
Built in 1908, The Hotel Utah Saloon has been a SOMA neighborhood hangout serving drinks, live music, and tasty food for almost 50 years. Stop by and experience this historic San Francisco watering hole and cultural icon.
“..this is a cool room…” – John Mayer
THE HOTEL UTAH SALOON – SF

Built in 1908, The Hotel Utah Saloon has been a SOMA neighborhood hangout serving drinks, live music, and tasty food for almost 50 years. Stop by and experience this historic San Francisco watering hole and cultural icon.
“..this is a cool room…” – John Mayer

Built in 1908, The Hotel Utah Saloon has been a SOMA neighborhood hangout serving drinks, live music, and tasty food for almost 50 years. Stop by and experience this historic San Francisco watering hole and cultural icon.


SHOW TIMES: 7PM WEEKDAYS, 8PM WEEKENDS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

SHOW TIMES: 7PM WEEKDAYS, 8PM WEEKENDS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
If you don’t see tonight’s show listed, online sales have stopped and tickets are available at the door.
Fri Dec 1
A Hard Hitting Night of Rock ft.
Rolling Blackout, Bad Lemon, The Cohesion
Rolling Blackout, Bad Lemon, The Cohesion
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $15.00
Rock
Sun Dec 3
Songwriters Round Featuring
Ayden Graham, Sam Haveson, Tess Posner
Ayden Graham, Sam Haveson, Tess Posner
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $10.00
Pop
Mon Dec 4
Monday night
Open Mic at Hotel Utah
with host Brendan Getzell
Show 7:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
$0.00
Singer/Songwriter
Tue Dec 5
Hotel Utah's Tuesday night
Open Bluegrass Jam
Show 7:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
$0.00
Bluegrass
Thu Dec 7
The Temblors, Minus Mary
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $10.00
Rock
Fri Dec 8
A night full of music ft.
Jane Symmes, Loon, Moon Mode
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $10.00
Alternative
Sat Dec 9
and 10 Year Anniversary of Balanced Breakfast
7:00PM / Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $10.00
Rock
Mon Dec 11
Monday night
Open Mic at Hotel Utah
with host Brendan Getzell
Show 7:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
$0.00
Singer/Songwriter
Tue Dec 12
Hotel Utah's Tuesday night
Open Bluegrass Jam
Show 7:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
$0.00
Bluegrass
Wed Dec 13
Artists in the Round
Mokai, James Nash, David Gans
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $10.00
Singer/Songwriter
Thu Dec 14
A Night of Post Punk and New Wave!
Sunday Smile
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $10.00
Post Punk
Fri Dec 15
Hip-Hop Night Featuring
Kayvon, Jolene
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $10.00
Hip Hop/Rap
Sat Dec 16
Saturday, December 16th
KEVIN!, Blind Venetians, Hairstrike
KEVIN!, Blind Venetians, Hairstrike
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $10.00
Rock
Mon Dec 18
Monday night
Open Mic at Hotel Utah
with host Brendan Getzell
Show 7:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
$0.00
Singer/Songwriter
Tue Dec 19
Hotel Utah's Tuesday night
Open Bluegrass Jam
Show 7:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
$0.00
Bluegrass
Sat Dec 23
CD Release Party Featuring
The Scribe Project, Jose Santana
The Scribe Project, Jose Santana
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $10.00
Latin
Mon Dec 25
Monday night
Open Mic at Hotel Utah
with host Brendan Getzell
Show 7:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
$0.00
Singer/Songwriter
Tue Dec 26
Hotel Utah's Tuesday night
Open Bluegrass Jam
Show 7:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
$0.00
Bluegrass
Wed Dec 27
Free Concert Match with
Bobcat , The Traumacides
Show 7:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
$0.00
Singer/Songwriter
Fri Dec 29
A Darling Misfit Christmas
Kat Robichaud, Brendan Getzell
Kat Robichaud, Brendan Getzell
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $50.00
Singer/Songwriter
Sat Dec 30
A Night of Original Music featuring
Blü Egyptian, Pabsy, Sunshine Daydreamers
Blü Egyptian, Pabsy, Sunshine Daydreamers
Show 8:00PM
at The Hotel Utah Saloon
21+, $10.00
Funk

A proud member of
Independent Venue Alliance


500 4th St. San Francisco, CA 94107
415-546-6300
General: [email protected]
Jobs: [email protected]
Monday Open Mic : www.theutah.org
If you would like to play at the Utah, please use the booking request form
If you have a question about a show, please email [email protected] Do not email show requests. Only form requests will be considered.
The Utah Inn
Despite our name, we do not run a hotel. The Utah Inn is a hotel located in the same building, at 504 4th Street. Please contact them at: 415-495-0617 https://theutahinn.com/
HOURS
Open Daily at 11:30 AM;
bar open until midnight (or later on show nights)
Kitchen hours 4PM to 11 PM
UTAH NEWSLETTER
Join our email list for updates on shows and events (only 1 or 2 emails a month, we promise!)

