Toronado
Fifty taps, cash only, and 39 years of putting beer in San Francisco that had not got here any other way. New owners since mid 2026, and they promised to change almost nothing.
Why go
David Keene announced his retirement in early 2025, a sale to a crypto investor floating a ToronadoCoin
came and collapsed, and the Lower Haight bar went to somebody who drinks in it. Astrid Kane confirmed the handover for the San Francisco Standard on 2 July 2026: After 39 years, founder David Keene passed the torch to longtime patron Bill Lewis and his brother-in-law, certified cicerone Wall Pringle, who have promised to undertake some much-needed, behind-the-scenes renovation work, install a bigger television or two, and add wine to the menu. Otherwise, they're committed to keeping things much as they are.
1 The record behind that caution is fifty taps and a habit of getting hard-to-find beer to this city first, Pliny the Younger included. Lewis on the room he bought: It's an institution. It's my favorite bar. My friends, everyone I know, it's their favorite bar too.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the pilsners. That is what the new owner named when he was asked what he would be pouring.2
- Order: whatever is on that you have not seen elsewhere, which is the reason this bar has the reputation it has.
- Avoid: turning up with a card. Lewis confirmed the bar stays all-cash.2
What locals & experts say
- The San Francisco Standard (Lauren Saria and Astrid Kane, 31 May 2026): on how the succession reads, Lewis says the aim is
Comfortingly familiar,
and puts a number on the job:Dave got it through the first 38 years. We've got it for the next 40.
2 - The Infatuation SF (Taylor Abrams, 21 May 2018): the older read on what kind of room it is,
dog-friendly, cash-only, and a very divey and chill place to get a semi-obscure beer with your friends (human or animal).
3
Good to know
- Paying: cash.
- Food: none in the bar. The sausage grill that used to be next door at 545 Haight closed in 2019 and the space has been empty of a working kitchen since; the Standard reports Joe Hargrave of Tacolicious is opening a sausage restaurant there.1
- Dogs: allowed, per the 2018 review.
- Getting there: Haight at Fillmore, in the Lower Haight.
Verdict
should-visit — Fifty taps and a record of putting beer in front of this city that had not reached it any other way, Pliny the Younger among them. David Keene ran it for 39 years and handed it to Bill Lewis and Wall Pringle, a certified cicerone, in mid 2026. What they promised is almost nothing: renovation behind the scenes, a bigger television, wine on the list, and the cash-only rule kept. Lewis put it as 'Dave got it through the first 38 years. We've got it for the next 40.' Nobody has yet published a verdict on what is pouring since, which is the only reason it is not higher.