MAXED OUT: Airport Bars

Admit, it. You missed the kid. Max was up in San Fran with some friends and doing his thing last week so naturally he wanted to regale us with all his adventures in the city by the Bay.

So on our way to San Francisco, Steele and I stopped by the airport bar… I know, shocking. I’m sure most of you reading this have been to San Diego’s airport, but holy crap! Can you get with the times people? First off, trying to find an outlet in this joint is like
trying to find a hipster without a mustache. Mission: Impossible. So,
the charging of any electronic device is out of the question. I
digress. The bar in the airport is quite an interesting place to
visit. Doesn’t really matter which airport I’ve visited, there always
seems to be some crusty demon behind the sticks (tending bar) and the
beer is almost as big of a rip off as it is at a football game. We
elected to sit out in the “restaurant” section of ‘Bloody Mary’ and
got a hot lil’ 60 year-old Pilipino woman as our cocktail waitress.
It was unfortunate for us because there were 7 other people in her
section, so it took about a half an hour for us to get our first beer.

So the funny thing about airport bars is that they always have the
same exact beers on draft: Bud Light, Stella Artois, Blue Moon and
Sam Adams. First beer that is from a local brewery, in this case was Karl Strauss’ Tower 10 IPA, last time it was Stone Pale Ale and
in San Francisco you can almost be assured that it is Anchor Steam.
Sometimes you get another local beer, in this case it was Karl
Strauss’ Red Trolley. So for two Tower 10s and two Bud Lights
(WHAT?!?! THEY HAVE DRINKABILITY!) and a french dip sandwich we
spent $50. Holy macaroni! Oh well, I’m on vacation. Suck it.


MAXED OUT – The Arrival

So I elected not to drink on the plane ride to San Francisco which
turned out to be a good thing. We arrived in San Francisco and split
a taxi with a cute lil’ blonde from Sweden to our hotel. Good start
to the week says I! From there we met up with our cohorts and headed
directly to Visuvio, which is a bar on Columbus Avenue at the tip of North Beach also known as the Italian district. Visuvio is a bar located directly next to City Lights Book Store, which is known as the main hub of the “Beat Generation.” This bar is so old and dilapidated that it feels as if at any moment you may fall from the top floor to
the bottom. Did I mention how AWESOME this place is? It really is.
And what better beer to welcome us into the “city by the bay” than
Anchor Steam? This malty treat’s recipe “steams” back to 1896 and has
a rich history in the bay area. As the original of the steam beer
category, its rich aroma and amber color provides for a delightful
beginning of the evening beer. So between the six of us we enjoyed 2
pitchers and headed on to our next destination: TO KENNEDY’S! I’m
going to leave you all on a cliff hanger-until next time, however,
because I want to lump both experiences at Kennedy’s into one blog.
And stay tuned for my review of Toronado San Francisco in future MAXED OUT installments. Also 21st Amendment, Zeitgeist, Lucky 13 and Blackbird. That’s right, kiddos, immabouta knock yo socks off! Only getting started.

Until next time my beer loving brethren, have a beer for me.

(ed. note: Airport bars are indeed odd places. Captive audience, thirsty patrons and because of byzantine taxes (we're assuming), strange prices (86 cent change?))