Today’s Tasty Food
BAR BITES
Larry’s Deep Fried Deviled Eggs – $9
Three pieces of crisp battered eggs, chili oil
Buffalo Wings – 6 for $12 / 12 for $15
Utah Buffalo Sauce, blue cheese dressing, carrot & celery
Buffalo Bitez – 6 for $12 – 12 for $15
battered cauliflower, Utah Buffalo Sauce, blue cheese dressing, carrot & celery
Frickles – $9
fried pickle slices, Utah Sauce
Basket of Tots – $10
Basket of Hand Cut Kennebec Fries $10
Ballpark Garlic Fries – $11
Chili-Cheese Fries – $13
Nano’s Bomb-Ass Loaded Fries – $14
Bacon, sour cream, scallions, pepper jack cheese, and pickled jalapenos
Wildlife Style Fries – $12
Definitely not animal style fries. Utah sauce caramelized onions, cheddar cheese
OTHER PLATES
Cobb Salad – $12
Butter lettuce, tomato, hard boiled eggs, buttermilk vinaigrette, blue cheese crumbles, bacon, onion, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing
Vegetarian Quesadilla – $12
Bell pepper, mushroom, onion, cauliflower & corn, sides of habanero salsa & crema
Sub Chicken or Chorizo for Veggies + $3
House-made hummus – $10
With toasted pita & tapenade, crudite (vegan)
extra side of pita – $2
Frito Pie – $12
Bowl of house vegetarian Tecate chili, cheddar cheese, pickled jalapenos, scallion, red onion
BURGERS & SANDWICHES
additions-cheese $1
choice of american, swiss, blue, cheddar, provolone or pepper jack
caramelized onions or mushrooms – $1
bacon – 4$ avocado-$3 chili -$2
add side of fries or tots – $5
Utah Burger – $16
Beef patty with on sesame bun with Utah sauce, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes & onions
Mushroom-Swiss Burger – $16
Roasted portabella mushroom on a brioche bun, with lettuce, red onion, pickles and tomato
Grilled Cheese Sandwich – $14
San Francisco sourdough, cheddar and provolone
Saloon BLT – $16
Roma tomatoes, roasted garlic aioli, butter lettuce, and applewood bacon
Patty Melt – $16
Angus beef patty on san francisco sourdough, caramelized onion and mushrooms with provolone cheese
Killer Fried Chicken Sandwich – $17
Crisp chicken breast, roasted garlic aioli, butter lettuce, pickles, red onion & tomato, on a toasted brioche bun. Available grilled instead of fried.
nashville hot style, buffalo or bbq sauce- $1
All prices include 8.625% sales tax
Consuming raw or undercooked meats, fish, or shellfish increases one’s risk of foodborne illness.

BEERS/CIDERS ON TAP
21st Amendment Brew Free! IPA
Ace Guava Cider
Allagash White Witbier
Anchor Brewing Steam Beer
Fort Point Brewing KSA
Golden State Mighty Dry Cider
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Stiegl Goldbrau Lager
Stone Tangerine Express IPA
Trumer Pils
Tecate
BOTTLES/CANS
Alaska Brewing Amber
Almanac Sunshine & Opportunity Sour Ale
Anchor Brewing Porter
Bohemia Pilsner
Budweiser
Budweiser Light
Deschutes Squeezy Rider West Coast IPA
Leffe Blonde (11.2 oz)
Stella Artois
Modelo Especial
Modelo Negra
Pabst Blue Ribbon
NON-ALCOHOLIC
Beck’s NA
Athletic Brewing Upside Dawn (Golden)
Athletic Brewing Run Wild (IPA)

