Rite Spot Cafe

Honestly is more like a 2.5, we came for a free comedy that was supposed to talk about «cowards» and how they were bullied when they were young and only one comedian spoke about it. We really enjoyed watching 2 comedians but the rest seemed very new to comedy. We can’t complain much since it was free.
As for the beer selection they don’t have a great variety, as for the food I would say the worst chicken wings we have ever tasted, no flavor at all. The Gorgonzola hamburger was just okay. Not sure if coming back to give it a second try.

Great place to go to if you want some sh*t service and to be simultaneously ignored and treated rudely. Never going back.

I have a soft spot for the rite spot. First, they have good music. It’s never great music, but it’s always interesting. I’ve seen a guy playing a flexi-​tube doing sinatra standards, for example. The drinks are reasonably priced and not too large. The food is mediocre — except the chicken parm sandwitch, which has this funny mythical quality. Of all the places I’d like to haunt in the afterlife, the Rite Spot makes the list. Also — notice the old mission police station nearby (and across the street). If you read «do androids dream of electric sheep», there’s a section about being taken to the old mission police station, but really being taken to the new one.

Service can be a bit slow, but food is great and live music or comedy always hits the spot. An excellent place to sit back and unwind.

We have had such fun hearing Project Pimento… the only theremin lounge band on the planet. We are fans! The food and service and people at Rite Spot are all good.

We didn’t want our Sunday night to end. On a comedy website, a comedy show was listed for tonight at the Rite Spot. Sure, why not.
Parking was super easy, but all street parking. From the outside, appearances look dull. A dive bar, if I say. Casual attire, no need for the fancy suits and dresses. The inside looks a lot better than the outside. Especially their bathrooms. Yes, BATHROOMS. CLEAN ones. :)
Show starts at 8. We come 30 minutes early. We’ll just find a table and drink our way through. The place is fairly small, a good classroom size that fits 40 people. On Sundays, no food. Drinks was your standard beer, wine and cocktails. The price was a little higher than I expected. I assume they had to spike up the prices for accommodating the Comedy shows.
Let the show begin! Place was 75% full. The MC introduces each comedian, with 5 total. It was a bit dry in the beginning and it started to pick up. It was really funny and going uphill until it hit a stalemate. The jokes began to be redundant. Thankfully the last two people brought me back to life again.
No cover. What more could you ask for some jokes and dranks? Sunday was a special night. Otherwise, a weekly show every Monday night.

Ok — rating this on one 20-​minute visit but wanted to rate it because I enjoyed those 20 minutes. Got a text 10 min before I got there that all my co-​workers were there having a drink before a work social event across the street. As I was entering the doors, for some reason it gave me the feeling of walking into an old-​time speakeasy. I felt like I should knock and give a code word. I liked that.
Walked in, moved a table, took it’s chair, and went to sit down… right away the lovely employee lady (what’s the right term? server? I don’t like that term for some reason LOL) was coming over to help get the table all the way out of the way and take my drink order. The biggest downside was they have no stouts on tap. What I don’t know is whether they have any stouts bottled, but I did specifically ask about what was tapped. They did have a Porter so I took it and it was good.

the friendliness of the bartenders rivals that of the zeitgeist. a little warmth goes a long way people. i can drink anywhere, and i only come here b/​c it’s almost never crowded and usually out of some convenience… wish my experience were different (can be if you go with someone the bartender/​s know and like).

Had a nice lasagna (giant piece!) dinner special with a couple of Speakeasy porters and a homemade cookie. Great late ‘70s/​early ‘80s UK indie soundtrack.

I’m amazed, and thrilled, that the Rite Spot is still around and kicking — I used to go there way back in the early Mesozoic. The drinks and food are still what might be deemed ‘adequate,’ but the price is right and the ambiance is truly great — it’s not a self-​conscious hipster dive, nor a gleaming palace, nor a drinker’s hole … it’s just, well, the Rite Spot. My friends and I were also blown away by the complete and utter surprise of the musical talent — there’s a spinet piano against the wall on which an elegantly-​turned-​out young woman was flawlessly playing short pieces by Debussy, Ravel, Satie, and so forth. Wow. They didn’t have that back in the olden days! I must now return to yelling at a cloud.

Good bar, great burgers. Saw some excellent live music, a theramin lounge band. Cordial crowd, server.

Cozy, good vibe.
Surly bartender.

Last week I was going over my bills, and I realized that I taking too many taxis to skip over the area between 8^th and 18^th. So when I left the Metreon last night, a friend and I decided to make the trek. On the way, we heard the blues music emanating from the Rite Spot and decided to drop by for a beer. Wow, what a great decision.
First, the music was absolutely amazing. The people here weren’t afraid to mess around with their sounds and it really made the experience feel unique. Don’t come here if you are looking for some easy listening music to go with your conversation. You are going to hear different things here and that alone is worth stopping by.
On top of that, there are some great prices on beer and drinks. While sitting at the bar, a regular over heard my friend and I talking about trying to find some Bluegrass places in the city, and she spent a good 15 minutes writing down the local acts worth seeing and the places/​times they would be playing.
Good people, good service, good music. And on a Sunday, can you believe it?

