The Luau Lounge, SF

If you don’t already know about this place, you’ll never guess where it is.  Go ahead, guess.  Nope, that’s not it.  It’s not what you’re thinking, my hoa (‘hoa’ is ‘friend’ Hawaiian…I googled it).  This isn’t some new ‘secret’ tiki bar that just opened or an old classic way out in the Avenues. Nope.  It’s a bar and grill at the end of a pier, in maybe the last place you’d think to look.

Yeah that’s right.  Pier 39 in Fisherman’s Wharf

At the very, very end of Pier 39, past all the fanny packs and tourist shops, you come to a Sports Bar named ‘Players‘, but you’re not there yet.  You still have to walk past Players and through a maze of arcade games and skee ball machines until you get to one of the best views in San Francisco, hidden at the very tip of a video arcade.

Luau Lounge has a 180 degree view of the Bay and Alcatraz.  facebook.com/pg/LuauLoungeSf

Stuart and I literally followed a Treasure Map to find this place.  I’m serious, there’s a treasure map of Fisherman’s Wharf that takes you around to all the good drinking spots, from the Blue Mermaid with their delicious chowder to the new SF Brewing Co, Brewery in Ghiradelli Square.  The treasure map is the only way we found this spot.

If you collect stamps from all 8 spots on the Treasure map, you end up at a peaceful, polished, tiki bar with a 180-degree view of the bay and Alcatraz, and you get a golden pint glass as a prize for all the good dinkin’ you’ve done.  The place is called the Luau Lounge, the view is stunning, and the cocktails and poke are good too.  It’s cliche, but the place really is a ‘hidden gem’, one of the best views in city, and very few locals know about it.

Luau Lounge classic tiki cocktails

My crappy smartphone picture of the view doesn’t do it justice, and you can’t really find pictures of the view online.  It really is a well-kept secret.  Anyway, when you get there for a cocktail you’ll see what were talking about, it’s pretty great.

Luau Lounge, SF.

To find the hidden tiki lounge, and other spots in Fisherman’s Wharf checkout the Wharf’s Treasure Hunt Map.