What’s behind the curtain? One of the coolest new places in San Francisco. We recently headed over to Louie’s Gen-Gen Room, a tiny and exclusive cocktail lounge in the basement of Liholiho Yacht Club.
We loved the cozy ambiance of this tiny spot. Just past the tiki-curtain is an open kitchen and bar. It really does feel like a cocktail party in a friend’s house. The exposed brick, marble bar, and golden pineapple lamps give it an “upscale tiki” feel, much more elegant than a traditional tiki bar style but still fun.
We grabbed a small table and ordered a few cocktails and small plates. Their menu and cocktails are exclusive to Louie’s Gen-Gen Room, completely different from Liholiho Yacht Club upstairs. Clayton loved the giant bowl of ice and flowers on the bar, which keeps all the fresh fruit purees chilled. We were both obsessed with the glassware, especially the diamond-cut highball glass (we found similar here, here, and here).
Some of our favorite cocktails included The Last Mango in Paris (Lillet, Pierre Ferrand Cognac, mango, lemon), Endless Summer (City of London Gin, Campari, Dolin Sweet Vermouth, pineapple), El Nino (Arrette Tequila, guava, Amaro Nonnino, lime), and The Barrel (Eagle Rare Bourbon, passionfruit, burnt sugar).
Their small bites include potato chips (with french onion, egg, chives, and caviar), ice cold veggies with Point Reyes blue cheese dressing, and a list of different waffles topped with everything from avocado and ham to bone marrow. We finished our night with a grilled cheese made with nicasio cheese, black truffles, and honey butter. It’s amazing! Sarah was still talking about it hours later.
We loved that all of the wines are poured from magnums! The wine list was small but thoughtfully curated, and featured truly interesting selections you don’t see everywhere. We were excited to see Matthiasson’s Rose of Syrah-Grenache-Mourvedre. We also tried Rebbula Goriska Brda 2012 Kabaj, a skin-fermented white from Slovenia that we both loved.
You’ll need to snag yourself a reservation for a table here. Reservations are required, open one week in advance, and are limited to four people.