three hot owner/​bartenders.)
If Magnet had my favorite rums and a couple of dark beers on tap I would prolly move to North Beach just so I could walk there.