Best Piano Bar
Martuni's
Nothing goes together like karaoke and Flaming Dr. Peppers that is, except for crooning and martinis. So if you're ready to trade in the Journey for some Sinatra, head down to the Mission/Hayes Valley border joint, Martuni's. Seven nights a week, the back room of the bar features a professional piano player and mike for any patron who'd like to play Bing Crosby for a night. The feel of the place, however, is more sing-along than American Idol audition. The regulars mostly gay, mostly middle-aged, and mostly good crooners themselves are there to hang around the piano and sip one of the bar's 15 versions of the Bay Area's greatest contribution to cocktails: the martini. At Christmas time, the place is a veritable circus, with local takes on the traditional sing-along like "The 12 Sex Toys of Christmas." Martuni's is the kind of place that harks back to the more musically vibrant San Francisco of an era gone by: a place where you could walk down the street any given night of the week, wander into a bar, and hear some good music or even make some yourself.