Last Rites opening May 2018 - San Francisco

Saw this article in "Eater San Francisco" yesterday about a new restaurant/bar described at "Polynesian Noir" that sounds interesting to check out when open. Not much shared yet online about the decor but the "Eater" article describes it as a "darker, moodier version of tiki". I love the name. The partners of it spun off from the Future Bars group (Pagan Idol).

There are a few glimpses of what you can expect -- crash-landed plane fuselage on island that reminds me of "Lost" -- from the two photos in "Eater". I'm loving the giant skulls being worked on. https://sf.eater.com/2018/4/9/17217328/last-rites-tiki-horsefeather-bar-opening Can't wait to see photos of the rest of the interior once it's done. Looks to be more jungle island themed. There are a few more photo clues that can be found on their website and thru Instagram: https://www.lastritesbar.com

[ Edited by: Polly_Nesia 2018-04-11 08:47 ]

Very good, this is what I think of as another "evolutionary" tiki concept which takes us from where we are today and moves us forward in a new and interesting way. So happy to see craft cocktails at the heart of the bar. I'm planning a visit to SF in the next couple years, so will definitely put this on my must-visit list.

Thanks for sharing this. Can't wait to see what it's like when finished.

"I'm planning a visit to SF in the next couple years, so will definitely put this on my must-visit list."

Ha!, you may be there just in time for their last day open.

Great little location, loads of stuff all around. Looking forward to this.

I know what you mean, Skip. It's a very tough business in a city with many good places to eat and drink. But I hope that will not be the case. It appears they are doing well by starting out with strong and unique theming and including high quality (although very complex) and good tasting cocktails. That's an excellent way to start and make success more likely.

About "good cocktails" -- I can't tell you how many times I have to hold myself back from telling people in some of my Facebook groups how the places they like to drink really suck (to me) at making good tasting cocktails. Sweetener + juices + booze alone is not what makes a cocktail truly sing.

The current wave of Tiki/rum bars seem to be doing well in SF. Smuggler's Cove garnered national attention in just a few years and Pagan Idol is off to a strong start as well. If the drinks are good, I'd imagine this bar will be more than a flash in the pan. Plus, the addition of another Tiki-ish themed bar makes for an even better bar crawl night without leaving the city limits! Of course, that's not to infer that Forbidden Island or Trader Vics aren't worth the trip to the East Bay!

San Francisco is indeed blessed! I think the current cocktail renaissance, with so many good cocktails available at so many good places, will make the "cocktail dark ages" of the 1980s-1990s very difficult to happen again for many decades, if at all. So many have now been exposed to high quality cocktail bliss, and have done so frequently enough, that we could expect this good run of cocktail-savvy bars and restaurants to continue beyond our lifetimes. And on top of all that, the spirits producers will also be doing everything they can to prolong this.

The selection of great places to drink in my small city of 1 million people is WAY better than it was just 5 or 6 years ago. We have a number of very good true craft cocktail bars, and most are less than 5 or 6 years old.

"Dark tiki" seems like the theme of the year (see also: Devil's Reef).

there is not, nor will there ever be, a bar that is doing historically accurate and tiki-true cocktails better than smuggler's cove. but if you want to see what the innovative craft cocktail spirit of earnest beaumont gant and vic bergeron would look like today, i think you need to head a few block over to last rites.

top to bottom, they are doing modern "exotic cocktails" right. the bartenders probably aren't as well-versed in the history the way you might get from a SmugCo excursion, but it might also be because they are so busy making drinks that people just seem to love.

do yourself a favor and get a jet pilot, best presentation ever (a "side" of OFTD). like mint? isle of yerba buena is a tacit homage to drake and the possible origin of the mojito.

beautiful and spacious layout. a class operation all the way. you need to crash land here.

Was there tonight. It’s loud and not “tiki”; BUT as stated above, the drinks on menu ARE “crafty” and well done. It’s worth a round of drinks to snag a seat at the bar (in old jet plane padded seats) and enjoy more drinks. Their mai tai is fine and their signature Last Rites drink is tasty, but my favorite drink of the night was the one which incorporated a “curry stout syrup” (the Rabid Chinchilla). Very good, and the more I drank, the more this drink really stuck with me. In fact, if I went back, the Rabid Chinchilla would be the first one I order.

Is it “tiki”? No. Is it well done cocktails with a good rum selection. Definitely worth a try.

[ Edited by: Finky099 2018-07-29 10:28 ]

Dark and moody tiki bar with a name that sounds like a Skinny Puppy album? Superkewl... hope it's still there when/if I make it to the coast again.

:)