New Mission Bar Declares Shuffleboard Should Cost Money

No one here is going to argue that bars are charities, but there have always been a few accepted customs in Mission bartending: PBR doesn't cost more than two bucks, pours should always be strong, and shuffleboard is a pickup game to be enjoyed by anyone willing to signup for the next round.  It's these simple rules that have ensured the neighborhood remained a safe haven for broke, drunk slobs for years.

Well, the recently-opened sports bar/shrine to delicious Pittsburgh-style gluttony, Giordano Bros., has broken the tradition, not only charging Medjool prices for mediocre beer, but by imposing a fee for a few rounds of shuffleboard.  Heresy!

I probably shouldn't be too pissed—it's not like anyone with a shred of dignity and a basic appreciation for decor would ever go here anyway.  But it's a slippery slope, my friends.  Next thing you know, bars will be asking us to pay for pool.

Comments (17)

rules 6 & 9 seem to be rather contradictory…

As are 1 & 4, of course.

It’s a long way from North Beach to the Mission. Let’s see how long they remain in the latter while charging prices more fit for the former.

Can’t say I’m a huge fan of this place, but it already seems to be drawing more of a crowd than Ti Couz did in the past few years.

Fuck that shit. I’ll stick to Doc’s Clock, thanks.

A new spot for Marina douchebuckets

Really awful decor - cold, without character. Hell, even the chair heights seemed off when I went. The cheese sandwich is banal (no experience with the meats). Ultimately, it adds nothing to the Mission mix. Except charging for shuffleboard.

Hipsters can’t handle our mediocre beers and bland sandwiches. Pittsburgh represent!

Okay, basically it’s a sports bar for tourists. Let it be. And if you have to meet a bro there, order the perogies.

Their prices don’t actually look that expensive… $6.75 for a sandwich? That’s still cheaper than Rhea’s or Clare’s.

Wow, elitists, it’s $3 bux you cheap hipsters, get off it

I think there is actually a coin slot on the shuffleboard at Doc’s. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work anymore but 13 years ago, that’s how yinz kept score. So shuffleboard hasn’t always been “free.”

I went to college in Pittsburgh and have been a life long Steelers fan so I tried to go by there to watch the game a few weeks ago but it was over-crowded and I just went back to the Phoenix to watch. The sandwiches are good and the wings are decent. The lack of ‘Arn City is a bummer. Not really – but some Pittsburgh craft beers would be cool - I miss Penn Pilsner.

I grabbed a sandwich there, and it was quite “meh”…..won’t be repeated, although I might make a perogie run

I haven’t been to the Mission location, but the sandwiches in the North Beach location are amazing. I can’t imagine anything better than a sandwich with fries and coleslaw on it!

I am the best shuffleboard player in San Francisco (I accept challenges and give lessons). Giordano Bros maintains their table each month, buys fresh wax, lets you re-wax between games, and they keep an hour of shuffleboard on one of the best tables in the city at under the cost of most beers. If you will recall Giordano’s was the first bar in the city with a new finish on their table. After they got that doc’s and el rio both re-finished their tables, and mayhem’s table is just too short to play a competitive game. If you don’t like the price of renting the weights you should do what I did. Purchase your own set of pucks, foo.

They’re free at Doc’s.