Soda Popinski’s

they have pickleback shots!!!
all i need to know. 5 stars!

Fairly interesting bar with a dive-​y atmosphere.
Good variety of drinks and beers on tap, along with a roulette wheel — $ 11 per spin, with prizes ranging from a bottle of champagne to a can of PBR and everything in between.
Friendly staff but it can get a little crowded, and there’s a $ 20 credit card minimum.

James, Tyson, and summer are the best! I had a great time! This bar is a lot of fun!

I love this bar! A MUST go when you’re bar hopping close by! We make it a point to stop by here each time because it’s so fun!
One of the things I like most is the wheel! Most of the time we get lucky, but it’s always fun finding out what you’re luck is for the night! It’s 11 $ a spin, so a GREAT deal for a good shot (4 shots of bartenders choice, or bear fight [split among 3 so it’s not really a bear fight hehe]), etc.) or a shitty deal (like an 11 $ pbr lawl); either way it’s fun doing it win friends and seeing what everyone gets!
Regardless, I always have a fun time coming here with friends! If you’re here Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, James the bartender is SO much fun! He is the best! He took shots with us, made us yummy drinks when we spun shots of bartender’s choice, sang with us, and was so much fun!!! Summer and Tyler were also great too!
Overall, yummy drinks, amazing bartenders, and fun time with friends or just if you’re feeling thirsty on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday night :) Def stop by!

Nice dive type of place.

I was here on Sunday so my experience will be different from somebody who went there during peak days. I felt like its a normal bar. Normal staff. Normal experience. Normal drinks. I cannot recall anything special about this place so I have no reason to go back. On the other side my experience was not bad, it was just pure normal :).

The concept of this bar is great. Who does not like a video game area in a bar?! The spin the wheel is such a wonderful idea too. However, I hyped this place up too much before coming, and my expectations were not in the least bit met. The layout of this place is just awful. There is one narrow walkway with hordes of people blocking the only access way to the restrooms. This has to be a fire hazard.
The video game area is beyond tiny. I was expecting multiple consoles, played in different rooms. I did not foresee a single television with one guy playing by himself for an hour. That was the first disappointment.
The second let down was the wheel where you spin to see which drink you will be getting for the price of $ 11. If you get the PBR, you would probably feel the most ripped off. $ 11 for a can of beer is just outrageous.
If you like small bars and large crowds, this place is for you.

If you come here, you have to SPIN THE WHEEL! $ 11 for The Wheel of Adventure. or Nightmare, depends on the outcome. My friends and I came here after sake bombs at Yamasho. We all spin it and got a bottle of CHAMPAGNE, boot-​sized moscow mule, 4 shots of bartender choice (don’t know what it was, but it was sweet and smooth!), hand grenade (whiskey and jäger bomb), and 2 rounds of 2 pickle backs. We passed everything around in a circle and we finished it all alive.
Our journey continued down Polk Street… Cheers to good times!

I always have a fun time when I come to Soda Popinski’s! Upbeat ambiance and fun vibe. There is a wheel you can spin if you pay $ 11. Whatever it lands on is the drink/​drinks you’re given. Sometimes you totally score and sometimes you think «I’d rather pass.» Regardless, it’s fun to spin the wheel.
There are also many TVs throughout the bar. I watched the Warriors win the NBA championship here and had a blast. The bar provided everyone with Warriors t-​shirts and towels to wave around. Just goes to show how the staff wants to make sure you’re having a good time.

I came here on a Saturday night with some friends expecting to have a fun night. We had all heard of this place before and had high expectations. When we got in, it was 90 degrees inside which seems to be the trend with most bars in SF. There was barely any room to move but we squeezed our way to the back, where people were engrossed in a game of mario kart. They couldn’t look away. There was also a wheel that cost $ 11 to spin, and there was an extremely long and slow-​moving line for that. The music was super random and we felt very awkward trying to dance in the middle of the heated mario kart game. Is this considered fun? If so, it’s not the right bar for me. I will not be back here.

