21st Amendment Brewery & Restaurant

Our verdict

Two blocks from Oracle Park and a short walk from the financial district, 21st Amendment Brewery & Restaurant has occupied its South Park corner in SoMa since 2000, when founders Nico Freccia and Shaun O'Sullivan set out to build a proper San Francisco brewpub at a time when the city's craft beer scene was still finding its footing. The San Francisco press eventually recognised that early conviction, voting the venue "Best Brewpub," "Best Burger," and "Best Happy Hour", a trifecta that captures the range of what the place does well. The beers are the primary draw. The brewery's Hell or High Watermelon Wheat, Brew Free or Die IPA, Bitter American, and Back in Black have each developed followings well beyond the neighbourhood, though they remain anchored to the tap list here. The format is direct pub dining: an open kitchen, concrete floors, wooden tables and benches, and a bar positioned at the entrance so that a pint is the first order of business. Trivia nights and televised games give the room a reliably social energy, and the proximity to the Giants' ballpark means the crowd on game days skews loud and purposeful. Food runs to American pub staples executed with enough care to earn those press accolades. Build-your-own burgers and cheese curds are the items most consistently cited by regulars, which fits the setting: this is a place where the food is meant to hold its own against the beer rather than compete with it. The cuisine sits squarely in the American bar and contemporary pub register, priced and portioned for a neighbourhood that includes both office workers and baseball fans on the same afternoon.