Downtown is ‘so back’ — however is it enjoyable? We spent a Saturday evening out in FiDi to check it

When Los Angeles Dodgers heart fielder Andy Pages tore throughout the outfield to make a spectacular, bottom-of-the-ninth catch in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series, each gobsmacked pair of eyes at downtown San Francisco pizzeria Pie Punks (opens in new tab) was glued to the TV.

Putting apart Giants followers’ enduring hatred for the Dodgers, it was an exciting second — and an uncommon scene for 8:30 p.m. on a Saturday in a neighborhood supposedly trapped within the doldrums. Every desk was coated in pans of Detroit-style pizza, glasses of pure wine, and tiki mugs full of tropical cocktails. Per the logic of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” most individuals appeared to be rooting for Toronto, however a rum-fueled camaraderie prevailed.

That a trio of journalists was there to witness this second was pure serendipity. We have been merely exploring, curious to see if it’s attainable to have enjoyable in a neighborhood that — regardless of all of the city-sponsored endeavors to attract individuals downtown — appears to relapse right into a coma as quickly because the First Thursday festivals and boozy avenue events wrap.

From 8 p.m. till after 1 a.m., we met with uneven outcomes. For each hopping cocktail bar, we discovered a black gap of womp-womp clamminess that no high-spirited shenanigans may enhance. And we reconfirmed that virtually everybody who’s out and about downtown at evening works in tech. 

But one different message was simply as clear: There is loads of enjoyable available downtown on a Saturday evening when you’re prepared to look — and open to embracing the chaos.

With L.A. having received its second World Series in a row — sorry, Giants Nation — The Standard’s crew of two reporters and a photographer got down to discover extra thrills. We wandered over to Holbrook House (1 Sansome St.), an ultra-luxe venue atop the Montgomery BART Station. John Kranz, president and chief technique officer of BCCI Construction, was having a cigarette along with his spouse, Beth, exterior.

“It’s an amazing party, but there are 700 people in there,” John Kranz mentioned. “We need a little fresh air.”

The EDM ricocheting off the venue’s marble pillars was nearly shockingly loud — although in contrast to in different components of city, a noise grievance was unlikely, and never solely as a result of the neighborhood has few residents to disturb. The Kranzes have been attending We Love SF (opens in new tab), an annual fundraising gala placed on by famous SF booster Empire Records and attended by rich sorts who wish to see the town prosper — the elite, in different phrases. 

Kranz wouldn’t specify how a lot a ticket price. “I don’t want to put a number on it,” he mentioned, crushing out his butt and strolling again in. As the door opened, the music bought briefly louder. The lighting was dim, however an aerialist was seen, as was somebody dressed as Little Bo Peep, shepherd’s criminal and all. It was a raucous affair for sure, however not one open to unticketed interlopers. Rather than press our faces to the home windows, we moved on.

Hoping to discover a celebration we may get into, we alighted on Pagan Idol (opens in new tab) (375 Bush St.). Inside downtown’s prime tiki bar have been 4 scattered teams and workers who had loads of time to supply thorough drink suggestions. The Mr. Hanalei ($15), made from a Caribbean rum mix, allspice, orgeat, and lemon, went down nearly too straightforward. 

We have been sucking down the final of our drinks when the vibe shifted. Metered by a bouncer checking IDs on the door, two dozen individuals started streaming in at regular intervals, largely in costume, owing to it being the evening after Halloween.

David Wang was Bob the Builder, repurposing overalls from final 12 months’s Super Mario costume. The software program engineer in his mid-20s was a part of a gaggle of 25 to 30 individuals who largely hang around to play the murder-mystery sport Blood on the Clocktower (opens in new tab). It was solely his second time at Pagan Idol. “Truthfully, we mostly hang out in apartments,” he mentioned.

They have been a sociable gaggle, however there have been reminders that Gen Z doesn’t rage on the common. One of Wang’s mates mentioned the final time they’d convened on the bar, issues bought just a little wild, “but I’m not sure that I drank anything.” 

Still, individuals who arrived in San Francisco lately have one distinct benefit: blissful ignorance about downtown’s post-pandemic misfortune. “I can’t compare it to what it was like back then,” Wang mentioned, taking a satisfying pull from a rum punch. “I haven’t been here long enough.”

Almost as loud as Holbrook House and extra chaotic than Pagan Idol, the drunkest vacation spot turned out to be Harrington’s (245 Front St.). Nominally an Irish pub, it anchors City Hall-sanctioned occasions, together with First Thursdays and the occasional out of doors Valkyries viewing celebration on Front Street. On this evening, the road was abandoned, however the bar was mobbed.

It was clearly somebody’s birthday, however had we crashed a personal celebration? Almost actually sure — and so had fairly a couple of others. Attendees, largely of their late 20s and early 30s, have been hoarse, flushed, sipping out of plastic cups, and largely unable to establish whose birthday it was. A worn-down bartender muttered one thing about way more individuals displaying up than he’d ready for, inciting a pang of self-consciousness. We slipped out simply earlier than midnight.

Day-after-Halloween events and World Series be damned: The night’s clear theme was birthday celebrations. At the 174-year-old Old Ship Saloon (298 Pacific Ave.), a 5-minute stroll up Battery Street, Sarah Judge and Chris Cheng have been amongst a gaggle of about 40 who had made their method over after dinner at La Mar on the Embarcadero. Even after midnight, they have been going sturdy.

“I love this spot,” Cheng mentioned. “It’s the oldest bar in the city.” (There’s some ambiguity to that declare, however no different bar was constructed alongside the town’s unique waterfront atop a wrecked Nineteenth-century ship.)

“It feels properly dodgy,” Judge added. “As somebody who has always adored San Francisco, downtown is feeling more like the San Francisco I fell in love with.” 

If the Financial District is the center of San Francisco, then California Street is its aorta. And if that aorta hasn’t been in such good well being these days, then Turtle Tower (245 California St.) would be the stent that repairs it. 

The northern Vietnamese restaurant, well-known for its clear-broth pho, closed its areas one after the other through the pandemic, solely to revive this 12 months by taking up the previous Barbacco area — and making an eye-popping dedication to serving meals till 3 a.m. (Something’s working; one other Turtle Tower location is within the works.) There’s no higher fourth meal than nem cua, a dish of crab, shrimp, pork, egg, and wood-ear mushrooms with fried imperial rolls.

At 1 a.m., Eurythmics have been blasting, however issues have been in any other case slowing down. The chattiest individual was a server named Nhi who launched right into a disquisition about her household historical past and the delicacies of Vietnam. She was born within the South however ate northern-style pho as a result of her household had taken their recipe with them after they fled a famine within the Forties. “This place is amazing,” she mentioned of Turtle Tower. “It tastes exactly like my grandma’s.”

And so a late-night tour via San Francisco’s increase loop began with a daring play destined for the annals of sports activities trivia and culminated in a culinary historical past lesson over bowls of steaming noodle soup. With downtown’s restoration intensifying, the one factor left in tatters could also be its status as a useless zone.