I can get lost looking at the beer menu at this place. But I always ask whatever oatmeal stout they have on tap. The bartender even let me have a small sample in a shot glass. Tasted hella good to me. They have a few TVs playing sports and the couple of times I've been here, they always have the Warriors game on. They have nice music playing in the background, but yet it's just that. You can have a conversation without having to yell. Oh yeah, they have pinball machines too. read more

It is getting near to Oktoberfest time and I have been Jonsing for a German sausage and a half liter. I was looking hard for a place to get my fix last Sunday, and it seems every place that has German food In SF is either only open for dinner or closed on Sunday. This is what brought my Wife and me to drive from Crockett to SF to pay Gestalt a visit. As you can imagine parking was hard, but after driving around for 15 minutes and kicking myself for not taking Bart, we found a spot two blocks away. Later I saw a lot about a half block from Gestalt on 16th that offers parking for $5. We ordered a wurst and a hot link. Both were tasty, especially as they were served on a warm toasted bun with sauerkraut. The warm potato salad with bacon was very tasty. I really enjoyed it. Everything washed down smoothly with Spaten on tap. The German beers they have on tap are served with class as they would be in Germany, in glasses designed by their respective breweries. The folks serving the beer and doing the cooking were very friendly. I would love to go back to Gestalt. My advice to the owners, if they are reading this, is to beef up your German food menu. Since most places that serve German food in the City are only open for dinner, you could get a few new lunch time customers (and me coming back) with an offering of schnitzel sandwich, more wurst varieties, and (cross my fingers) some authentic tasting pommes frites with sweet style German catsup. read more

What the heck is a vegan tuna melt? If I hadn't been stuffed to the gills before rolling into here, I would have gotten one or maybe a vegan sausage thingie. We shared a pitcher of Spaten and then tried to get an IPA (not the Racer 5, but something else). They were out, so the bartender recommended the Tricerahops. Tasty double IPA. Obviously a hoptastic punch to the sinuses, but great for a summery night. ~$20 for a pitcher (counting tips) A little loud for conversation since the DJ was really pumping whatever beats, but fun place to hang out. read more

Walking down 16th, I noticed a neon sign advertising Krusovice, something I've never seen outside of Czech Republic. We had to go in. Sadly the Krusovice itself is currently discontinued, as not enough people were familiar with it to keep it in stock. However, they do have Staropramen on tap (again, a Czech beer I've not seen on draft in the US outside Chicago), as well as an enormous selection of German, Belgian, and regional American beers on tap. The atmosphere is friendly in a very casual kind of way. Music is classic rock & some metal. Overall it's like the biker bar from central casting, except friendlier, better music, & with an awesome selection of beers. Oh, and they also have German and other sausages, including two vegan options. Can't wait to go back. read more

I came here for the first time on a Wednesday night, and had a good experience. The bartender was helpful and friendly, which I really appreciated. I'm not a beer drinker, so I enjoyed a glass of wine along with a German pretzel with spicy nacho dip (tasty!). All in all, a good dive bar to grab a drink and catch up with friends. read more

This is a good, solid, dependable place for a fun time with friends. There are long tables at the entrance for larger groups, smaller tables deeper into the bar, and of course seats at the actual bar. They have such a large selection of beer! You cannot miss the huge wall listing their currently choices (even though I totally did) and they even have bottles of champagne for $15. My friend and I totally started out night with a bottle of champagne... no shame. Pretty relaxing environment with pinball machines and couches. The only downside is that the bartenders are like... going through a mid-life crisis or something. It's like they don't even want to be there. I thought it was just the one time I went, but I read other Yelp reviews and it seems to be a trend. Hire some friendlier people, please. Then again if you are just going to enjoy a few beers and catch up with friends, maybe it doesn't matter much to you. read more

Great beer selection at reasonable prices! Service is usually timely and polite. Sometimes, downright friendly. Staff knowledge of beer varies. If you need a cisarone go to Monk's. If you want a down to earth experience at a more affordable price, come here. I think they still do sausages and I know you can now order pizza from nearby. My favorite beer spot in the area, hands down. read more

Great low-key neighborhood bar with good beers and chill vibes. They have pinball machines too, which is nice, although they got rid of the best one, Ghosts Busters :( I miss hearing Bill Murray shouting "Who brought the dog!" Please bring back Ghost Busters read more

