Two Jews walk into a bar and what do they do?
They wonder whether they walked into a bar or into Tim Burton's wet dream… and maybe they like it either way.
What’s that? Move away from the inner sunset and to a more popular part of SF? OK, will do. We are going to move on over to Lower Haight and talk about a fun bar with an interesting paint job. The Noc Noc Room is a funky little bar right on Haight Street, next door to Toronado (we promise, that review is coming soon). Stepping into this bar is like stepping into Tim Burton's wet dream. There are nooks and crannies throughout the bar, making various booths and areas to stand, as well as high tables and stools. The walls are made of an old style stucco, and the entire place is painted in all sorts of weird yet cool crazy colors. Yet at the same time, an underlying black paint job keeps the bar with a dark atmosphere. One (if you will), could even call it cave-like. Now if you are a fan of Tim Burton, and have seen some of his movies, you will know that he likes to play around with colors and backgrounds. Sitting in this bar, especially after having a few drinks, you start feeling like this could easily be a place that was inspired by Tim The Ripper himself. And to only add to this feeling, that night they were projecting a movie in the background, and what were they playing? Beetlejuice, which was one of his weirdest movies.
It's a very surreal feeling when you enter Noc Noc. After getting acclimated with the atmosphere of the place and spending a couple hours there, you begin to forget the world outside. You can sit at the high backed chairs at the bar (which really reminded us of the living shrimp cocktail scene in Beetlejuice) or find a little seat in one of the aforementioned nooks. Noc Noc is canine friendly, so try not to trip over any dogs or the extremely low to the ground booths and tables. Walking towards the bathroom you'll notice a strange sculpture hung up on the wall in between the guys’ and ladies’ rooms. It's made of gears and twisted metal and is something that could be found in Edward Scissorhands' old mansion. The men's bathroom is fun... It's a one person, 3 by 6 foot closet, with no lock. So when you're peeing in the stall with your back to the door you will repeatedly have the door opened on you accompanied by a "Ughhh," or maybe a "sorry!" from the intruder. When you do leave the bar it's almost as if a dark creepy shroud covering your face is lifted when you re-enter reality.
The drink selection at the Noc Noc is large yet limited at the same time. In case I have just confused you, what I mean by this is that they are one of those beer-and-wine-only establishments. They have a small selection of wines, an even smaller selection of sake, and a rather good sized array of beers. On tap are about 18 beers, ranging from a few foreign pilsners to varying American craft beers, including many Californian beers, like Anderson Valley, Firestone, Lagunitas, and Bear Republic, among others. Additionally, they offer a couple of large coolers containing a bunch of different world and craft beers, including a large selection of Belgian beers (large for a small place like this). The draft beers range from $4 to $5 and the bottles from $3.50 to $15 (for the high end big bottles), with the wine weighing in between $4 and $6. Personally, I feel these are pretty good prices for drinks, especially in SF. How often do you go out to the Marina and get a $6 Bud? What, never? If you’re reading this blog, then that’s probably the case. OK that was a little jab, but I am just kidding, to all of those Marina fans. The point is, bars in this city are not cheap, and this one makes it easy. They also have a happy hour between 4 and 7 with $3 pints. And if that’s not sweet enough, Friday through Sunday they have the same happy hour offer, but it starts at 3pm. I don't know what’s better, the extra hour or the fact that they have a weekend happy hour.
They don't have any special events or themed nights that I could find, aside from the happy hour, but then again, the bar itself has its own interesting theme that special event or not, you gotta see for yourself. As usual, below is the address and website. Keep in mind that parking in the Lower Haight is very difficult. Furthermore, it’s more fun when your whole group can drink, so take Muni. There are a bunch of bus lines that stop within a block of the Noc Noc, including the 6, 7, 22, and 71. We just walk out of out apartment and get on the 6. About 10 to 15 minutes later we are there. Brilliant!! OK, well until the next review, enjoy.
557 Haight Street (between Fillmore and Steiner Streets)
San Francisco, California 94117-3406 Map
Telephone +1 (415) 861-5811
http://www.nocnocs.com/index.html