Lake Street Dive – 2012
John Mayer – 2013
Frank Black – 2009
ZZ Ward – 2012

Think about the Hotel Utah Saloon for your next event! The Utah is available for lunches, happy hour events, entire venue buyouts, and whatever private event needs you dream up. We host groups of up to 75 for semi-private events, or up to 200 people for fully private events. We have affordable and flexible pricing based on your event needs and timing.
The stage and the loft are fully equipped with updated and high-quality lighting, sound, and projection systems. Our kitchen & bar provide a wide range of tasty food and hearty drinks for you and your guests and can accommodate most dietary restrictions with advance notice. From a no-host bar with our standard menu, to special appetizers, or even a customized buffet, we will make your event everything you need.
For more information, or to check availability for your next event, email [email protected]

THIS IS AN OLD PLACE
It was built in 1908, when the Barbary Coast was still going strong. In 1908, the year Bette Davis was born. The year of the first Model T. 28 years before the Bay Bridge. This bar was standing (and probably serving) before, during, and after Prohibition. Come drink that vibe.
Starting it off, there was the Deininger Family. As a family, they opened the Saloon and commissioned furniture makers in Belgium to design and create its ornate back bar. Since they were serving the city’s best beer, Fredericksburg, the brewery initials ‘FB’ were carved into the back bar (and are still there)! Beer arrived by horse and carriage in wooden kegs that were lowered into the cellar.
A PLACE WITH A SKETCHY PAST
Gamblers, thieves, politicians, hustlers, friends of opium, goldseekers, godseekers, charlatans, police, fancy miscreants — they all visited the Saloon. And that was when SOMA was just a lonely section of the San Francisco waterfront.
After the Bay Bridge was finished in 1936, SOMA came into its own. The Saloon (and the hotel upstairs) was home to longshoremen, merchants, metalsmiths, and furniture makers, with constant traffic flowing back and forth between San Francisco and the East Bay.
AND GOOD STORIES
Next came the decade of the American Dream. In the 1950s, Al Opatz presided over the Saloon. Al didn’t like neckties. If someone wearing a tie got close enough, Al made his move and cut the tie off with scissors. His favorite way to greet someone was to offer them his hand and say “Shake the hand that shook the world”. World shakers like beat poets, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, and Bing Crosby bent elbows with gangsters and the cocktail generation. Al eventually bought the bar in 1966 and renamed it Al’s Transbay Tavern. Al’s Transbay gets a mention in a Coppola film, “The Conversation.”
Bring it to 1977. Paul Gaer, who co-wrote the story for the 1979 film “The Electric Horseman,” bought the bar from Al. He renamed it The Utah, and built a stage to support local music, experimental art, writers, comedy, and theater. San Francisco loved it, and Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, and the Pickle Family Circus broke it in.
STORIES THAT GO ON
Hard to believe that after a century a place can still have the same personality. In the midst of a neighborhood that has reinvented itself so many times, the Hotel Utah Saloon still glows with the mahogany bar, serves quality drinks and real food, cooked onsite, to all comers, and provides a welcoming stage for independent local and national acts.
The stories keep coming. Curious yarns with details we can’t go into. Come in sometime, experience it, and feel it for yourself.


500 4th St. SF, CA 94107
415-546-6300
General: [email protected]
Jobs: [email protected]
Open Mic : www.theutah.org
If you would like to play at the Utah, please use the booking request form
If you have a question about a show, please email [email protected] Do not email show requests. Only form requests will be considered.
HOURS
Open Daily at 11:30 AM;
bar open until midnight (or later on show nights)
Kitchen hours 4PM to 11PM
UTAH NEWSLETTER
Join our email list for updates on shows and events (only one or two emails a month, we promise!)
The Utah Inn
Despite our name, we do not run a hotel. The Utah Inn is a hotel located in the same building, at 504 4th Street. Please contact them at: 415-495-0617 https://theutahinn.com/

