Distillations: At The Phoenix, The Mission's Short-Timer Irish Bar

San Francisco CA

22 April, 2022

4:17 PM

Description

By Benjamin Wachs, Mission Local April 21, 2022 "This is a bar I've passed by on hundreds of occasions, but never actually been in said "Nathan" as we sat at the bar of The Phoenix, on Valencia. "I really like it." There's nothing "special" about The Phoenix in the way we usually mean it: distinct and unique. It has a copper sheet covering its long bar, and a hot pink pool table in the back that has lots of endearing wear and tear, but fundamentally it is "just" an Irish pub. But The Phoenix is "special" in the sense that it is a great example of the form. "Irish bars in particular, of all the forms of bars out there, are wonderful at creating an immediate sense of home," I agreed. "I think it's tied into the notion, across much of the U.K., that taverns are 'public houses,' that even more than a place of business it's a kind of community center, and that just comes through." To read the full article, click here. Mission Local covers San Francisco from the vantage point of the Mission, a neighborhood with all of the promise and problems of a major city. You can support Mission Local here.