The Lucky Horseshoe

Cash Only is my only complaint.
They have a decent beer selection. But I’m semi impressed with their whiskey selection, not too shabby. Too bad, I only have enough cash on my to get beer (There is a ATM machine, but I refuse to pay for withdraw fees)
Good neighborhood dive bar to watch the game, especially when the Dubs are playing.

Fun place, good drinks, and Karaōke too! We’ll be back.

If your looking for a great local dive bar with great staff — you’ve found it! Great street with cute shops and restaurants. :)

Very good people. Hospitable crowd, owner and bartenders. Non discriminatory to persons with dogs as long as not barkers. Popcorn machine, lotsa custom drinks and specials. Great food options within couple blocks. Sad when you’re own neighborhood bar «goes to pot» but so good to find someplace like this. Fed up with sellouts, Lisa Marie took this place on to keep it real.

I really liked this place. Has a wide variety of beers from around the world in bottle. Also various local beers on tap. The Food looked amazing, I did not have any, but the other customers could not stop talking about it.
Also, it’s a great place to watch sports and I will definitely come back.

Favorite bar in SF. Mellow, good drinks, live bluegrass, rarely crowded and always a great mix of all types of people. And the bartenders have always been friendly and fun to chat with.

Downed a sour from… hmmm… I can’t remember. Also used the women’s bathroom by mistake. That says a lot about the state I was in…

Great joint. Went up to Bernal Heights (is is up? Hey, I’m not from here…) to meet a friend for his recommended live show (Devon McClive). First, I’d love to live up in Bernal, but that’s beside the point. This is a true bar with a stage jammed in a corner, dark woods, bottles on display, pool table at the back. Drinks are absurdly cheap for a big city and well made. Great bartender. Good crowd. Just the kind of place I love for live music, or drinking without the music.

I’d like to respond to Nadjieli D.‘s complaint– yes, the woman in question DID steal tips from that band, and it wasn’t the first time. She’s very well known in the neighborhood for that kind of behavior. No, she didn’t know the band for 15 years– she hasn’t even lived in this country for half that long.
Next time you lodge such a complaint, you might want to know who and what you’re talking about.

3.5 We rent randomly on a Saturday night. The live band, with the lead singer that sounded like Bonnie Raitt, was really good. That lady could play a guitar. There was a stage and some space in front to dance, a pool table in the back and a big oval bar in the middle.
The crowd was a mix of older and young people, and it was sufficiently divey for me. The people in general were much drunker than we were. The drinks were stiff, which is good and explains a lot, but I found the maple bacon bourbon undrinkable. I didn’t taste any maple, bacon, or the lovely sweetness of bourbon, just alcohol. My friend was satisfied with her Jameson and ginger, so maybe keep it simple.
I would go back to play pool, listen to a live band, and drink beer.

Great neighborhood bar with a friendly staff. Cash only I believe, but ATM is onsite. Has a large oval bar reminiscent of a horseshoe. Has a pool table, a jukebox and plenty of TVs for watching sports. They often host live music of a variety of types on certain nights.

Great atmosphere, low key high class dive with great live music and friendly bar staff. Fantastic place to plant down and catch up on sports during the days on the weekends, and continue to hang out for the lively night crowd.

Ive been living in bernal for several years and its the type of neighborhood that you really get to know certain personalities. However, some you need to steer clear of. The owner of the Lucky Horseshoe is a terribly unprofessional, rude and disrespectful individual. I was in the other night and witnessed her grabbing an older lady who has cancer by the arm, dragging her outside and accusing her with no proof of taking money from the tip jar. I spoke to the women afterward because she was visually shaken. She told me she’s known the band members for over 15 years. Their kids went to school together and she was the one passing around the tip bucket to garner support for the band that was playing. To make such a blatant and false accusation to an elder of something like that is downright disgusting. The owner had no proof and the accused didn’t even have a purse or a jacket for that matter to stash cash. She asked the owner to search her or playback a surveillance to prove her innocence. Its a small matter in the greater scheme of things but Id rather not support a business that treats people in such a disrespectful manner. Im truly disturbed by what I witnessed and will never return to this poorly managed bar.

Great neighboorhood bar. Nothing fancy. Good beers and drinks. Generally have most sporting events available on the TVs which are good. Live music is also available.
Pros:
Great people watching. My neighbors and I are always here. So its your chance to see Bernal residents in their natural environs
Cheap
Sometimes they have boiled hot dogs
Cons:
Live music is generally bad. But sometimes hilarity ensues

I never really thought I would go out in Bernal Heights. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just a little out of the way and the crowd is a bit older and more mature, which is a contrast to my high levels of immaturity.
I will say that I had a nice time at Lucky Horseshoe, though I felt a little odd when the bartender described the beers on tap, «Racer 5, that’s an IPA, Bear Republic, that’s an IPA, Blue Moon, that’s a Witbier». Yes, it was nice of him, it’s just not my first rodeo. I ended up having the Moscow Mule which was disappointingly weak. The ginger beer in it was very refreshing though, so that was nice.
There was a live country band playing Patsy Cline which was awesome, but my more aggressive friends started getting rowdy, proclaiming to me that «they don’t live in Texas» and therefore cannot listen to country (???).
Anywho, the bar was extremely warm, but when the door was opened, the stench of cigarettes overwhelmed me. After we finished one drink, we decided to head elsewhere. I may go back with just one friend as the vibe was mellow, it’s just not the «usual» kind of place my crew would pick on a Saturday night when they are apparently trying to get «hyphy.»