BAR BITES
Larry’s Deep Fried Deviled Eggs – $9
Three pieces of crisp battered eggs, chili oil
Buffalo Wings – 6 for $12 / 12 for $15
Utah Buffalo Sauce, blue cheese dressing, carrot & celery
Buffalo Bitez – 6 for $12 – 12 for $15
battered cauliflower, Utah Buffalo Sauce, blue cheese dressing, carrot & celery
Frickles – $9
fried pickle slices, Utah Sauce
Basket of Tots – $10
Basket of Hand Cut Kennebec Fries $10
Ballpark Garlic Fries – $11
Chili-Cheese Fries – $13
Nano’s Bomb-Ass Loaded Fries – $14
Bacon, sour cream, scallions, pepper jack cheese, and pickled jalapenos
Wildlife Style Fries – $12
Definitely not animal style fries. Utah sauce caramelized onions, cheddar cheese
OTHER PLATES
Cobb Salad – $12
Butter lettuce, tomato, hard boiled eggs, buttermilk vinaigrette, blue cheese crumbles, bacon, onion, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing
Vegetarian Quesadilla – $12
Bell pepper, mushroom, onion, cauliflower & corn, sides of habanero salsa & crema
Sub Chicken or Chorizo for Veggies + $3
House-made hummus – $10
With toasted pita & tapenade, crudite (vegan)
extra side of pita – $2
Frito Pie – $12
Bowl of house vegetarian Tecate chili, cheddar cheese, pickled jalapenos, scallion, red onion
BURGERS & SANDWICHES
additions-cheese $1
choice of american, swiss, blue, cheddar, provolone or pepper jack
caramelized onions or mushrooms – $1
bacon – 4$ avocado-$3 chili -$2
add side of fries or tots – $5
Utah Burger – $16
Beef patty with on sesame bun with Utah sauce, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes & onions
Mushroom-Swiss Burger – $16
Roasted portabella mushroom on a brioche bun, with lettuce, red onion, pickles and tomato
Grilled Cheese Sandwich – $14
San Francisco sourdough, cheddar and provolone
Saloon BLT – $16
Roma tomatoes, roasted garlic aioli, butter lettuce, and applewood bacon
Patty Melt – $16
Angus beef patty on san francisco sourdough, caramelized onion and mushrooms with provolone cheese
Killer Fried Chicken Sandwich – $17
Crisp chicken breast, roasted garlic aioli, butter lettuce, pickles, red onion & tomato, on a toasted brioche bun. Available grilled instead of fried.
nashville hot style, buffalo or bbq sauce- $1
All prices include 8.625% sales tax
Consuming raw or undercooked meats, fish, or shellfish increases one’s risk of foodborne illness.

BEERS/CIDERS ON TAP
21st Amendment Brew Free! IPA
Ace Guava Cider
Allagash White Witbier
Anchor Brewing Steam Beer
Fort Point Brewing KSA
Golden State Mighty Dry Cider
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Stiegl Goldbrau Lager
Stone Tangerine Express IPA
Trumer Pils
Tecate
BOTTLES/CANS
Alaska Brewing Amber
Almanac Sunshine & Opportunity Sour Ale
Anchor Brewing Porter
Bohemia Pilsner
Budweiser
Budweiser Light
Deschutes Squeezy Rider West Coast IPA
Leffe Blonde (11.2 oz)
Stella Artois
Modelo Especial
Modelo Negra
Pabst Blue Ribbon
NON-ALCOHOLIC
Beck’s NA
Athletic Brewing Upside Dawn (Golden)
Athletic Brewing Run Wild (IPA)


Think about the Hotel Utah Saloon for your next event! The Utah is available for lunches, happy hour events, entire venue buyouts, and whatever private event needs you dream up. We host groups of up to 75 for semi-private events, or up to 200 people for fully private events. We have affordable and flexible pricing based on your event needs and timing.
The stage and the loft are fully equipped with premium lighting fixtures, high-quality sound, and customizable projection systems. Our kitchen & bar provide a wide range of tasty food and hearty drinks for you and your guests. From a no-host bar with our standard menu, to special appetizers, or even a customized buffet, every effort will be made to accommodate specific dietary restrictions and make your event everything you need.
For more information, or to check availability for your next event, email [email protected]