We held a charity event here this week. We were surprised that they allowed us to use their venue but in the end very pleased with their professionalism and services. The bar looks small in pictures but its a decent size and the happy hour is fun. The drinks were good although the beers were not as good as other bars. They have a gaming console in the back for all of you gamers n techies. Very short commute from downtown. To get their by foot you’ll be hike up one of the steepest hills in the city so Über it or take the trolley. It’ll be worth it.

Soda Popinski’s is a fun little bar. You’ve got a NES, SNES, and N64 in the back, a roulette wheel that can nab you anything from a car bomb/​Jäger bomb combo to a PBR, and plenty of strong drinks to go around.
The environment is a little dudebro, but it kind of adds to the charm. Seeing my friend win a fancy bottle of champagne and seeing everyone go wild was definitely the highlight of the evening.

Cool low-​key bar. Great for the start of the night when its not too busy and you’re warming up. I imagine it gets hella busy towards the end of the evening. The nintendo at the back is pretty sweet. I hope they use Clorox wipes on those controllers every now and then.
Love the wheel of fortune and the tall can PBRs.
The bathrooms suck, super small and they cram 2 urinals in and the toilet. Gross.

Whats not to love here? They have a wheel you can spin for $ 11 and you get whatever drink (or shots, or bottle of champagne) the wheel lands on! God help the person that gets the pickle shot (whiskey follow by a shot of pickle juice) or the cement mixer (Baileys mixed with lemon juice which curdles). They also have Nintendo in the back which was an awesome throwback to my childhood and which some of the broskis were enjoying.

I love the Greyhound here! They use fresh grapefruit juice with lots of pulp. Besides that, it’s a nice spot that’s set up like most bars in SF with a long and narrow walkway. I’ve never been all the way to the back, but I think it opens up a bit so more people can hang out if you’re in a bigger group.

Spinning the wheel was the most exciting thing at this bar! The best deal in the house is definitely the Mule Kick. That drink has some serious alcohol in it and it’s absolutely huge! The worst drink is the cement mixer. Unfortunately a few of my friends had it, and apparently the shot curdles as soon as the bartender pours it. Credit card minimum is $ 20, so we got around that by buying two spins at a time!
This place has a super nintendo system with a bunch of different games that you can rent as long as you give them your driver’s license. This was pretty awesome and had a blast playing the old school games.

Spin the wheel!!!
Ok I didn’t even spin the wheel cos I was too scared but honestly I was way too drunk to be spinning anything. My friends won drinks from spinning and for some reason they kept giving them away (mainly to me)… so you see, everyone wins.
Anyway this place was dark and dim but I did remember having a great time with my buddiessss. They also were drunk so I think everybody had a great time. I remember mostly taking shots of picklebacks because I LOVE PICKLEBACKS and … that’s it.
Oh so Unilocal has been telling me to review this place and I’ve been putting it off and now I know why… cos I don’t remember much cos this girl was drunk. :) My bad.

SOOOODAAAAAAAA POPIIINSKIIIIIIIIII’S!!! Love this Soviet-​themed place! It’s a must-​go when we’re out gallivanting on Polk Street.
NOTE: The card minimum is $ 20 so bring some cash or charge your friends on Venmo!
For $ 11, you can spin the ultimate wheel of awesomeness (this may or may not be the actual name of the wheel). It’s clearly the best thing in the bar and it’s the reason we even come here. Some of the choices include:
— bottle of champagne
— mule kick (a «boot» of Moscow Mule)
— 4 shots, bartender’s choice
— shot of fireball + free spin
— vodka drunkenski (cup of vodka)
— two pickle backs
— AND MORE!!!
Trust me, you want to try for the champagne or the mule kick. You can share your drink with your friends, and they will love you for it.
The second best part of the bar is the gaming in the back. People play old Nintendo games like Mario Kart, but don’t come here just for the games on weekends… Since there are so many people, it might take a while to get your turn on a controller.
Soda P’s is actually a pretty small bar, and it gets very crowded on Friday and Saturday nights. If pushing your way through drunken people is not your thing, you might want to avoid this place. The atmosphere is loud, dark, and sweaty, but everyone is also incredibly friendly. I’ve made friends with people in line more than a few times — usually our bond of friendship is solidified by their empathy when I spin a «prairie fire» (shot of vodka with hot sauce) or something similar.
Can’t wait to be back again soon! Woohoo!

