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(More customer reviews)Todd Dayton's book, "San Francisco's Best Dive Bars" is one of the most engagingly, wittily written guides that has ever been written.
It's about time that someone took the time and effort to lovingly describe an essential part of any major city: its dive bars. San Francisco in particular has a large, colorful lot to choose from.
Of course, the book is not quite exhaustive, but it does a very good job of accurately capturing the vibe, charms, denizens, and atmosphere of each of SF's best dive bars.
I'm slightly ashamed to admit that before reading this book, I'd already been to half of Todd's top ten SF dives. 'The Brown Jug' is one that came highly recommended in this book as a quintessential dive, so I went last night... and wasn't disappointed.
Immediately upon entering the 'Jug'-- which proudly has an excerpt from Todd's guide plastered on the front door-- we were greeted with witty, drunken banter and laughing before we could even sit down. These people are a hoot. Overheard at the bar, within the first 30 seconds upon entering:
patron: (in boastful drunkenese) "I'm normal... and I've got the papers to prove it!"
bartender: (in an incredulous tone) "Why would you need papers to prove that you're normal?"
It doesn't get any better than this. Some of the descriptions of Dayton's favorite dives are laugh-out-loud funny, even more so if you're already familiar with that bar, because his descriptions are so spot-on. I am a HUGE fan now.
Particularly hilarious are the reviews on "Hawaii West" (went there last night, and true to form, the owner was the drunkest, loudest one in there), "Trad'r Sam's", and the "Ha-Ra". Anyone who knows or has met the bartender Carl at the Ha-Ra will soil themselves with laughter. It's so true.
In summary, anyone who has cast a loving eye on San Francisco's best dive bars and anyone who can see the beauty in the scruffy, run-down, faded glory and charm of a good dive bar will love this book. It is downright inspiring. Todd Dayton is a poet with a true love of the dive bar and all that it has to offer.
Click Here to see more reviews about: San Francisco's Best Dive Bars: Drinking and Diving in the City by the Bay
The second title in our Dive Bar series, San Francisco's Best Dive Bars will show you where to leave your liver in the city where many others have left their hearts, with opinionated reviews of over 90 of the grungiest and grittiest drinking establishments in San Francisco. If you want to avoid the tourist traps listed in those "other" bar guides and find out where the "real" people do their drinking, then San Francisco's Best Dive Bars, like its New York predecessor, is the drinking person's guide to the delightfully filthy underside of San Francisco bar life.Todd Dayton has written for the San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Weekly, Expedia.com, and numerous other print and online publications.
