Best Halloween Bars & Restaurants in San Francisco (2026)

San Francisco does Halloween in layers. Some bars spend all of October filled with coffins, axes and glowing graffiti. In ticketed pop-ups, the cocktail is part of the show. A few restaurants serve a real dinner before the costumes and DJs take over, and a handful of dark, theatrical bars feel right for Halloween without changing a thing.

This year Halloween falls on a Saturday, October 31, so the whole weekend turns into a costume party. The Marina and Cow Hollow have the most walkable cluster of pop-ups, and Union Square and Lower Nob Hill have the most decorated cocktail bars. SoMa has the city's biggest horror production, while the Castro and Mission bring the street-party energy. The month-long takeovers come first in this guide, followed by the events that only happen this weekend.

Every place in this guide, in the order it appears below. Halloween is Saturday, October 31.

These are the bars that go all out for October. You can walk into Black Lagoon and Rye like any other bar. The Nightmare Bar, Ghostlight and Frankenstein's Lab run on timed tickets, so book them for a planned group night rather than a bar-hop.

San Francisco has fewer Halloween restaurants than Halloween bars, but the good ones are worth planning around. Palm House works on any night in October. Chotto Matte is the big dinner on Halloween itself, and Brujera turns dinner into part of a theatrical night out.

These places are dark and strange all year, so they're good fallbacks when the ticketed pop-ups sell out. Terror Vault is the exception: it's a full horror production, and its bar is open to anyone.

These only happen on October 29 and Halloween weekend. The street parties are free. The rooftop and club parties need an RSVP or ticket, so sort those out before Saturday.

Also this weekend: Crawloween, a pub crawl across more than 40 bars in Polk Gulch, the Marina, Cow Hollow, Russian Hill, Union Square and Lower Nob Hill, runs Oct 30, Oct 31 and Nov 1, with wristbands, drink specials and shuttles. It's fun for a big group, but skip it if you've got timed reservations elsewhere that night. Club nights at Madarae, Public Works, The Stud and 888 Garage are destination events rather than easy add-ons.

Each of these plans has one timed booking at most, so a late dinner or a long line won't wreck the evening.

Marina and Cow Hollow: the walkable pop-up crawl. Have dinner at Palm House, then book one timed stop: either The Nightmare Bar or Frankenstein's Lab, not both. End at Wizards & Wands or any bar on Union Street.

Union Square and SoMa: dinner, drinks and a scare. Eat at Chotto Matte, then walk to Rye for an intimate cocktail or Ghostlight for the neon party. Finish at Fang Bang, with a Terror Vault ticket if your group wants real scares.

Castro and Mission: the street-party plan. Start early at Last Rites, which also makes our first-date bars and 30s bars guides. Pick the Castro Night Market or DanceOWeen, then dance late at Beaux or QBar.