A favorite in The City for more than a decade, ABV’s cocktail menu stretches nearly 40 drinks and does not disappoint
After a year of writing about San Francisco bars, very little surprises me about the industry or the quirky folks who work in it. I’ve learned that for those who love it, who dedicate their lives to it, no job is too big or too menial to do themselves, and they’ll do it with passion.
I found this to be especially true on a recent visit to ABV on 16th Street in the Mission when I found co-owner Ryan Fitzgerald on his hands and knees repairing a “duck board,” a raised wooden panel that is used as a walkway behind the bar. Fitzgerald, after dusting off his kneepads and sidestepping the detritus covering the floor, was a bit confused at first about the purpose of my visit, but he quickly understood the assignment. He wasn’t ready to let me behind the bar that day, but I was invited to come back the next day for my tutorial. In the meantime, we sat down at a table in the back and Fitzgerald regaled me with how ABV — one of the most beloved among the somewhat-newer bars in The City — came to be. “We wanted to try to create something that had something for everyone,” Fitzgerald said of himself and his business partners, who came up together working at Bourbon and Branch, another well-known bar in San Francisco, and Beretta, a cozy Italian spot in the Mission. As they discussed their vision for their own bar, the members of the group knew they wanted it to have incredible cocktails but maintain a welcoming atmosphere for people in the neighborhood and those in the industry. The result is a place with deceptively high levels of intentionality, such as the texture of the high ceiling to soften noise and a lack of real silverware for the food menu. “Those are the details that we were paying closer attention to,” Fitzgerald said. “Obviously, the drinks have to be really good.” On the cusp of the bar’s 12th birthday this summer, Fitzgerald said they’ve learned a lot about what they want ABV — whichis consistently ranked among the best in The City — to be. “We kind of just focused on the things that we were good at and what we liked,” he said. “Offering something a little bit different than everyone had.” ABV is located within a block of several other bars with robust cocktail offerings, including Elixir, Dalva and Kilowatt. It’s in the same neighborhood as other bars renowned for their cocktails, such as Trick Dog and True Laurel. One of the elements that sets ABV apart is that everyone — whether it’s the people behind the bar, those bringing out food or those clearing tables — is a bartender. “We always promised we’d be good at hospitality, but we always want to over-deliver on an experience,” he said. Another distinguishing feature is the robust spread of its cocktail menu. Most places winnow their offerings down to a dozen or two, and prebatch their cocktails for consistency. At ABV, none of the cocktails are pre-batched — they are always made fresh. Fitzgerald said that they initially cut 16 drinks from their first menu before they opened, settling on 18. “Now we’re up to 38,” Fitzgerald said. “So we keep adding, and keep adding, and keep adding, and keep adding more and more drinks as we go — for better or for worse.” While Fitzgerald said his bartending days are behind him, he had no problem throwing a willing victim — his colleague Donny Henderson — into the fray to show me how to make a couple of ABV’s signature cocktails. Henderson, who approached the bar with the tranquility and calm demeanor of a 100-year-old tortoise, assured me that this wasn’t the first time he’d been under media scrutiny while working at ABV. Henderson has been with ABV since it first opened and is the last man standing of the original bar team, a slew of “ringers and heavy hitters and friends that were bartenders at the time,” Fitzgerald said. Ex // Top Stories Bay Bridge lights are returning — and businesses are beaming After a three-year hiatus, SF waterfront will have finally “got its sparkle back” as of March 20 Spend the week soaking up sun in The City with these 18 SF events Residents are springing forward into a new week with concerts, video-game demonstrations, Oracle Park festivities and more Steyer pushes harder line on AI limits In an interview with The Examiner, the gubernatorial candidate indicates he’d be much more open to regulating artificial intelligence than Gov. Gavin Newsom The team is now a tight crew of folks who have worked their way up from door person or barback, and is “killing it,” Fitzgerald said. Henderson said one of the reasons he’s stuck around is the concept of being more “bartender-focused” than places he’s worked at in the past. “I thought it was very interesting,” he said. “Everyone who takes your order, everyone who makes your drink, everyone who drops your drink off is a bartender.” The first cocktail Henderson chose is one of the bar’s longtime staples — the Gin and Celery. Both he and Fitzgerald singled that drink out of all the others on their menu as one that kept customers coming back over the years while changing minds about both gin and celery. I’ve long been a hater of gin, but have indeed had my mind changed on a few occasions by some unique cocktails. But celery? I shudder at the thought, reminded of my mother at her most “almond mom” chewing on some stalks and cold cuts as her version of dinner — or of my brief stint in high school working at an organic juice shop in Burlingame, churning out cleanses for angry women clad in Lululemon. But I was intrigued as Henderson demonstrated the key ingredient right off the bat — homemade celery bitters. The cocktail starts in a metal shaker, with six dashes of the bitters, followed by a half-ounce of gum syrup and three-fourths of an ounce of lemon juice. Then I added 1½ ounces of London Dry gin. In a chilled glass, I added a pinch of salt followed with ice. I added ice to the shaker and shook. The result was double-strained over the glass and topped with three more dashes of celery bitters and a lemon peel, squeezed over the rim of the glass. One sip, and I felt my animosity evaporate. I hate admitting when something manages to take me by surprise or dispels any of my beloved grudges against a certain alcohol or food. I nurse my hatred of Fernet with a passion. But this cocktail was refreshing, joyful, and vivacious. The slight vegetal quality of the celery was a welcome addition to the citrus, and the herbal quality of the gin wasn’t overwhelming. As the ice melted and fused more with the salt at the bottom, the cocktail took on a slightly savory quality.The next cocktail Henderson chose was one of his own creation — The Drifter, so named because every ingredient comes from a different part of the world. Starting with three dashes of Peychaud’s bitters in a glass tumbler, I then added a half-ounce of Amaro Nonino , three-fourths of an ounce of Dolin Blanc vermouth , and 1½ ounces of Toki Suntory whisky . The tumbler was filled with ice and stirred until the ice had softened and the mixture somewhat diluted. I then strained the mixture over a rocks glass with a large cube of ice and garnished it with a grapefruit peel squeezed over the rim. The effect was a lighter, summery sort of Manhattan. I often feel that Manhattans are too sweet, but I have had some with rye whiskey that were pleasant. But this was even better, taking the common ingredients — whiskey, bitters and vermouth — and making it feel new. While some of their drinks, like the Gin and Celery, aren’t going anywhere, there is always room for more, Henderson said, with ideas constantly coming out of their “bar lab,” their weekly meeting. ABV is a place for industry folks to come and feel just as welcome as the average neighborhood resident. But at 38 cocktails, I’m guessing that many patrons, including myself, have just scratched the surface. And that’s all the more reason to keep going back.
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