What the fuck happened to this place? I hadn’t been there in a long time. Used to go there all the time, mostly to check out Toshio back when most people hadn’t heard about him. I live in the neighborhood, right down the street. Used to love the staff. Yes, they were loud, but funny, and efficient, with a great dive vibe. Treated all customer fairly. But tonight it was like the whole bar had been turned on its head.
I ordered ahead so I didn’t have to wait too long. Get there, barely 10 people in the bar. Bartender sees me, passes me back and forth at least six times, not even a hello, forget about asking what i want. Two well dressed techie-​type guys walk in and she couldn’t get to them faster enough to take their orders. I’m sorry, but I can’t help thinking I was being judged by the way I looked, the way I was dressed. Yeah I was in my work clothes, poor and shabby by any standards, but I don’t remember having to dress a certain way to be at Rite Spot.
Finally the server finds the time to say hello, and then walks away promptly. Next time I manage to get her attention I mention the fact that no one is asking what I want, and if she could check if my food is ready.
Server: «I said hello?» (insert the worst attitude here)
I’m thinking: do i have to fuckin teach you what a server is supposed to say after hello? How about Can I get you anything?
Server: «I don’t know what you look like?»
Exactly! even more the reason to see if you can get something for me.
She senses I’m getting upset and then gives me the most insincere Sorry ever, in the worst attitude ever. By the time the food is ready I’m already in such a bad mood that I tell her to just pack the food to go. I like to tip well wherever I go, in the 30% range, even back when I used to frequent Rite Spot. But this time I only left the 15 cents in change for them. Instead I took the 3 bucks that I intended to tip them, and threw it in the tip jar for the musicians playing there. Now that I think about it I should have taken that damn 15 cents back also.
As I exit, the server: «Have a great night.» And I wasn’t born yesterday to know that what she was really saying was, fuck you.
I can’t see myself going back there ever again. Maybe one of the nights if any of the old crew – Sam, Eddy (don’t remember a lot of other names)– is working. Otherwise I will always make sure to peek first, and if I see any of tonight’s staff working, I am getting my head and ass both out the door.
Oh yeah, forgot to talk about the food. Asked for no tomatoes on my sandwich, and the server made a show of actually writing it down. Of course they fucked that up also. I am allergic to tomatoes so of course had to throw the whole thing in the trash.
So that was the whole sum of my Rite Spot experience: 12 dollars for NO food and the WORST attitude I have encountered in a bar/​restaurant.

This bar is awesome! I heard some fantastic live music here. The whole vibe was great, from the ambiance to the crowd. Food looked great, though I didn’t have any. I’ll be back!

Charming authentic historic SF bar. Great to see interesting, talented local musicians perform for free (you should tip ‘em though). Great food! Innovative daily specials — special entrée’s like basil chili with gourmet cheese, special desserts like rad fruit pies, and kickass daily special cocktails like ginger beer lilet with lime and i can’t remember what else (i just made that up, but you get the idea). A really nice wine list. And a GREAT burger. And like other Unilocal reviewers have said — unpretentious. The ambience is simultaneously frayed vintage and a little bit artsy. Funny bartenders and waitresses. It’s fun there.
Try to catch Mr Lucky perform Sinatra-​esque standards — I think they’re on the last Saturday each month.

The Rite-​Spot is by far my favorite bar in SF. Warm and friendly atmosphere, liveley but not too loud, and completely unpretentious. Excellent food (be sure to check the specials board), solid drinks, friendly bartenders and great entertainment. Most nights of the week feature live local music or comedy and I’ve found myself pleasantly surprised and impressed on a number of occasions. It’s a fun place to bring a date, meet some friends, or just slink into a dark corner and drink alone while listening to some good tunes.

One of the finest bars in the land. Perfect atmosphere. Great live music. Food is super legit. Awesome bartenders. Stiff drinks. This place has every element of a classic bar.

Great neighborhood spot, good drinks, good food at a great price. They support local musicians and artists, what more could you ask for?

I go here every Thursday religiously. So I can only speak for Thursdays. But on this day of the week, there is almost always a live performer. And 75% of the time the performance is unplugged or on the Rite Spot piano. It’s never too crowded and the din is more than manageable (I am easily able to have conversations with Grandma, for example).
The food is par for a bar; the bartenders (mostly women) will get to know you if you want to be a regular.
Great place for a first date or happy hour drink. Check the calendar on their website to see who’s performing!

Dirty dive with live music and a full dinner menu — lots of restrictions — but suits our needs big time. The cobb salad was good if not too much gorgonzola, which I would have previously thought impossible. Great to hang a while.

Great ambiance and service. We had the roasted garlic appetizer and fried raviolis. Both we delicious and we were pleasantly surprised by the non-​battered nature of the raviolis. Nice selection of beers on tap rounded out the snack stop.

I missed the Rite Spot while it was closed for their make over. The place looks great, everything is still done so well! The menu is full of delicious & reasonable fare making it a great dinner & live music venue.
The bar staff are friendly & pour excellent libations.
Mainly I enjoy the live music & art shows, they have a few regular musicians & annual events like the John Lennon Tribute night.
It’s a great location too, easy & convenient spot for a bar crawl meet up.