Folsom Hotel

The Folsom Hotel is one of the oldest running establishments in the city. In fact, it just very well may be the oldest. With lots of the old-west feel to it, this bar is a great place to get nostalgic about the city. This is a place you could imagine an old-west shootout and poker-room brawl. I wouldn’t be surprised if this place has hosted one or two back in its day.

The Hotel itself is no longer used (the owners rent them out as long term residences), but the bar has been running strong for many, many years. In fact, if you sit down at the bar, you will notice a huge mirror behind the bartender… this mirror is so old, it had to be shipped around South America just to get here!  

The Hotel has changed owners recently (2007), so I decided to check the new digs out and see what’s new. The bar is still pretty historic looking (that’s a good thing), but quite a few modern amenities, including HDTV’s and a modern looking jukebox – I’m pretty sure it’s just a giant iPod, but it sure beats the old jukebox with all the old fogey music (though I must note this music is still there, it’s just that now there’s a lot of modern music too). The place looks much more clean than it used to be.

The food was, well, bar food. I can’t say I would recommend this place as a restaurant to eat when you are on a hot date, but I suppose when you are bar-hopping, the food would definitely be tasty.

703 Sutter Street