Buena Vista Café

In May of 2013, a group of friends and I boarded the cruise ship, the Norwegian Pearl, for a cruise up the West Coast from Los Angeles to Vancouver BC. Along the way, it stopped in San Francisco, Astoria OR, Victoria BC, and Nanaimo BC. On our first day at sea, we were all sitting at the Topsiders Bar contemplating what we could possibly do in San Francisco when we got there, since it’s a city we all visit often, only 90 miles from our home in Sacramento CA. Little did I know that we would discover another “Real Food Find” (at least in the “Drinks” category) right down the road from where we live.

As we were roaming around the waterfront near Fisherman’s Wharf trying to find something to do that we hadn’t done a hundred times before, one of my friends mentioned that he had never been in the Buena Vista Café, the famous home of the original Irish Coffee drink. I had never heard of it, having been a California resident for only a few years, but when I heard that I could go to the original source of such a classic drink, I just had to go. So, we found our way to the corner of Hyde and Beach Streets, just across from the cable car turnaround at the end of the Powell-Hyde line.

The Buena Vista Café looks like it has been there for decades (which it has), both from the outside and the in the interior. From the minute we walked in and took seats at the bar, we knew we were in a classic neighborhood bar: warm wood decor, worn smooth from thousands of patrons over the years. It truly felt like we were back in time. The place looks like it hasn’t changed much since it opened in 1916 as a saloon popular with the local fishermen.

I knew we were in for a show when we sat at the end of the bar where an older gentleman in a white coat and black tie (whose name we later learned was Paul Nolan) was pouring nine drinks at a time. What first caught my eye was the unusual bar glasses used for the coffee drinks.

The ingredients were no secret because he made them right in front of us.  It began with two sugar cubes and a splash of coffee, then he mashed the sugar with a spoon. It was quickly followed with what appeared to be at least 2 ounces of Tullaramore Dew Irish Whiskey. He then topped them all off with heavy whipped cream.

As we sat there enjoying our first Irish Coffees, I made the mistake of asking the bartender why sugar cubes instead of just two teaspoons of granulated sugar.  I got a stern look from him, no reply. A waitress walked by me laughing and asked, “Did he answer you?” The bartender overhead the waitress’ question and looked at me directly and said “Don’t you know?’ I replied “I guess it’s part of the show.” He said, “The other part is to keep the measurement of the sugar consistent.”  At that point I thought best to stop with the questions and just order another Irish Coffee. I remarked to the waitress that I was having visions of a Seinfeld episode about the “soup nazi”.

The drinks were so delicious my friends and I stayed for three rounds……(it might have been more, I don’t really remember).

On our way out to make our way back to the ship, we started wondering about the history of the Irish Coffee cocktail. Could something “Irish” actually have been invented in San Francisco? It turns out that the actual story is that this was first place in the U.S. where the drink was served, although that might also be in dispute, according to some who say Tom Bergin’s Tavern in Los Angeles was first. But, in any case, the drink comes from Ireland. The bottom line is, if you are ever in San Francisco, you should definitely check out the Buena Vista Café.