Serving Since

San Francisco

Serving since

1916

110 years in San Francisco

The Buena Vista Cafe

Fisherman's Wharf · Tavern / Pub

Go here for
Irish coffee
Why go
The Fisherman's Wharf bar where Irish coffee was first made in America, in 1952, and still poured by the thousands.
Local character
Visitor destination
Good to know
Expect crowds. Next to the Powell-Hyde cable car terminus at Fisherman's Wharf; Punch calls it "America's Irish Coffee Mecca".
Directions Official website

The bar's own history says the building was a boardinghouse until 1916, when the landlord turned the ground floor into the Buena Vista saloon; SF Heritage gives the same year. We show 1916. The city's Legacy Business Registry dates it to 1891, which we couldn't reconcile with the bar's account.

Why it matters

The Buena Vista occupies a former boardinghouse at Hyde and Beach. The bar and SF Heritage date it to 1916, when the landlord turned the ground floor into a saloon called "Buena Vista", Spanish for "good view". It was a neighborhood bar for dockworkers and sailors, and the neon sign went up in 1934.

On November 10, 1952, owner Jack Koeppler challenged travel writer Stanton Delaplane to recreate the Irish coffee served at Shannon Airport. After a trip to Shannon and work on the cream, they settled on the recipe the bar still uses. The city's Legacy Business Registry says it introduced Irish coffee to America. The bar says it serves up to 2,000 a day. It joined the Registry in 2022.

The story

  1. 1916Ground floor of a former boardinghouse becomes the Buena Vista saloon3
  2. 1934Neon sign installed4
  3. 1952Jack Koeppler and Stanton Delaplane recreate Irish coffee (November 10)2
  4. 2020E Clampus Vitus plaque honoring its Irish coffee history7
  5. 2022Added to San Francisco's Legacy Business Registry (April 25)5
  6. TodayStill serving San Francisco

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Notes on the record

  • Sources disagree on the founding year. The bar itself, SF Heritage and Punch say 1916; San Francisco's Legacy Business Registry says it was founded as the Buena Vista Saloon in 1891. We show 1916, the year in the bar's own history.

Details

Address
2765 Hyde Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
Neighborhood
Fisherman's Wharf
Ownership
Not verified
Status
Open · verified Sep 2026

OldScore

A secondary, editorial measure. The founding year above is the fact that matters most. How it works.

Age31/ 35
Continuity20/ 20
Local significance20/ 20
Local food culture15/ 15
Independence3/ 10
OldScore89/ 100

Local character: Visitor destination. Next to the Powell-Hyde cable car terminus at Fisherman's Wharf; Punch calls it "America's Irish Coffee Mecca". This is separate from OldScore: a place can be popular with visitors and still belong here.

More like this

Sources

  1. The Buena Vista (official site) Address, Current status, What to order, Ownership
  2. The Buena Vista, Irish Coffee Story (official) History, What to order, Ownership
  3. The Buena Vista, Archives (official) Founding year, History
  4. SF Heritage, 'Legacy Business Spotlight: Hang Ah Tea Room, Gold Mirror, Buena Vista Cafe' Founding year, History, Address, What to order
  5. San Francisco Legacy Business Program (Office of Small Business), Buena Vista Cafe Founding year, History, Address
  6. SF Historic Preservation Commission, minutes, April 6, 2022 (item 2022-002234LBR) Founding year
  7. Hoodline, 'Buena Vista Cafe gets landmark plaque honoring its Irish coffee-soaked history' (Oct 2020) Founding year, History, What to order
  8. Punch, 'The Buena Vista Café: America's Irish Coffee Mecca' Founding year, History, What to order