Best of San Francisco

Who needs trendy retro bars when the real thing is behind the beckoning stainless-steel deco door of the Gold Mirror. Pull up one of the 20 stools and do the only decent thing: Pay homage to a classic and perfectly kitschy 1969 Italian restaurant bar with a stiff Old-Fashioned or Manhattan, served shaken and up. After one potent concoction, the panda clock with wandering eyes and the mirrors surrounded by red neon on the bar's ceiling are sure to inspire lascivious thoughts. But behave. This old-school joint is a family establishment, run by its Sicilian founder and owner, Giuseppe DiGrande, his wife Josephine, and son Domenico. It has been frequented by generations of neighborhood Italians and Irishmen. It is also one of the only cocktail lounges in town able to boast that Bruno Mooshei, the late and beloved martini-nazi who ran the Persian Aub Zam Zam bar, was a regular until his passing.