Stopped in for a refreshing beverage and enjoyed the ambience. A funny sign was posted about the customer always being right. Very casual and a friendly bartender.

Fun local bar with local artists showcased.
Great pool table and always good house music.

We were here Saturday night — Scavenger Hunt Pub Crawl — Nearly 20 of us.
Both the bartenders and the patrons were friendly, welcoming, and really enjoyed as our 4 scavenger hunt teams interacted with random strangers. It was a 2 ½ hour hunt spread across a number of bars and this one was great.
The drinks were decent and well priced, the ‘neighborhood’ ambience was awesome, and it was just a simple bar doing its own thing. The scavenger hunt was not soley items, it was interactions as well (i.e. Challenge a stranger to arm wrestle, challenge a stranger to chug a drink against you, group hug a stranger… all kinds of things like that which required picture evidence). The folks in this bar were totally on board!
Fun, friendly, good atmosphere, non-​pretentious… what more could you want?

A couple weeks ago my friend suggested I join him for a Sunday afternoon bluegrass jam — we carpooled to Bernal Hts, and despite getting distracted by the shop across the street (separate review, people!) — I found my way back into the Lucky Horseshoe where my friend was already rocking out on his bass. In fact — there were like 4 non musicians including the bartender and at one point — 8 musicians — jamming away, acoustic and rocking out. It was really fun!
The bar staff were friendly, efficient and very professional. Though I only had beer — I cannot attest to mixed drinks — they did also have a taco bar and I heard someone raving about their bloody mary or some rum punch or something. The bathrooms are quite nice for a dive bar — clean and decorated with loads of framed pictures of Marilyn Monroe.
Nice spot — I look forward to returning there for another afternoon bluegrass jam!

This place is pathetic. My friend and I wandered in to play a game of pool. I ordered a very weak vodka soda. That’s how I asked for it, and that’s how I got it. Someone bought me another drink, so I had one more. Then, my friend and I went to Vega for a huge dinner. Afterwards, we went back to The Horseshoe because it was karaōke night and my friend wanted to sing. I ordered a bourbon.
Cut to an hour or so later, I finish sipping my one bourbon… a patron asks me if I want a drink and I say, «Sure. I’ll have a bourbon.» She calls the bartender over, I ask for the drink, and the bartender turns his back on me like I don’t exist. My friend says, «Maybe he didn’t hear you.» The woman next to me yells, «Hey, she wants a bourbon.» The slack faced bartender in his groovy black shirt and white suspenders completely ignores us. At this point, I’m confused. We all are. Finally, the dude moseys over. The woman next to me repeats with authority, «She’d like a bourbon.» The bartender tells HER, not me, «No. She’s drunk.»
Ok, I’m 47 years old, I’ve been to bars in my life, I have never, ever been treated this way. I was shocked. I said, «What are you talking about?» And he whines, «You told me you were really, really drunk! You told me!»
… I then realized, when I ordered the previous (and only) bourbon, he’d asked me in a lighthearted way, «Are you drunk?» I laughed and said, «Maybe a little.» I thought that’s what he wanted to hear. I wasn’t driving, I was in a bar. I thought bartenders wanted their customers to drink. Remember, at this point I’d had two weak drinks a couple hours prior, and a huge meal. He said, «I thought so. You ordered a shot.» I just smiled and thought, this guy is a weirdo, and I tipped him $ 8 because I also bought my friend a drink and bartenders live off of tips. He snatched the bills without hesitation.
So, now he’s yelling, lying really, «You told me you were really, really drunk! You told me!» I’m sitting there, in conversation with my friend (who drinks a lot more than I do) and I’m obviously coherent… it was crazy.
I think if I were a man, not a woman, sitting there slowly sipping a bourbon, he would not have cut me off at one. Hmmm… discrimination?
The guy’s a certifiable nutcase, and an ass. I told him something to that effect, I was really offended, and he 86’d me.
Might I add, I have never been kicked out, or cut off, at a bar in my entire life.
I tried to contact the owner, but they’re not together enough to have a working website. I will be quite happy to talk to her in person. I’m really pissed off.
My suggestion– go across the street to Wild Side West. They have a pool table, fireplace, and huge, cute garden. That’s what we did, where upon hearing this story, Andy, the sweet, cool, saint of a bartender gave me a hug– and a bourbon.