Free WiFi, good beer & sausages. Very strange bartender......CASH ONLY! read more

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I really like this place. Anywhere I can get Double Daddy on tap I am a very happy! According to previous posts, since I like this place, I am a "hipster". I am not sure most people think of me that way. Why are people comming to the Mission and complaining about hipsters?! If you like good beer, bikes and brat, this is the place for you. I had the meat and found it excellent! And the staff have always been very nice as well. read more

Gestalt - Great Beer On Tap! - Pubs Near Me - San Francisco, California

Gestalt is my favorite beer and pinball hangout in the city. They have a variety of beers on tap and by the bottle. Plus if you're a pinball fan, you'll never want to leave. The food is tasty too. read more

They have some pretty awesome pinball machines here. The music selection was also good. I can't say much for the food or the drinks.

I love beer, bikes and sausage. And not necessarily in that order. Gestalt Haus is dark, sparse, has a swell assortment of beers on tap and a pool table. I usually hate TV's in bars but they were showing the Tour de France and, as a result, was largely ignored by the bartender save for my basest needs (beer.) So basically this place is right up my alley. I only wish I had brought my bike to slide into the ample indoor bike racks to give me some street cred. read more

No one has said it yet, but I will: I like the combination of Toronado & Rosamunde better. I like the feeling of looking up at the board and being overwhelmed with choices. Am I gonna go big and get a Duvel? Should I be girly and get a Lindemann's? Should I impress this dude & get Death & Taxes? You know how it is. I thought their beer selection was pretty limited, although I appreciate the fact that they carry my very beloved Delirium Tremens and allowing me to walk through the bar with my girly little cup like the entitled Laguna Beach ex-pat that I sooooo obviously am. There's also my very personal issue with people who are obsessed with bikes, as I went to a college full of people completely obsessed with them and I still cringe a little whenever I see an unwashed guy with messy hair, a pant leg up and a Nalgene bottle. And then I have sexual fantasies about them. I am a conflicted person. read more

Last time I was in Gestalt (that would be the night I managed to get home but don't quite remember how) we used science to ascertain something very important: the fancy and highly phallic .5-liter Trumer glasses hold more than 1.25 times the amount of beer that fits in the standard pint glass. This proves two things: First, it proves that either that the pint glasses are smaller than a pint, or that the .5 liter glasses are bigger than they purport to be, since a liter is technically 2.11 pints. Second, and more important, the half liter of Trumer for $5 is a better deal than the pint for $4. read more

I've walked by this place about a gazillion times and have been to pretty much every bar in the area, yet, for some reason, had never stepped foot inside Gestalt until a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it's because they don't have a big flashy sign like the other bars do or how they've somehow managed to appear as a hole in the wall on 16th St. I knew it was there, though, and had been meaning to try it, but it wasn't till a friend suggested that we meet up here for drinks the other week that I finally checked it out. We ventured here on a slow weekday night and discovered that it was mostly a beer place, but also had a small selection of soju and sake with mixers. My usually wine and cocktails girly self decided to tough it out, though, and opted to order the lightest beer, in the smallest cup. Oh, shush. I know. I ended up having a grand, chill time. I dig this little nook and its laidback atmosphere. Uber bonus points that the owner/bartender is a nice fella with great taste in music. And did I mention that there was food, too? Not like potato chips and snickers, but sandwiches, potato salad, hot dogs and even vegan dogs. The good stuff. The bathroom could use a little work, though, but I'll survive. Thank goodness I came here with a beer lover, too. Otherwise, I would not have tasted some of the beers that I did. I tasted one that had a chocolate-y aftertaste, while the other had that of lychee, and then some. Beer. Who knew? I think I might start liking beer and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Gestalt Haus, I blame it on you. read more

There's lots of fun dive bars in the Mission. So why should you go to Gestalt Haus? Two reasons.....The Staff and The Food! The sausage's and brat's are top notch with great brews on Tap. They aren't a 'full bar' but for me I just pace myself better during games having only beer. Will I be back? Heck ya! Thanks Gestalt Haus! read more

