Walk into Trick Dog on any given night, and you’ll quickly realize this isn’t just another San Francisco cocktail bar. There’s no dusty Prohibition nostalgia here. No faux-speakeasy tropes. Instead, there’s a 300-page poetry book masquerading as a drink menu. Or a Pantone color guide that somehow doubles as a cocktail list. Or perhaps a children’s book, complete with rhyming couplets and illustrated pages, each one tied to a drink.

Trick Dog doesn’t serve drinks — it serves ideas. And that’s exactly what’s kept it at the top of the city’s bar scene since 2013.

Source: Trick Dog

Menus That Should Be in Museums

Every six months, Trick Dog reinvents itself. Not in a “new cocktails, same glassware” way — in a full-blown conceptual overhaul. Past menus have included zodiac calendars, fake restaurant reviews, fortune-telling cards, and a tribute to the history of Black art and activism in America. It’s part gallery, part bar, part creative writing workshop.

The drinks are precise and inventive, yes — but they’re also vehicles for bigger themes. Trick Dog’s bartenders aren’t just mixologists; they’re contributors to a collaborative, serialized art project that happens to include some of the best cocktails in the city.

Source: Tales of the Cocktail Foundation

The Mastermind Behind the Madness

Much of Trick Dog’s creative DNA can be traced back to co-founder Josh Harris. He doesn’t drink, which is unusual in this world, but somehow that’s made Trick Dog even better. Without the crutch of personal indulgence, the bar’s ethos has always been about intention: What’s the point of this drink? What’s the story? Who’s being welcomed in?

Harris has long advocated for inclusive drinking experiences — which is why Trick Dog’s zero-proof cocktails aren’t just sidekicks. One of their signature no-ABV drinks, Puppy Pose, is a creamy green milk punch made with wheatgrass, yogurt, and non-alcoholic “spirits.” It’s wildly good — and it doesn’t miss the booze for a second.

Source: The Pouring Tales

Culture Comes First

Part of what makes Trick Dog special is its ability to balance excellence with accessibility. There’s none of the elitism that plagues many “World’s 50 Best”-style bars. You don’t need a reservation. You don’t need to know what Suze or saline solution is. You just need to walk in, sit down, and be open to trying something unexpected.

The bar has also built a strong sense of community — not just among drinkers, but among the people who work there. Many alumni of Trick Dog have gone on to open their own bars, develop products, and lead beverage programs around the country. It’s not just a place to drink; it’s a launchpad.

Source: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

Still Weird, Still Wonderful

In a city that has seen more than its fair share of bar closures, Trick Dog has managed to survive by refusing to be normal. It’s not chasing trends; it’s creating its own strange and thoughtful universe — one that happens to include kaleidoscopic cocktail menus, deeply conceptual ideas, and a few world-class margaritas along the way.

Twelve years in, Trick Dog is less of a bar and more of a living, breathing creative studio — one where the medium just happens to be drinks.

And San Francisco is better for it.

Source: Trick Dog