THIS IS AN OLD PLACE
It was built in 1908, when the Barbary Coast was still going strong. In 1908, the year Bette Davis was born. The year of the first Model T. 28 years before the Bay Bridge. This bar was standing (and probably serving) before, during, and after Prohibition. Come drink that vibe.
Starting it off, there was the Deininger Family. As a family, they opened the Saloon and commissioned furniture makers in Belgium to design and create its ornate back bar. Since they were serving the city’s best beer, Fredericksburg, the brewery initials ‘FB’ were carved into the back bar (and are still there)! Beer arrived by horse and carriage in wooden kegs that were lowered into the cellar.
A PLACE WITH A SKETCHY PAST
Gamblers, thieves, politicians, hustlers, friends of opium, goldseekers, godseekers, charlatans, police, fancy miscreants — they all visited the Saloon. And that was when SOMA was just a lonely section of the San Francisco waterfront.
After the Bay Bridge was finished in 1936, SOMA came into its own. The Saloon (and the hotel upstairs) was home to longshoremen, merchants, metalsmiths, and furniture makers, with constant traffic flowing back and forth between San Francisco and the East Bay.
AND GOOD STORIES
Next came the decade of the American Dream. In the 1950s, Al Opatz presided over the Saloon. Al didn’t like neckties. If someone wearing a tie got close enough, Al made his move and cut the tie off with scissors. His favorite way to greet someone was to offer them his hand and say “Shake the hand that shook the world”. World shakers like beat poets, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, and Bing Crosby bent elbows with gangsters and the cocktail generation. Al eventually bought the bar in 1966 and renamed it Al’s Transbay Tavern. Al’s Transbay gets a mention in a Coppola film, “The Conversation.”
Bring it to 1977. Paul Gaer, who co-wrote the story for the 1979 film “The Electric Horseman,” bought the bar from Al. He renamed it The Utah, and built a stage to support local music, experimental art, writers, comedy, and theater. San Francisco loved it, and Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, and the Pickle Family Circus broke it in.
STORIES THAT GO ON
Hard to believe that after a century a place can still have the same personality. In the midst of a neighborhood that has reinvented itself so many times, the Hotel Utah Saloon still glows with the mahogany bar, serves quality drinks and real food, cooked onsite, to all comers, and provides a welcoming stage for independent local and national acts.
The stories keep coming. Curious yarns with details we can’t go into. Come in sometime, experience it, and feel it for yourself.


500 4th St. S.F., CA 94107
415-546-6300
General: [email protected]
Jobs: [email protected]
Mon Open Mic : www.theutah.org

HOURS
Open Daily at 11:30 AM
bar open until midnight (or later on show nights)
Kitchen hours 4PM to 11PM
UTAH NEWSLETTER
Join our email list for updates on shows and events (only one or two emails a month, we promise!)

BAR BITES
Larry’s Deep Fried Deviled Eggs $9
Three pieces of crisp battered eggs, chili oil
Buffalo Wings
6 for $12 / 12 for $15
Utah Buffalo Sauce, blue cheese dressing, carrot & celery
Buffalo Bitez
6 for $12 – 12 for $15
battered cauliflower, Utah Buffalo Sauce, blue cheese dressing, carrot & celery
Frickles – $9
fried pickle slices, Utah Sauce
Basket of Tots – $10
Basket of Hand Cut Kennebec Fries $10
Ballpark Garlic Fries – $11
Chili-Cheese Fries – $13
Nano’s Bomb-Ass Loaded Fries $14
Bacon, sour cream, scallions, pepper jack cheese, and pickled jalapenos
Wildlife Style Fries – $12
Definitely not animal style fries. Utah sauce caramelized onions, cheddar cheese
OTHER PLATES
Cobb Salad – $12
Butter lettuce, tomato, hard boiled eggs, buttermilk vinaigrette, blue cheese crumbles, bacon, onion, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing
Vegetarian Quesadilla – $12
Bell pepper, mushroom, onion, cauliflower & corn, sides of habanero salsa & crema
Sub Chicken or Chorizo for Veggies + $3
House-made hummus – $10
With toasted pita & tapenade, crudite (vegan)
extra side of pita – $2
Frito Pie – $12
Bowl of house vegetarian Tecate chili, cheddar cheese, pickled jalapenos, scallion, red onion
BURGERS & SANDWICHES
additions-cheese $1
choice of american, swiss, blue, cheddar, provolone or pepper jack
caramelized onions or mushrooms – $1
bacon – 4$ avocado-$3 chili -$2
add side of fries or tots – $5
Utah Burger – $16
Beef patty with on sesame bun with Utah sauce, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes & onions
Mushroom-Swiss Burger – $16
Roasted portabella mushroom on a brioche bun, with lettuce, red onion, pickles and tomato
Grilled Cheese Sandwich – $14
San Francisco sourdough, cheddar and provolone
Saloon BLT – $16
Roma tomatoes, roasted garlic aioli, butter lettuce, and applewood bacon
Patty Melt – $16
Angus beef patty on san francisco sourdough, caramelized onion and mushrooms with provolone cheese
Killer Fried Chicken Sandwich $17
Crisp chicken breast, roasted garlic aioli, butter lettuce, pickles, red onion & tomato, on a toasted brioche bun. Available grilled instead of fried.
nashville hot style, buffalo or bbq sauce- $1
All prices include 8.625% sales tax
Consuming raw or undercooked meats, fish, or shellfish increases one’s risk of foodborne illness.

