Forget Happy Hour, It’s All About Aperitivo Hour—Here’s Where to Get Your Spritz Fix

Travel to Italy is always lovely, but lucky for us in the West, San Francisco’s aperitivo scene is offering locals a ticket to Italy, without the airfare. The city’s Italian-inspired bars are perfecting the art of aperitivo—that magical hour when bitter amari meet crispy cicchetti and the workday melts into evening bliss. Think housemade amaro, seasonally driven riffs on summery spritzes, and the kind of convivial atmosphere that makes you forget you’re not actually sipping Negronis along the Amalfi Coast.

Bar Sprezzatura

Thomas J. Story

Located in the heart of San Francisco’s Financial District, Bar Sprezzatura is decidedly a great spot for a power lunch. But the brass-laden dining room designed by Martin Brudnizki Design Studio transforms into a super sexy aperitivo and cicchetti bar at night, when Italian mixologist Carlo Splendorini taps into the bar’s extensive collection of vintage and low production amari from across Italy, Germany, and London. The power move is ordering the totally opulent Bar Sprz Tower, loaded high with cicchetti, like perfectly fried arancini, housemade bacalao, and deviled eggs topped with Scalia anchovy and marinated sardines.

Bar Brucato

Thomas J. Story

The brand-new Bar Brucato showcases the brand’s housemade amaros, which highlight California produce, botanicals, and flavors. Each expression begins with local brandy that’s imbued with the spirit of the surrounding landscapes—from fruit orchards and redwood forests to coastal chaparral. At its new high-design distillery and mid-mod-inspired restaurant in the Mission District, the cult-favorite producers offer new and exciting ways to enjoy the bitter Italian spirit, including amaro highballs, spritzes, seasonal cocktails, and flights showcasing what the city’s food scene does best—celebrate classic techniques while championing local terroir.

Che Fico

Thomas J. Story

This casual, seasonally-driven Italian taverna helmed by chef David Nayfeld serves some of the city’s best housemade pizza, pasta, and salumi in a vibrant space dripping with houseplants. (Seriously, our hats go off to whoever is taking care of them because that’s a full-time job in itself.) Pull up to the bar overlooking Divisadero and order the most perfect Negroni in the city made with gin, fig leaf, Americano amaro, and Italian bitters with a side of its crave-inducing suppli—a fried risotto stick made with tomato broth and fontina cheese. It’s the perfect place for the Italian pastime of people-watching.