If you like chance, the wheel may be just what you’re looking for. Came by after dinner for a girlfriend’s birthday back in July 2013.
The wheel was $ 10 per spin (spins are now $ 11 each):
We each bought the birthday girl a spin and landed on:
*Pickle back
*Bottle of champagne
I’m sure a lot of the prizes are worth less than $ 10. But it’s so much fun leaving it to chance, I didn’t really care. It was fun cheering her on while we tried landing on our alcohol of choice.
They also have a Nintendo system in the back. I didn’t get the chance to play with it, but I will be back. Next time!

I’m getting older now, so I have to start thinking about Legacy. Oh sure, I’m only in my mid-30’s, but as you get older there starts to be a vague notion that one day there will be an end. These days, I’m starting to think about my Drinking Legacy, and I fear that if the book was written on me today I’d be liable for one huge charge: I lived 100 yards from Soda Popinski’s and I only went there how many times? Gather ye Rosebuds.
Admittedly, I am a big fan of the folks who brought you Soda Popinski’s. You might know them from Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Tonic, Bullitt, Jackalope, Lightening Tavern and the now defunct Royal Tug Yacht Club. They have a magic touch when it comes to creating good spaces and good themes.
Soda Popinski’s takes it’s name from a video game character. Are you familiar with mid-80’s Ninetendo? 8-​bit Graphics, but games that were fun and iconic. I was a 6 or 7 year-​old when I got to play Mike Tyson’s Punch-​Out for the first time at a neighbor’s house. Soda Popinski was a Soviet (they were Soviet then) fighter. Fun Fact: He was supposed to be called Vodka Drunkinski, but someone realized that would not be good for the Cold War. Probably wise. … I digress. The name of the bar is apropos given one of the stand-​out features of this bar is a ready selection of Nintendo, Super Nintendo and N64 games and a big TV and game area. In case you’re thinking this out, that means Mario, Zelda, Mario Cart, Goldeneye … record-​scratch, yep, late-90’s Goldeneye where you could play with four people on one screen back before the current game systems basically allowed us to become serial killers. (Fact) Some of these games are additively fun. When we were little kids, the sheer joy of the games was enough of a thrill. Now, we get to add booze.
Nostalgia in the face of Impending Legacy. This is also a good bar. While it has novelty because of the games, it is not a bar that should be defined by that quality alone. In my dozen trips or so, I’ve played games two or three times. And trust me, it isn’t a gamer crowd. This is attracting the same crowds as R Bar, Wreck Room, Zeki’s, Playland, McTeague’s, Harper and Rye, etc. I come for the 2−4−1 Happy Hours. 5−7pm is 2−4−1. They have Total Domination on tap, so that works for me. But, I’m increasingly taken by good cocktails lately, and they have a few winners which at 2−4-$ 11 isn’t bad. (Aside — 1−4-$ 11 is a ‘lil steep) I recommend the Spicy Grapefruit Margarita, particularly if it is made just right. They have a few good things here that are worth exploring. Oh yeah, and they have a Wheel of Drinks.
Legacy. Once upon a time I got excited as a kid when I went over to a friends house and they had the cool new game system. I went home excited, but not a happy camper, because I had no Nintendo. But guess what, Bobby doesn’t live a next door to Soda Popinski’s in the Heart of the Funnest Neighborhood in America. I think I won. But, Gather ye Rosebuds, because they’ll be writing our Drinking Obituaries soon enough. This is a good bar to visit if you haven’t, and a good place to return-​to if you have.