I stopped in here on Sunday evening to catch up with some friends. Gestalt is a pretty laid back bar and on quieter nights - when it's not overrun by bike messengers - it's a great spot to chill out over a couple of pints (or liters) of choice brew. Our bartender seemed genuinely excited to be there, and the crowd there was a mish mash of Mission hipsters, random people who needed a respite from shopping, a couple of older hippies and us. I particularly liked the jukebox, which had enough of a mix to easily spend $5 and then some. You can sit at the bar, or grab a big table, and definitely come hungry - they also make some really delicious varieties of sausages which serve as a meal in themselves - but go even better with their German potato salad. P.S. I hear they have a secret back outdoor area, waiting for zoning approval, so keep an eye on that "Keep Out" door in back. read more

The scene: Oktoberfest 2002. The place: Munich Germany Beers consumed: 2.5 liters of pretty potent German beer. Food eaten: 2 Huge pretzels, and countless bratwursts. The weirdest thing I saw: Their popular "stand up on the table and sing a song" choices. 1) "I wanna know, If you be my girl"...I believe it was from Dirty Dancing. 2) "Take Me Home Country Roads"...although not a fan of the song...at least I could sing along. It was just odd. Love of America I guess. The scene: Lets go out for beers 2007 The place: Gestalt House, The Mission Beers consumed: Just .5 liters this time. Although, with 4-5 different Speakeasy brews on draft, and a multitude of sizes to choose from, it was hard to stay away from the full liter glasses. I needed to maintain my "sobriety" so I could make it to another bar. I'll be back for the biggun. Food eaten: When given only 2 choices, I chose the Chicken Jalapeno sausage. Although I believe another in my party ended up with mine, and I ended up with the Chicken Garlic....it was still awesome. Covered in sauerkraut, these organic sausages are delightful. They have a vegan option too. The weirdest thing I saw: A bigger bike rack than most bike shops. Most definitely a biker bar. Lots of fixed gears and rolled up pant legs. This was the first time I was in here as the first bar I made it too. Usually I'm unaware of everything before I even get here. Although both my pant legs were rolled down, and I took the bus here...I still had a good time, and would come back for big beers and sausage. read more

Why is it called Gestalt Haus? I was expecting an experience like this: Bartender: Can I help you? Matthew: Yes, I would like a pilsner please. Bartender: Sounds like you want a beer. Matthew: Yes, I am very thirsty and also I would like to be drunk. Bartender: Hmm. Interesting. Focus on that thirst for a moment and describe what it feels like to me. Matthew: Well, it's a dryness in my throat and - Bartender: Hold on there for a moment. Start again, and try to begin your sentences with "I feel...". Go ahead. Matthew: Um, I feel a dryness in my throat and mouth and I'm very warm. When can I have my beer? Bartender: Good, good, we're making progress. Now imagine that your thirst is standing here next to me. What would you say to it? Matthew: JUST GET ME A #$%@#& BEER. Bartender: You sound upset. But no, the bartenders here are not really interested in your situational awareness, only with getting you the beer you want and taking your sausage order. The beer selection is impressive, high end imports and domestic craft brews with the obligitory I'm-broke option (it's tecate here, I think), all manner of sausages (pork, beef, vegetable protein), and hipsters. lots of those. I think it's the thrift store furniture that calls out to them, or just that it's on 16th street. but whatever, they'll leave you alone if you want to be left alone. There are probably better places to go for beer, and better places to go for sausage, but then you'll have to go to two places, and neither of them will likely have a pool table or comfortable thrift store furniture. So it's kind of like target in that respect. A tragically hip target that doesn't have tons of young children running around. I think that's how I'd characterize it. read more

Whenever my good friend Joe C. convinces me to leave the cocoon that is my cozy house and meet him for a drink, he invariably chooses Gestalt Haus. It's mere blocks from BART, a handful of blocks from my house, and conveniently located in the goodness that is 16th St. between Church and So. Van Ness. Even with the myriad of bars to be found there, Gestalt is always the choice for a mid-week happy hour. The beers (by the liter) are cheap and good, the sausages and brats hit the spot, and there's always somewhere to sit at the bar. The crowd is invariably young and scruffy and there's usually some bike race to watch on tv. On cold nights, it's nice and warm in there, due to the questionable ventilation, and many ovens going behind the bar. On the other hand, on warm nights, it's downright sweltering in there. That's not going to keep me from coming back, though, after all, how many warm nights do we really have here? read more

