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Comedy.com complied a list of the 20 worst bars in the U.S. Among them is "Bow Wow’s Cocktail Lounge." Tastefully described as "a Vietnamese whorehouse," the North Beach institute wins a spot on the unsavory list mainly because of the Yelp reviews it's garnered.
Behold:
"Mama Candy will show you her baseball bat from behind the bar." - Christina H.
"After enough drinks you'll be singing 'Karma Chameleon' by Boy George in a heavy and broken Chinese accent too." - earl g.
"Mama is this crazy looking Chinese women who is constantly drunk but smiley regardless. Gave me extra pistachios in case I got too drunk." - Fiona S.
"I've had my share of dive bars, but this by far takes the top spot. Mama Candy never shuts up ... and I can't help but stare at her mangled teeth when drunk! She has a habit of conning your money too, but will give you loads of free shots to make up for it?" - emily c.
"Wow... MAMA CANDY is Crazy!!!" - Peter K.
Wow, is right. Combine the Yelp reviews with the 'splendor of Mama Candy, and it's safe to say that "Bow Wow's Cocktail Lounge" (nee Bow Bow's Cocktail Lounge) is, actually, the best bar in the U.S. SFist has a new home away form home.
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I've heard good things about Portland's Shanghai Tunnel (#12 on the list), and the Yelp review saying there were no hipsters in sight just makes it sound better.
I have no comment on Bow Wow, so must make inspection visit soon.
Brock, this place sounds like heaven. Happy hour. Bring Beth.
McSorley’s Old Ale House in New York is listed at #16.
That's all I needed to read to know that this list is absolutely worthless....but then, maybe they mean 20 Worst in a 20 Best Dive Bar way? Oh..they do! Well there.
> I have no comment on Bow Wow, so must make inspection visit soon.
ditto that - and I've also heard great things about the Shanghai Tunnel (#12)...so I'm thinking, WOO! Bow Wow FTW!
take this down and stop commenting about Shanghai Tunnel.
you guys are ruining EVERYTHING.
first is was the parking at the n. beach tj's and now this.
assholes.
what.
my precious secrets.
you expose them.
If they can guarantee there will be no yelptards there I'll definitely go.
awww, my favorite LA bar made it onto the list! Oh powerhouse, how I miss you...
Yeah, like the rest of the transplants here I haven't been to Bow Wow and am not really interested in a good or bad way, but I've drank at both the L&L and Mastry's multiple times and while they're both kinda divey, they're pretty non-descript and not really worthy of inclusion on any list, much less this one.
They ought to change "If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were in a Vietnamese whorehouse" to...
"If you are a 'slow' and unimaginative racist, you would think you were in a Vietnamese whorehouse," because:
1) It's "Bow Bow," not "Bow Wow."
2) The place doesn't look like a whorehouse of any sort. It looks like what it is: a dive bar.
3) Furthermore, it looks like a dive bar in CHINAtown, not Vietnam or a Little Saigon or Japantown or any number of locales that a moron would consider interchangeable.
4) Only an idiot would use Yelp to decide on where to go out. Only a retarded idiot would use Yelp to create some sort of "Worst" or "Best" list.
Finally, if this discourages people from going, good. It already gets too crowded on weekends.
looks like someone got some wilted celery in their chop suey for lunch today.
Come on, sport. You're never gonna make the Varsity Race-Baiting team with lackluster efforts like that. Try a little "ching-chong" to spice things up. Or take your index fingers and pull the corners of your eyes back. That kind of stuff's always a guarantee zinger.
just calling out the hypersensitive among us. thanks for playing!
...says the guy who can't stop himself from bitching about my bitching. Passive-aggressive pot calling the kettle black. But it's a fun game, so thanks for the opportunity to play.
The place is called Bow Bow, not Bow Wow... and I like it a lot. I dig the free pistachios and peanuts. The karaoke can be hit or miss. And don't keep a tab... pay after each round.
Bow Bow is one of the best bars in SF, hands down. Candy Mama treats me so well every time I go in there and we always have great conversations.
I hope the "worst bars list" discourages people from coming to this gem. Some nights it gets way too crowded with a yuppy spill over from North Beach and Marina that takes away from the novelty.
Well, I mean, I assume these dreaded yuppies probably find it a "novelty" as well.
Wow, all these dives sound awesome... How they missed the 21 club in the tenderloin I don't know.
