True Laurel

San Francisco, California

No. 14 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026, No. 64 on The World's 50 Best Bars 2025, and Top 10 nominee for Best U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2026 Spirited Awards.

Bar Director Nicolas Torres and chef-co-founder David Barzelay, the team behind two-Michelin-starred Lazy Bear, built this Alabama Street bar on hyper-seasonal California ingredients: pinecone distillate, redwood tips, house-fermented field cider, and California bay tincture. The 2024 Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award confirmed what the program makes obvious: True Laurel treats environmental responsibility as creative fuel rather than constraint. At No. 17 on North America's 50 Best Bars, the bar changes its menu daily based on what arrives from local producers. No two visits taste the same. It was a Top 4 finalist for Best U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2025 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards.