Magnetized
I stopped into the Magnet Lounge in North Beach several months ago while researching an article about new venues in the neighborhood. The review of this place was edited out of the final piece, but I've wanted to write about it because the staff were great.
I've never liked North Beach. I know that there are tons of cool little alleys and weird steep streets and funky buildings spread throughout the neighborhood, but the historical and architectural charm is buried beneath the swarm of ill-behaved tourists clogging the sidewalks for Italian food during the day and for the strip bars and mostly-mediocre clubs at night. It feels like Tijuana, a place where the goal is to get the patrons incredibly drunk and take as much of their money as possible.
What sets Magnet apart is not that they don't want you to get drunk and spend all your money, it's that the approach is refreshingly different. The owner Mike and his fellow bartenders do their best to make the venue feel like a friendly neighborhood bar, with his dog wandering around greeting customers and big smiles on all their faces. They welcome you and thank you for your business; something that doesn't often happen elsewhere in North Beach. And with every barstool filled with a young lady making goo-goo eyes towards the bar, you know that Mike and the staff still take the time to flirt.
My guilty pleasure in this bar is watching all the ways they sell soju. Magnet doesn't have a liquor license, so it's all beer, wine, and especially soju. They have three kinds of infused soju behind the bar, and all of the specialty cocktails are made with it. This is not immediately apparent (it's not decorated like a Japanese restaurant), so when customers come in from outside ordering something else, the staff are wonderfully sly about steering them toward soju instead.
Patron: I'll have a Grey Goose martini.
Bartender: We don't have Grey Goose. Do you want a soju martini? It's better!
Patron: Okay!
Patron: I'll have a gin and tonic.
Bartender: We're out of gin. Would you like a soju somethingorother instead?
Patron: Okay!
I don't think that soju, also known as "Korean vodka," tastes much like vodka. I think of it as the Sweet-n-Low of vodka- a slightly less tasty, low-alcohol vodka substitute. This is not to say that the drinks made with it are not good. They do a great job with them at Magnet to be sure. But given the choice between vodka or soju, there's no chance I would say no to the vodka.
And given that there are dozens and dozens of other bars in North Beach that do serve vodka, it means a lot that this is the bar I'd come back to before any of the rest.
I've never liked North Beach. I know that there are tons of cool little alleys and weird steep streets and funky buildings spread throughout the neighborhood, but the historical and architectural charm is buried beneath the swarm of ill-behaved tourists clogging the sidewalks for Italian food during the day and for the strip bars and mostly-mediocre clubs at night. It feels like Tijuana, a place where the goal is to get the patrons incredibly drunk and take as much of their money as possible.
What sets Magnet apart is not that they don't want you to get drunk and spend all your money, it's that the approach is refreshingly different. The owner Mike and his fellow bartenders do their best to make the venue feel like a friendly neighborhood bar, with his dog wandering around greeting customers and big smiles on all their faces. They welcome you and thank you for your business; something that doesn't often happen elsewhere in North Beach. And with every barstool filled with a young lady making goo-goo eyes towards the bar, you know that Mike and the staff still take the time to flirt.
My guilty pleasure in this bar is watching all the ways they sell soju. Magnet doesn't have a liquor license, so it's all beer, wine, and especially soju. They have three kinds of infused soju behind the bar, and all of the specialty cocktails are made with it. This is not immediately apparent (it's not decorated like a Japanese restaurant), so when customers come in from outside ordering something else, the staff are wonderfully sly about steering them toward soju instead.
Patron: I'll have a Grey Goose martini.
Bartender: We don't have Grey Goose. Do you want a soju martini? It's better!
Patron: Okay!
Patron: I'll have a gin and tonic.
Bartender: We're out of gin. Would you like a soju somethingorother instead?
Patron: Okay!
I don't think that soju, also known as "Korean vodka," tastes much like vodka. I think of it as the Sweet-n-Low of vodka- a slightly less tasty, low-alcohol vodka substitute. This is not to say that the drinks made with it are not good. They do a great job with them at Magnet to be sure. But given the choice between vodka or soju, there's no chance I would say no to the vodka.
And given that there are dozens and dozens of other bars in North Beach that do serve vodka, it means a lot that this is the bar I'd come back to before any of the rest.
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