This list is like a beginner's introduction to dive bars. None of the truly awful places I've drank would trifle with these fairly legitimate establishments. To see the truly awful and spectacular, you really must experience what the world has to offer and as a Merchant Marine officer I can tell you that Djibouti Africa and Guam were about the worst. On the other hand there is a little place in Oakland and another in Vallejo that can compete on the world level. And no, I'm not sharing.
And no, I'm not sharing.
Darn, and here I was all excited to drink with convicted barflys and rotgut alcoholics in a dingy room in the East Bay.
I mean, cracks aside, I'll have a drink anywhere, and I guess I'd like to think I can get along with anyone, and I've drank at more than my share of dives of all stripes, but I guess I'd rather genuinely enjoy myself than have an "experience" with the "truly awful."
Even relatively tame Sunset dives--Terry's Lodge, Silver Spur, Grandma's, Pittsburgh's--just depress me, mostly.
I got this press release from some lame LA pr flack and declined. Why? Because, as Chester points out, it's BOW BOW not Bow Wow. and it's not Vietnamese. It's Philippino, and it's in Chinatown. Brock, do some basic journalism besides just posting crap press releases and *check on the name*. I also turned it down because getting some 20-year-old wits comment on Yelp does not a good story make. Yikes. Great bar, wish it wasn't in this list as it's overcrowded and will be even more full of clueless hipsters. Mama Candy is a very sweet woman, and doesn't deserve being compared to a madame. Blah. Blog.s
Yeah, re-read the post. I put the name of the bar in quotation marks for a reason, mental giant.
You're a blogger, or whatever, so shouldn't you know better? (Judging by your gibberish masquerading as writing, I'm really not surprised.)
You're a blogger, or whatever, so shouldn't you know better?
*titter*
Gibberish or not, it's still better than lifting wholesale from a press release.
lifting wholesale?
*shakes head*
Yeah, I know, it's so different from the style and grace of all those Yelp reviews you read.
Yeah, re-read the post. I put the name of the bar in quotation marks for a reason, mental giant.
That made me laugh out loud. Thank you.
Also "sfbanane," you are so silly to hate. Of course we all get these press releases - doesn't mean they aren't amusing. Help out the little guy, the one who hasn't figured out how to create his own blog yet and has to rely on the friendly help of sites like SFist.
Keep doing what you're doing. It is good.
And it's "FILIPINO", not "Philippino". SFBanane, do some basic googling and *check on the name*.
and really - does LA and comedy.com, and some crap PR flack need to tell us where the good SF dive bars are? Really?
Drinking at a bar...any bar. Listen to the rich people bitch
watching my blog friends fight makes me sad and baby Jesus cry.
aw, sorry about that, greg. just think of us having a brother and sister spat, with me being the snotty younger brother hopped up on sugar.
:-) ok, then. I'll go back to watching TV and hiding from all the yelling...
Great, now the yelptards can add one more line to the review they cut and paste into every place that wont give them comp drinks or meals: This is the worst restaurant I have ever been! The maitre-d was rude and condescending! My pizza arrived cold and lifeless! And the place resembles a Vietmanese whorehouse!
This post, the publicizing of something best left alone, the yelp comments, the SFist comments... this post was painful to read on so many levels.
"the publicizing of something best left alone"
wow. the privileged life some of you must lead. look, if this place turns into another Bender's, there are scores of other seemingly ironic bars in SF where self-declared nerds can talk about Mad Men and bacon and whatnot. trust me, it's big city with lots of fun stuff to do!
Please excuse a local's predilection to fear change. It gets annoying to see a wave of frats and other douches descend on a place you grew up in because the no-talent ass-clowns at comedy.com or some other waste of bandwidth ironically tout it, much less see SFist link to it. Of course, Bow Bow hasn't been the same since they changed the karaoke selection and Fulson left, so maybe it's OK that I say goodbye.
fortunately, there's an ebb and flow to these kinds of rises in a bar's (or club's or dive's or wherever's) popularity. it's frustrating, but usually just means taking some time to ride it out.
"mad men and bacon"
hilarious.
I can't speak for SF, but the fact that Club Deuce in South Beach is on this list raises some serious red flags. It is, actually, the ONLY bar I'd recommend anyone go to in South Beach.
she's hot
We actually took our wedding party here on our wedding night. It was one of many stops. Best dive bar in town.
Fulson left? Oh shit. He could sing Earth Wind & Fire like the best of them. And thanks re: Filipino vs. Phillipino. Wondered why I kept getting the dotted red line on that one.