One of the simple joys of San Francisco is a cup of Irish coffee at Cafe Buena Vista. It is something that residents and locals have been enjoying since the 1950s. It may not have originated in the City by the Bay, but it is certainly a gift from San Francisco that you can enjoy during your visit, especially if it is cloudy or raining.
According to the Cocktail Times , Irish coffee was first served in the port of Foyne, a busy Irish air hub in the 1930s and 1940s. After a flight was forced back to Ireland during bad weather, Chef Joe Sheridan offered passengers a drink of coffee and whiskey to warm them up and cheer them up. Perhaps unaware that their hot drink contained alcohol, they asked if it was Brazilian coffee. In response, Sheridan joked, “that’s Irish coffee.”
It took another 30 years for Irish Coffee to reach the United States. When you take your first sip, toast to San Francisco Chronicle Travel columnist Stanton Delaplane and Buena Vista Cafe’s local bartender Jack Koeppler, who have teamed up to bring the drink to California. The whole story is below and it is worth reading it to find out how much more difficult it was that it seems.
Where to get Irish coffee in San Francisco
Café Buena Vista has served tens of millions of Irish coffees, and they continue to do so at the rate of a quarter of a million a year. So many that your waiters know how to keep up with them for scores. The most popular coffee offerings are Irish coffee (made with real Irish whiskey), Bailey’s Cream Irish coffee, and Godiva Chocolate coffee. Having a drink is one of the best ways to spend a rainy day in San Francisco.
With all that history and thirsty journalists and bloggers writing about it, it’s not surprising that Buena Vista is always busy. You can find a seat at the bar to watch the bartenders making drinks by the dozen, or walk up to any table with empty chairs and introduce yourself. They also serve food, but that’s not their specialty, and you’d better find your food elsewhere.
From all the fuss, you might think the Buena Vista is just one place in San Francisco to get Irish coffee, but there is more according to Foursquare. You can also get frozen Irish coffees and Irish coffee ice cream around town, but it’s best to go for the original and warm one.
How Irish Coffee Came to America
One of America’s favorite Irish imports came from Ireland, not by ship, but by air, landing first in San Francisco. In 1952, Pulitzer Prize-winning San Francisco Chronicle travel columnist Stanton Delaplane was in an airport bar in Ireland. They served him a hot drink containing coffee, Irish whiskey, and cream.
He must have liked it. After arriving in San Francisco, Delaplane told Jack Koeppler about San Francisco’s Buena Vista Cafe. Koeppler started to reproduce the mix. After repeated failures, a trip to Ireland to unravel the secret of floating cream in hot coffee, and a plea for help from the mayor (who also owned a dairy), Koeppler began serving the now-famous Buena Vista Irish coffee. . To say that it was a success is an understatement.
History of Buena Vista
Café Buena Vista opened in an old boarding house in 1916, and its name is taken from the Spanish words for “good sight.” For over a hundred years, locals and visitors have been drinking at this watering hole that sits just above the end of the Hyde Street cable car line and one block from Ghirardelli Square. And after all those years, they still have a good view, on the change of the cable car and the Water Park.
And if all that wasn’t enough for you, Buena Vista appears in the opening scene of the movie When a Man Loves a Woman starring Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan.
How to make Irish coffee
If you can’t wait until you get to San Francisco to have one, see how Buena Vista does it.
What you need to know about Buena Vista coffee
Buena Vista Cafe is at 2765 Hyde Street, near the Hyde Street Cable Car and Ghirardelli Square. If you’re already at Fisherman’s Wharf, it’s a one-block walk up Hyde Street from Jefferson to Buena Vista at Hyde and Beach. If you are in Union Square, take the Powell-Hyde cable car. You will find the Buena Vista just before the end of the line.
Get more details, a menu and hours on the Buena Vista website
