Smuggler's Cove

Tiki bar culture thrives in SF, and this joint is holding up the experience to higher standards

Really great place! I have only started to get into rums, and boy, did they have a "few" to try. All the staff were amazing and happy to guide me on the cocktails and rums I might enjoy most. The multi floored, tiki bar, speakeasy vibe, was also a perfect setting.

This has been on my to-do list for ages. After a few attempts where the queue to get in was unreasonably long (at night), I decided to try to get there at open (17:00) to see if I was able to attain a seat. Success! This whole menu is brilliant. As a self proclaimed Pirate, there are never enough rum forward drinks at any bar… until this one. The drinks are mixed perfectly and it’s especially wonderful that their tiki drinks are not too tart/sour forward and instead find a happy medium for the taste buds. I will most certainly be coming back here, as this was an excellent destination.

Just awesome. A museum of tiki culture and artifacts and the soul of a true tiki lounge. Great service, awesome drinks, and an extensive rum catalogue. Just go, talk to the bartender, and try something new. It’s the essence of life!

As a huge fan of tiki bars and the experience that encompasses them, I was disappointed to discover that Smuggler’s Cove is bar service only with no sit down service. This means that if the place is busy (which tiki bars that are halfway decent almost always are) then you’ll likely be walking around trying to find a place to sit for the entire time you’re there. When we first arrived the bouncer guy made us wait outside even though there was no line. After a few minutes we were allowed inside only to discover that the place was packed with no where to sit. So if we had decided to stay—which we didn’t—then we’d basically be standing around drinking and waiting for other people to leave, which likely wouldn’t have happened since this was 30 minutes after opening. My advice would be to dump bar service and convert everything to sit down seating with wait service. This eliminates the awkwardness of trying to find a place to sit, employs more people, and just makes the experience more enjoyable overall. If you doubt this concept go to Hale Pele in Portland, which is the shining example of how to run a tiki bar.