You know when folks joke and say they only workout when they do curls with 12ounce beers? Well... I found the place where you can actually walkout looking like Popeye on spinach. Talk about lots of beer.. a liter! I know I can drink but damn a liter of beer? I saw grown ass men using two hands to hold their mugs. Yes, I was one of the gents switching hands every other minute trying not to drop my beer. I don't have a bike but I thought it was nice that they have a bike rack inside the bar for those scared that someone might steal their back tire ;0) -1 star for the music. I didn't see anything new. The closest I came to hip hop was Michael Jackson- Billy Jean. To where I had to hear Salty B say, "Michael Jackson isn't hip hop." I know I know. Mad props to Kevin for making sure myself and everyone else didn't have to wait long for a beer. read more

Warning: Do not lean against the wall in this bar. Why? Bugs!! Crawling on the wall next to our table for two located directly across from the bar!! Aforementioned bugs then began crawling on me as I pawed at myself like a flea bitten cat!! My friends who were standing were witness to these little insects, so we moved our group to the big table in front by the window, just to finish our beers and get the heck outta there. Oh, and don't even think about going to the bathroom. There is no handle on the inside of the door and it's stanky. You have to pound on the door and pray that someone standing in line will hear your cries for help above the loud DJ beats. Never again. read more

Gestalt Haus is the rookery of slim and young men clad in plaid. There's even complimentary parking for track bikes inside. After a few beers, though, they should play pin the bike helmet on the hipster. A skull is a terrible thing to waste. Just around six on a Thursday, there were only about five people at the bar. Two in plaid. It's a dark bar in the back and I had to strain my myopic eyes to read the menu, though I got by with a little help from my friend. There's a handful of good beers on tap, and many more expensive Belgians and otherwise in bottles. Hoegaarden on tap, so I was happy. There was a small menu of bar food, and the potato salad with bacon was only three dollars and was sehr lecker! The bartender was pretty rude; he reminded me to tip when he gave me my change. Of course I would tip! Why wouldn't I tip? He said that a lot of people don't. I suppose he felt that the revolution would start with me. A whisper in San Francisco would turn into a tornado across the country of people wising up and dropping tips? I tipped as I always do. Hope he's saving up for a plaid shirt. I sat as far away from that guy as possible, near the front there is a lot of light coming in. I counted about eight more plaid shirts coming in, and over the next forty-five minutes it became crowded. Wonder if all those people tip too. I'm not a bike messenger, don't have any plaid (except a skirt, and I don't think that's the look the bar is going for), but I liked Gestalt Haus. Beer and spuds can unite farflung social identities and wardrobe choices any day. read more

One of those guys was here last night. A jeans guy. Not the slim guy wearing crazy tight chicks jeans all embroidered to hell, bless their cotton socks, but the guy in those hippy jeans that are actually Uber Jeans made up from the parts of many pairs of lesser jeans. Basically Hippy Frankensteins Jean Monster, a real dogs dinner. I don't know if the guy was Dutch or from Walnut Creek, but those are the only explanations for those damn jeans I can contemplate. It looked like at least 15 pairs of mostly ugly jeans had to die so that he might achieve his goal douchiness. Anyhow, nice weenies here. Nice beers and staff too. Nice to be able to get a litre of beer also. Looks like your hauling back on an entire pitcher which has a lovely, robust visual lyric to it. Chug, chug, etc. The place is both dimly lit and has a few too many lights. Weird, but you'll get it when you see the place. Oog, tame suburban sports bar jukebox I've got to say. work on that. Reminded me of when every bar in SF, hipster or otherwise, had the same 60 CDs on the juke. You couldn't get out of the 500 Club without hearing every Brian Adams song AND Dire Straits Walk Of Life 19 times. Dark days. Between jeans guy and Have I Told You Lately That I Love You coming on (at least it wasn't Rod Stewarts---burp---version) I almost dropped an unforgiving Three Stars on this place. But there are many things to recommend about a friendly open space for beer and weenies. A place where people can get beer-drunk and not have to find their bike gone but the lock still attached to a parking meter. A place where your vegan friends endless prattle can be temporarily stilled by Gestalt's vegan weenies served on vegan buns. A place where a mangy, hippy, run-down, bolshie coffee place used to sit, where no weenies and few beers were available. Insofar as a world without beer and sausage is not one I wish to live in, Gestalt is the better end of the deal. read more

