{"id":91867,"date":"2025-12-12T14:29:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/91867\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T14:29:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:29:18","slug":"sfs-12-best-martinis-according-to-a-panel-of-restaurant-pros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/91867\/","title":{"rendered":"SF\u2019s 12 best martinis, according to a panel of restaurant pros"},"content":{"rendered":"

Technically, there\u2019s no \u201cright\u201d way to make a martini. But if you ask anyone who drinks them, they\u2019ll have a fiercely held opinion anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMartinis are the easiest drink to make and the easiest to fuck up,\u201d says Christian Beaulieu, co-owner of The DeLuxe, a bar and music venue expected to open in the spring on Haight Street. \u201cIt takes a bartender who cares and respects the art of it to make a great one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some prefer it shaken, dirty, and garnished with blue-cheese olives. Others opt for a 50\/50 \u2014 one part gin, one part vermouth \u2014 finished with a twist.\u00a0 But nearly all the industry pros we polled cited two nonnegotiable elements: A martini must be ice cold and served in a chilled glass. And for the most part, they say, by god, it had better be made with gin.<\/p>\n

We asked 12 industry pros what makes for an exceptional martini \u2014 and where to get the best ones in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Emilio Saheli, beverage director, Cava\u00f1a\"AThe classic from Martuni\u2019s. | Source: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: Martuni\u2019s, 4 Valencia St., Upper Market
When he wants an impeccably crafted martini, Saheli heads to Pacific Cocktail Haven for his usual: one made with Sipsmith London Dry (or Monkey 47, if he\u2019s feeling fancy) gin, dry, stirred, and served with a twist. \u201cThe way the botanicals unfold in a stirred gin martini is a beautiful thing,\u201d he says. But there\u2019s a time and a place for everything \u2014 and some days, you want something a little less fussy. \u201cMartuni\u2019s piano bar is the place for a giant shaken martini with ice chips. Just sit back, catch a buzz, listen to amazing local singers, and feel the sense of community that you can only get from a classic spot like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay Tusk, co-owner and creative director, Quince & Co.\"\"A shaken martini with olives at Bix in Jackson Square. | Source: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: Bix, 56 Gold St., North Beach
\u201cIf you told me that Bix was designed specifically for martini drinking, I\u2019d believe you,\u201d Tusk says. It\u2019s a rare, romantic gem that has been setting the mood for nearly 40 years with live jazz, soft overhead lighting, and a mesmerizing wall-to-wall oil painting above the bar. When Tusk visits, she keeps her martini simple and asks for London Dry gin in a vermouth-washed glass, served up with a twist. \u201cI have a real nostalgia for this place, and it always delivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christian Beaulieu, co-owner, The DeLuxe\"AThe Turf Cocktail is a spin on a martini made even more high-octane through the addition of absinthe. | Source: Molly DeCoudreaux<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: Absinthe, 398 Hayes St., Hayes Valley
If you\u2019re making a martini for Beaulieu, save the theatrics \u2014 he\u2019s not interested. \u201cI love iconic bars that sling cocktails, not places where mixologists are hanging upside down, crying white-balsamic-reduction tears into their mixing glasses,\u201d he says. Nothing could make him happier during the chillier months than bellying up to the bar during happy hour at an institution like Absinthe, ordering a dirty gin martini with a side of fries, and soaking up the jazz. \u201cOnce you hit 40, vodka should just go away,\u201d Beaulieu contends. \u201cNo shame to the under-40 crowd, though. Vodka your hearts out!\u201d<\/p>\n

