Trick Dog

Josh Harris, who runs the bar, and his team throw out the whole cocktail list twice a year and rebuild it on a secret theme. Past editions have been a horoscope, a Chinese takeout menu and an airplane safety manual. One was a file of redacted CIA documents, each drink named for a conspiracy theory. The bar won Best U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2025 Spirited Awards, and World's Best Cocktail Menu in 2017 and again in 2019.6

Why go

For the thirteenth edition, in January 2019, the bar worked with Idle Hand Tattoo in the Lower Haight. The menu printed as a flash sheet, and thirteen drinks came off the shop's own drawings.4 The Rock of Ages ran rue, Dubonnet Rouge, pistachio vermouth, loganberry liqueur, absinthe and kelp. The nineteenth came out of a partnership with a yoga studio. Sixteen drinks, each built on an ingredient the bar credited with general health and wellness properties: turmeric, lion's mane, aloe.5

Garnishes have included pico de gallo and Sour Patch Kids. One was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a toothpick.3 Ask the bartender what the current list is doing.2

The kale salad is printed on the menu as the Famous Kale Salad. Trick Dog also sits beside Flour + Water, so some of the room on a given night is waiting for a table there.7

Order this / avoid

Order: whatever the current themed list is built on, and let the bartender narrow it.
Order: the Famous Kale Salad. Dianne de Guzman calls it a mountain of green kale tossed in a slow-cooked egg yolk dressing, with pepitas and avocado hiding amongst the leaves, and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan.2
Order: the nuggets, buttermilk-brined or plant-based, with barbecue and honey mustard.2

What locals & experts say

Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, October 2024, on the fall menu: today's Trick Dog has been tamed just a bit.3
Andrew Calisterio, Eater SF, on the room's one piece of found decor: A San Francisco native with a keen eye might recognize the disco ball over the doorway: it was repurposed from the shuttered Ruby Sky nightclub.1

Good to know

Getting in: the bar's own page says reservations are not required.8
Where: 3010 20th Street in the Mission. Penny Roma is next door and True Laurel is around the corner.2
The spin-off: Quik Dog, near the ballpark, does the burgers and hot dogs on their own.2

Verdict

should-visit — The kitchen shuts before the bar does, so eat when you arrive.