Google tells me that "Gestalt" is German for "a configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts." Which means, actually, that it doesn't mean anything at all. Even in German. After searching for parking for 30 minutes all over the Mission, my friends and I finally made it in, only to be sneered and snickered at (in the hippest, bike-messenger way possible, of course) by the patrons inside, who of course, rode their uber hip, shiny fixies (that is "hipster-speak" for fixed-gear bike, suckers) and neatly parked them inside. This place is large, but has limited seating and a large boxy bar, which lends it a nice, roomy feel, even when it starts to get crowded. I'm not entirely sure how the geometry of the room contributes to this... it must be just a certain "je ne sais quois." There is a great selection of beer on tap, warm potato salad , and brats on the menu (uh, I mean, sausages... not bitchy whiners... though, I'm sure there are plenty of those around too). I'll return when I can figure out how to wear my hair tied back into a ponytail, yet still leave the front tousled and messy (I can only describe it as the modern hipster equivalent of a mullet--party in the front, business in the back!). Oh, and also when the bottoms of my jeans shrink and tighten around my ankles so as to create a triangular sausage effect with my legs. read more

Gabe (or whatever the name of the Charles Manson look-alike bartender is) is the reason me and my friends will never come back to this bar. On a Friday night a few weeks ago, this guy threw in the garbage the food my friends ordered (and threw their money back at them across the bar) just because he was annoyed or something with a simple question about whether a side of potatoes was included in their sausage order. There is room for interpretation the way one of the veggie sausages is listed on the menu as it seems to include potatoes (but I believe it's in the actual sausage). Gabe's behavior was uncalled for and a flagrant abuse of his "authority" as a bartender. Another friend tried to step in and reason with Gabe like a logical human being but this guy only reacted like a raging a-hole (pardon my language). He does no favors for the bar and should be put into an anger management class. Just to give context, my friends are seriously the nicest people in the world and would not have done/said anything rude to merit this kind of response from the bartender. Regardless of whether he was having a bad night or the bar was understaffed, he should have had more self-control. Also to be fair, there were other severs and bartenders who were much nicer but the experience with Gabe will color our opinion of the bar forever. read more

I LOVE beer. Got that? LOVE IT. But I also LOVE tequila. One star for beer. One for sausages. One for the bartender. One for the jukebox. 0 stars for tequila. read more

Parking in the Mission leaves be bitter and angry! Okay...I mean MORE bitter and angry... Still, booze cures all ails and I was on my way to self-medicate at Gestalt Haus! The crew had their asses firmly planted in the huge worn beer stained arm chairs in the front window so my ass plopped down beside them. The place smelled like stale beer and food. An oddly comforting aroma, seeing as I have been drinking beer at bars since college, it strikes a chord inside me. Sipping my Trumer Pilsner I thought about how my beer tastes have graduated (thankfully) from Bud Light. I used to drink pitchers of that stuff in college!!! Ahhaah....I was alcohol ignorant. Then I see a big dude striding into the bar.... 'HOLY SHIT IT'S BIG RED!!!!" If anyone went to Cal before 2001 and EVER went to Kip's you know EXACTLY who that is.... He works at Gestalt...and this time he's behind the bar. Dude...that is some crazy shit. This guy was at the beginning of my affair with booze! He was the bouncer that helped me ring in my 21st birthday! Gestalt is WAY better than Kip's. Even more so....I feel hella safe there cuz if anything goes down Big Red will most definitely regulate on some mother fuckers!!! read more

The owner of this place is a total bitch. He came by our table and told my friend to drink up his beer because he was running out of glasses. We told him to buy some more fucking glasses, I got 2 cases of them at home for fucking $.75 a piece. It's called Smart & Final. Then he came back and made some comment about customer service being a two way street, and we told him what we really thought, that his bar sucks and it's a cheap imitation of Toronado and he told us that the customer service there sucks. My GF told him that she's been going there for over a decade and we always get excellent service and we wouldn't dare eat his George Foreman sausages. Fucking new yorkers... buy up all the real estate you want, but don't try to open a bar for locals. BTW your draft system is jacked up... your Brother David's taste like its got soda water mixed into it. ***Update: So the next night we went to Toronado, we definitely spent over $100 in beer between the 4 of us after a birthday dinner elsewhere. I think we spent $15 at Gestalt before the owner started telling us about customer service... good one buddy. read more

