What is it? Officially named Aub Zam Zam but affectionately dubbed Zam Zam by locals, this dingy Arabian Nights charmer has been a Haight-Ashbury dive bar legend since 1941. But not just any dive bar: It’s a gin martini dive.
Why we love it: The storied moments that have happened in this over 80-year-old bar are endless, from being an Anthony Bourdain favorite back in the day to Zam Zam’s legendary, cantankerous owner for nearly 50 years, Bruno, who kicked out anyone ordering a vodka “martini” vs. an original, proper gin martini (here, made with your choice of gin, including local “craft” gins).
Sitting around the curved, half-moon bar under the gaze of an Arabian Nights mural in the red-dominant space, SF’s best jukebox rolls out the likes of Bobby Bland to Willie Nelson effortlessly. I can vividly remember a night here when a twentysomething guy announced he was about to move to NYC. Someone popped Sinatra’s “New York, New York” on the jukebox, while everyone from a seventysomething Haight-Ashbury hippie who had lived in the neighborhood since the Summer of Love days, to my friends visiting from England, were singing lustily together over stiff (still) $10 martinis that can leave you blissfully blurry after just two.
Time Out tip: Zam Zam’s blessed daily, afternoon-into-evening and late-night hours make this an ideal stop for an icy martini post-vintage shopping on Haight Street. or Golden Gate Park strolls, or for those post-midnight rambles. Just a heads up: It remains cash only.
Address: 1633 Haight St, San Francisco, 94117
Opening hours: Mon–Fri 3pm–2am; Sat, Sun 1pm–2am
Expect to pay: $10 cash only for their stiff, beautiful martinis