A new almost-rooftop cocktail bar with sweeping views of downtown and the Bay is opening tonight, Thursday, at the Loews Regency Hotel at Sansome and California. And it's now the highest-floor outdoor bar in SF.

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The twin-towered SF hotel, formerly known as the Mandarin Oriental until 2015, occupies the top 11 floors of what's also an office building, and it used to have a Champagne bar on this 40th floor "Sky Deck" between the hotel's 48-story towers. Now it is being rechristened as Spirits in the Sky — with a nod to the 1969 hippie anthem by Norman Greenbaum.

The view from Spirits in the Sky. 

As Eater tells us, Spirits in the Sky features a brief cocktail menu that you can see below, with just four signature drinks — including the Airmail, with Cruzan Extra aged rum, honey, lime, and prosecco.

Do note: This is just a happy hour spot for now, with hours from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. That may be subject to change.

There will also be a menu of bar snacks, but for opening night (April 25), and tomorrow (April 26), chef Howard Ko from the hotel's restaurant Bear and Monarch is offering a small menu of elevated bites including oysters, spring panna cotta with shrimp ceviche, and chicken liver toasts.

The location of Spirits In the Sky at the Loews Regency. Photo: Google

This means that in a town that used to have no rooftop bars besides El Techo (née Medjool), we now have five — along with Charmaine's, 25 Lusk, and the new Everdene at Virgin Hotels San Francisco — with a possible sixth on the way when the promised roof bar opens at the new Yotel on Market Street, along with Daniel Patterson's Alta on the ground floor.

Spirits in the Sky, Loews Regency Hotel, 222 Sansome Street, open Tuesday to Saturday, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.