Shawn Naputi, chef, Prubechu\"SlicesA martini paired with a full meal at House of Prime Rib. | Source: Michaela Vatcheva for The Standard<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: House of Prime Rib, 1906 Van Ness Ave., Polk Gulch
Naputi contains multitudes. Some evenings, he\u2019ll be sitting on a bar stool at Martuni\u2019s near the piano, listening to locals croon while sipping on a paloma martini made with Astral blanco tequila and Fever Tree tonic water. Other nights, you can find him at House of Prime Rib, where he\u2019ll get a dirty gin martini \u2014 preferably with St. George Terroir for its botanical and citrus notes \u2014 with cheese-stuffed olives. The fact that the bartenders will hand over the extra martini from the shaker is just a bonus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brian Sheehy, CEO, Future Bars Group\"AThe bar at Holbrook House in the Financial District. | Source: Courtesy Matthew Millman<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: Holbrook House, 1 Sansome St., Financial District
To Sheehy, there is no doubt: Dingle gin makes the best martini. The spirit, which hails from his home county of West Kerry, Ireland, must be combined with a light variety of vermouth, stirred for no more than 30 seconds with filtered ice, garnished with a twist, and poured into a chilled glass. According to Sheehy, Holbrook House makes an excellent version using the proper ice and the fanciest glasses \u2014 plus, the martini carts are just plain fun. And if you don\u2019t see Dingle gin on the menu, don\u2019t stress. \u201cThey\u2019re known to keep a hidden stash of this peculiar bottle for special occasions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Colleen Booth, managing partner and COO, Lazy Bear and True Laurel<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: Top of the Mark, 999 California St., Nob Hill
When it comes to martinis, Booth has two modes. On nights when she\u2019s feeling wild \u2014 or perhaps hasn\u2019t eaten yet \u2014 she\u2019ll ask for a Monkey 47 dirty martini with blue-cheese olives. If she gets the sense that it\u2019s going to be a long night, however, she\u2019ll go for a 50\/50 with a twist. Brazen Head in Cow Hollow is one of her favorite spots, but when she\u2019s not there, you can find her at hotel bars like Top of the Mark or The St. Regis Bar. \u201cBoth feel harmonious with martinis,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s just something about the atmosphere that elevates the drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kummi Kim, owner, Ilcha<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: Pacific Cocktail Haven, 550 Sutter St., Union Square
While Kim is most often sipping makgeolli and tequila, she knows she can head to The Progress or Pacific Cocktail Haven at any moment and get an outstanding martini. Her usual order is a Belvedere martini \u2014 she leans toward vodka because it\u2019s more crisp and neutral \u2014 with Dolin Dry vermouth, stirred with a lemon twist. But on certain occasions when she\u2019s at Pacific Cocktail Haven, she\u2019ll get a vesper made with Nolet\u2019s gin. \u201cI love how citrus-forward it is,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Intu-On Kornnawong, executive chef, Shoji\"aJared Murray and Nicolas Torres behind the bar at True Laurel. | Source: Josie Norris\/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: True Laurel, 753 Alabama St., Mission District
Since she started working at the FiDi bar and restaurant Shoji, Kornnawong has experimented with infusing Japanese gins into her martinis. These days, her go-to order is a Nikka Coffey gin dirty martini with a seasonal garnish or an olive. \u201cIt\u2019s simple but perfect,\u201d she says, adding that True Laurel always nails the assignment. \u201cI love how unique their martinis are. They always give it their own creative twist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spencer Vios, bar manager, Abac\u00e1<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: Lone Palm, 3394 22nd St., Mission Vios isn\u2019t here to judge whether you\u2019re team gin or vodka. \u201cI don\u2019t discriminate. If it sounds good, I\u2019m ordering it \u2014 and a martini never doesn\u2019t sound good,\u201d he says. Some days, that means a 50\/50 with Martin Miller\u2019s Westbourne gin and Cocchi Americano, finished with a lemon twist. Vios believes martinis are even better in the right setting. \u201cRomance isn\u2019t dead \u2014 and Lone Palm has atmosphere for days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry Piaskowy, captain and bar director, Bar Maritime<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: Comstock Saloon, 155 Columbus Ave., North Beach
When he\u2019s not at Bix sipping a martini before dinner, Piaskowy heads to Comstock Saloon, a handsome cocktail bar in a historic building in North Beach. \u201cIt\u2019s another classic space with great bartenders. Plus [owner] Jonny Raglin just makes me want a martini whenever I see him,\u201d Piaskowy says. He\u2019ll order his favorite: a wet martini \u2014 meaning it\u2019s made with a 2:1 ratio of gin to vermouth \u2014 with Botanist Islay Dry, a dash of orange bitters, and a twist.<\/p>\n

John Clark, executive chef and partner, Foreign Cinema\"APeter Domenici pours martinis, the most popular drink at Zam Zam. | Camille Cohen\/The Standard<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: Zam Zam, 1633 Haight St., Upper Haight
\u201cMartinis are not like all other mixed drinks,\u201d Clark says. \u201cIt\u2019s more of an experience.\u201d He oscillates between poetry and precision when describing the elements of his perfect specimen: An English-style dry gin with notes of bergamot, orange, and juniper is crucial, as is Martini & Rossi vermouth. (Dolin is too sweet.) He prefers about a teaspoon of olive juice, stirred, and served up with Fourme d\u2019Ambert-stuffed olives. While Bix is an all-time favorite haunt, Clark holds no grudge against the brooding, Upper Haight icon Zam Zam, which had a history of throwing out \u201cundesirable clients\u201d like him in the 1980s. He still considers it one of the best old-school places to get a martini.<\/p>\n

Hwanghah Jeong, owner, Jilli SF<\/p>\n

Favorite martini: Buoy, 22 Franklin St., Civic Center
While Jeong is partial to a dirty vodka martini, she can\u2019t resist the siren song of the Korean-inspired espresso martini from Buoy, dubbed the White Tiger. \u201cIt\u2019s their take on a soju Einspanner,\u201d she explains. The bartenders take 48-hour espresso-infused soju and top it with a velvety cream top, making it super easy to drink, Jeong says. \u201cThe soju makes it feel cleaner and more elegant than the usual espresso martini.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Technically, there\u2019s no \u201cright\u201d way to make a martini. But if you ask anyone who drinks them, they\u2019ll…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[8697,416,2499,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-91867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-bars","tag-cocktails","tag-pro-tips","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}