While standing at the bar in Gestalt Haus last night, staring at the words "POLISH" and "ITALIAN" scrawled in large, enthusiastic letters on the chalkboard sausage menu, I had a revelation. No WONDER giving up meat was so painful! I'M half-Polish, half-Italian. I have some serious meat products in my blood. Anyway, I digress. Gestalt only offers the Italian in a vegan variety, so that's all I sampled from their grill, but dang, it was good enough. Firm skin on the outside, chewy and juicy on the inside... JUST LIKE REAL MEAT, I SWEAR! Mm mm... Now, liters of beer, on the other hand... Nobody needs a liter of beer. By the time you get halfway through it, it's warm and flat anyway, and your hand is starting to cramp up from hoisting that gigantic heavy mug (at least it is if you're a wussy herbivore girl like me). But it's a good value, and it's very generous of them to offer it in that quantity. The bartenders here are also super cool. Very chill, very friendly and generous. If you're into the whole hipster-fixed-gear-revolution-look-thingy, then you'll probably also find them pretty sex-ay. It's too bad they're in the same neighborhood as Zeitgeist. On a nice day, I feel like a bad person sitting in a dark box with animal parts on the wall when I could be out in the sunshine. Even if they do have vegan sausage... read more

This is a really cool bar...when there's not that much people. Instead of parking your precious bike along the busy 16th St., the bar provides a indoor bike- rack for your bike. They also serves specialty Bratwurst and other snacks. Some of their signature beverage is the liter-size imported beer for $10.00. No, Matt didn't left the alcohol closet, but settle with iced cold bottled-water for $1.00. It was desperately needed to extinguish Matt's thirsts with all the Yelpers around this heated bar. When Matt mentioned, "When there's not that much people", recently a special event has been one exception. The lovely Yelper, Stephanie, has held her goodbye party here, before she heads off to Minnesota to pursue further in her education. Her goal is to obtain a BA Degree in Psychology. Maybe she can teach some of the immature yelpers a thing or two on how to act sophisticated like the silky-smooth Stephanie. Matt stay was brief, but good enough to embrace and say good-bye to the lovely Stephanie. The hardest thing to do was to let her go, because Matt loves her to death like an immediate family. Matt did give her a gift thinking about Matt. The gift comprised a superhero, who wears Red, White and Blue. San Francisco and the entire Bay Area have lost, but Minnesota has gained a great Yelper in Stephanie. "Good Luck, Stephanie!" read more

Great beer selection and great service. This is a nice spot if you can find a place to sit. The problem? Filthy bathroom and hundreds if not thousands of fruit flies! No exaggeration. I even found them in my clothes when I got home (shudder). I've worked in many a restaurant, so I'm familiar with this problem. May I suggest pouring a little bleach in all the drains (including the floor), and you should be rid of them in no time. read more

So I've been walking around the past couple of days with a sore hand - that place between your thumb and first finger, ya know? Since that crazy yelp happy hour at Gestalt Haus the other night ended with some crazy drunken sliding at the Seward Street Slides I kinda thought I'd injured myself there somehow. The it occurred to me the sore area was right where the handle rested of that incredibly HEAVY beer glass I was holding all night. I had one... okay, one and a half... liter beers at Gestalt and I was pickled. That was a huge beer, in a heavy glass with an alcohol content of 8.something percent - whoa doggy. Have to admit, I live around the corner and while I was excited to see it opening (who doesn't love a good beer and sausage joint?) I've never patronized the place til now. While I did enjoy myself thoroughly - that potent and ginormous beer made sure of that, along with all the fabulous new yelper friends - not sure I'll make it a regular rotation. Will have to check it out on a non-yelp night to see what kind of regular vibe it has. read more

