San Francisco Guide to Drinking
Name: Slide
Address: 430 Mason St (map it)

Underneath Ruby Skye near Union Square, a somewhat new swanky bar named Slide recently opened its doors. Modeled after the speakeasies of the prohibition era, Slide is dark, swanky and always packed. It also happens to be the only bar in San Francisco where you can literally ride a slide down to get in.

There’s actually a slide at Slide. It’s largely for show, not sure if it’s supposed to represent a time before stairs, but it’s a novelty that gives this place it’s name. The concept is a speakeasy, but there’s nothing secret about it. Lines form throughout the evening on Friday and Saturdays with suburbanites waiting to get into the new city hot-spot.

For this reason, I recommend Slide as a weekday experience. The crowd is mostly local, there’s rarely a line, and even the bouncer’s seem to be in a better mood, knowing they don’t have to content with the drunken weekend retards that normally set them off.

Once inside, you’ll forget that you’re actually in a basement. The club is swanky and cool with lots of booths and a big bar. On the weekends the dance floor, which is crammed up against the bar, can make getting a drink nearly impossible. On the weekdays however, this is not the case at all, with plenty of room to flag down a bartender and get back to the booth with your friends. If you’re in from out of town, the location can’t be beat either. Talk to a few people there and you’re likely to find some fellow tourists in the crowd.