Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I just came back from San Fran and had the good fortune of being recommended to Bourbon and Branch. I can't speak to the other "trendy" speak easy upstarts, but I can enthusiastically vouch for this bar. There's not a hint of pretense or stuffiness here -- it's about outstanding drinks in a laid back, approachable setting. Only the boisterous, Comzo drinking, nacho eaters need fear the fallout that would certainly come there way. But for folks who want to have a conversation with a perfectly mixed (and often classic) drink will feel, well, very much at home.

I only wish we didn't have to appeal to the era of the speakeasy to revive the notion that mixed drinks are just as worthy of serious attention as fine wine or scotch.