BEERS/CIDER ON TAP
21st Amendment Brew Free! IPA
Ace Guava Cider
Allagash White Witbier
Anchor Brewing Steam Beer
Fort Point Brewing KSA
Golden State Mighty Dry Cider
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Stiegl Goldbrau Lager
Stone Tangerine Express IPA
Trumer Pils
Tecate
BOTTLES/CANS
Alaska Brewing Amber
Almanac Sunshine & Opportunity Sour Ale
Anchor Brewing Porter
Bohemia Pilsner
Budweiser
Budweiser Light
Deschutes Squeezy Rider West Coast IPA
Leffe Blonde (11.2 oz)
Stella Artois
Modelo Especial
Modelo Negra
Pabst Blue Ribbon
NON-ALCOHOLIC
Beck’s NA
Athletic Brewing Upside Dawn (Golden)
Athletic Brewing Run Wild (IPA)


Think about the Hotel Utah Saloon for your next event! The Utah is available for lunches, happy hour events, entire venue buyouts, and whatever private event needs you dream up. We host groups of up to 75 for semi-private events, or up to 200 people for fully private events. We have affordable and flexible pricing based on your event needs and timing.

The stage and the loft are fully equipped with premium lighting fixtures, high-quality sound, and customizable projection systems. Our kitchen & bar provide a wide range of tasty food and hearty drinks for you and your guests. From a no-host bar with our standard menu, to special appetizers, or even a customized buffet, every effort will be made to accommodate specific dietary restrictions and make your event everything you need.

For more information, or to check availability for your next event, email [email protected]

THIS IS AN OLD PLACE
It was built in 1908, when the Barbary Coast was still going strong. In 1908, the year Bette Davis was born. The year of the first Model T. 28 years before the Bay Bridge. This bar was standing (and probably serving) before, during, and after Prohibition. Come drink that vibe.

The Hotel Carnot (upper right) 1923
Starting it off, there was the Deininger Family. As a family, they opened the Saloon and commissioned furniture makers in Belgium to design and create its ornate back bar. Since they were serving the city’s best beer, Fredericksburg, the brewery initials ‘FB’ were carved into the back bar (and are still there)! Beer arrived by horse and carriage in wooden kegs that were lowered into the cellar.
A PLACE WITH A SKETCHY PAST
Gamblers, thieves, politicians, hustlers, friends of opium, goldseekers, godseekers, charlatans, police, fancy miscreants — they all visited the Saloon. And that was when SOMA was just a lonely section of the San Francisco waterfront.

Al's Trans Bay 1950
After the Bay Bridge was finished in 1936, SOMA came into its own. The Saloon (and the hotel upstairs) was home to longshoremen, merchants, metalsmiths, and furniture makers, with constant traffic flowing back and forth between San Francisco and the East Bay.
AND GOOD STORIES
Next came the decade of the American Dream. In the 1950s, Al Opatz presided over the Saloon. Al didn’t like neckties. If someone wearing a tie got close enough, Al made his move and cut the tie off with scissors. His favorite way to greet someone was to offer them his hand and say “Shake the hand that shook the world”. World shakers like beat poets, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, and Bing Crosby bent elbows with gangsters and the cocktail generation. Al eventually bought the bar in 1966 and renamed it Al’s Transbay Tavern. Al’s Transbay gets a mention in a Coppola film, “The Conversation.”

At the bar in 1974. Al's Trans Bay Tavern
Bring it to 1977. Paul Gaer, who co-wrote the story for the 1979 film “The Electric Horseman,” bought the bar from Al. He renamed it The Utah, and built a stage to support local music, experimental art, writers, comedy, and theater. San Francisco loved it, and Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, and the Pickle Family Circus broke it in.
STORIES THAT GO ON
Hard to believe that after a century a place can still have the same personality. In the midst of a neighborhood that has reinvented itself so many times, the Hotel Utah Saloon still glows with the mahogany bar, serves quality drinks and real food, cooked onsite, to all comers, and provides a welcoming stage for independent local and national acts.
The stories keep coming. Curious yarns with details we can’t go into. Come in sometime, experience it, and feel it for yourself.