I like this place BUT the bathroom is so disgusting that there is no way this place can get high stars. There is always a combination of 1. puke 2. piss 3. blood like stuff 4. clogged/not working toilet It's gross and unsanitary. Come on guys fix your bathroom, even kilowatts is better As for the beer and sausages- YUM. read more

"No soup for you!" Ordered a couple of sausages: one beef, one vegan. The vegan one is "with yukon gold potatoes" on the whiteboard. I come back 15 mins later to pick them up, and the vegan one is sitting naked in a bun. I ask him "doesn't it come with potatoes?" and he barks back "No, $4 more" and when I point out it says so on the whiteboard he pushes them at me and says "Fine, you get nothing with them". I flag him down to at least get some sauerkraut on it and point out it clearly says it comes with potatoes on the whiteboard, but instead he grabs them off me, throws them away, throws $15 at me and says "You get nothing at all, get the hell out of my bar!" A Seinfeld moment. My girlfriend insists on clearing up the matter, which doesn't work with someone like that, and he leaves her crying. So our group left. Apart from that: unclean, too loud to extent you can't order drinks, and a problem with homeless/crazy people wandering in. But they prefer to hire a DJ instead of hiring a bouncer. Nobody even checking ID. My recommendation, like so many others here, is to go to the countless other bars in Mission which are much better, or to Zeitgeist, which Gestalt is just a poor, dirty, rude imitation of. read more

Gestalt Haus is burning up! No really, it's like a bazzillion degrees in this mo'fo. Boys were taking off their clothes, people were sliding off their seats, and those little twinkle lights were starting look hazy through the steam. I can't tell you if these were a result of the heat or the $9 liters that were consumed en masse (the bar ran out of glasses, people please), but I can tell you that I'd do it again in a heartbeat. read more

This bar gives The Broken Record a run for it's money when talking about excellent sausage and beer knowledge. It's a fixed gear hangout - so be ready for that. As long as you can hang talking with very young men who act like they've been around since the stone ages and have the knowledge (google) to back it up, and women who's default expression is as snotty as Angela in American Beauty - this place will amaze every time. I love their steins and they have a wide selection of beer (not Toranados, but what is?) I do wish that the layout wasn't so cramped around the bar area though - as I've said over and over again throughout, I really dislike being cramped. I do understand though that I'm in San Francisco. SO for some reason, I like this bar a full three stars more than it's competitor across the street, Killowatt despite the crowd. Maybe I'm just getting easy in my old age..... read more

So I'm on this email list that announces a different bar to check out every Tuesday. For this week I suggested this place, and the announcement was sent out. What followed was a barrage of attacks on the owner for scrapping Cafe La Onda and putting up Gestalt in its place. And before I knew it, the group rendezvous was changed to another bar to appease the complainers! I hope I don't find people on Yelp trying to pull the same "don't go here" stunt in retaliation for the loss of their coffeeshop. (or am I too late?) My roommates and I came here regardless, and I instantly fell in love. To those who complain, let me ask you something: 1. How many coffeeshops are open the same hours as Cafe La Onda in the Mission? (answer: 500,000) 2. How many sausage places are open til 2AM in the mission? Better yet, how many eating/drinking spots have indoor bike racks? And it's getting better. Murphy's in the process of setting up a cold room in the back so he can get 8 more taps, all belgian beer. I'll see you there. read more

Obsessed with all things German, I could not pass this bar up on my way home from BART. The aroma of fresh brats and the merry clinking of steins first reeled me in. Then came the jukebox playing "Beat It" and cool cats hanging out dancing, laughing, and mingling. A minute later, I walked my bike in and parked her up on the rack. This beer house is one of the coolest bars in the city. Right on the edge of the 16th and Valencia scene, Gestalt draws in a fun and diverse crowd. Everyone is really friendly, even when there's some mad action at the pool table. I could hang here for hours, cuz it's got everything I'd want right at my fingertips! Beer by the stein Cool bartenders Hot tasty sausages and potato salad Killer 80's music Pool table Comfortable seating Indoor bike racks Clean bathrooms Easy access outside (to take a call or smoke) So if you're in the Mission looking to get rubbed by all sorts of body parts and dance in a sweaty, smoke-filled room, then head over to Delirium. But if you're in the mood for a chill, fun night with beers, brats, and pool, then Gestalt is the place to be. Your bike will thank you. read more