The Royal Cuckoo

The martini may or may not have been invented in San Francisco—booze authorities, with breathtaking seriousness, have debated the matter for decades. Either way you can't swing an olive in this town without finding a swell cocktail bar. Nod politely at the artisanal this, artisanal that monologues, find a cozy/dingy booth and focus on the lovely mini-cultures all this mixology supports. At the Royal Cuckoo, for instance, at the edges of the Mission and Bernal Heights neighborhoods, you'll find some of the grooviest organ music this side of a Baptist church.