Behind the Bar - Complete Review

Otis

Neighborhood: Union Square

25 Maiden Ln (between Grant Ave & Kearny St)

San Francisco, CA 94108

In the Know: There are a few lanes and alleys I suggest checking out in San Francisco's financial district; Mark Lane if you want to enjoy a pint with some Irish chaps, Belden Place is a small taste of the french quarter, and then there is Maiden Lane. Upscale boutiques line the pedestrian only walk way. It should be no surprise that hidden amongst these shi-shi stores is an equally upscale watering hole. At least at one point, at some time, hopefully for the owners sake it was a nice place. It is unfortunate that I had to go there at a time when the whole place was going through some "changes." (If you could see me right now I am holding up my hands doing the air bunny ears immediately after writing the word "changes"... wait, yup just did it again) Now, the place kinda looked run down to me. Things were either missing, taken down to get fixed, or just plain messy. While it pains me to be so cavalier with my description, I have a reasonably-ish good reason for it. A couple months back I was walking home from a sh*t show kinda night. (you all know exactly what I am talking about - bar hopping with friends, taking shots with strangers, dancing on top of tables at Taco Bell, picking up a guy after all day wine drinking that you have to card because he looks as though he just went through puberty..you know, those kinda nights) When I rounded the corner to my street I saw a nice gentleman smoking a cigarette, apparently taking a break from his house party. Being the semi in your face kinda girl that I am, not to mention the lead in a 'neighborhood watch' program I set up, I approached him to make sure to keep the streets safe. To make a really long story short I have never picked up a man so efficiently. Seriously though, right outside my apartment... at the end of the night... I even went into the house party and he made me drinks. What a win-win situation. But back to the issue at hand. I finally got a chance to meet my neighbors. It just so happened that the friend and my neighbor, of my cigarette smoking boo was non other than the bartender at Otis. So this understated posting goes out to him!

I should start by saying the size and layout of the space is fantastic! It is extremely intimate (ie. if you go here you must be comfortable with shoulder to shoulder with complete strangers.) I did find the design a but unusual, though. A cluster f*ck of things; separately they are all pretty cool, but once together the theme of the space gets lost. If there even is a theme. The name Otis came from a pimp that used to live in the same neighborhood as the owner. Maybe since pimps are eccentric in life and style the bar had to mirror that? You be the judge. After entering through what only could be described as dungeon doors you would pass a corridor lit by deer antlers. If you decide that you don't want to check your coat or sit on the comfy white bench seating in the hall, you will definitely want to see whats going on with the three vertical and mysteriously lit coral installation wall. This does really look pretty cool but as I said earlier too many random elements can get confusing. The bar is situation right below this. It is actually the perfect size for 2 tenders comfortably. The actual bar itself is pretty eclectic: alligator skin under glass on top of mirrors next to wood. (Come to think of it all that pretty much resembles what I can only assume a pimps palace would contain) All that was missing was the actual pimp. Although, can a bartender be considered a pimp? I mean I am paying him to take care of me for the night (giving me drinks that is;). And what pimp palace would be complete without a large peacock on top of the bar, peering out over the crowd?

What I do really like about the place is it has a mezzanine area overlooking the ground floor. In keeping with the theme of eclecticism, I guess, the upstairs is totally different from the downstairs. Here there is asian style wall paper on top floral sofas. It almost looks like whoever designed the space wanted the whole room to be one pattern but couldn't find anything to match the asian wall paper so just settled on a similar, European looking floral pattern for the sofas. Just because certain styles from certain countries happen to be on the same continent, does not...I repeat, does not mean that they match.

Behind the Bar: As previously mentioned my neighbor is the bartender of this pimps palace. What this means, I pretty much grilled him a lot more than I would have any other person. Apparently it wasn't all that bad because he hasn't egged my house...yet. He said the only thing that he didn't like about the space was the depth of the bar. On the side where the customer sits, the overhanging lip looked like it was only half a foot deep. Not enough room to really comfortably put your legs anywhere. (How I see it, this pushes the bar stool further into the space so the customer doesn't have their knees jammed up against it. Not the wisest of things if the area is already reduced in size.) What I noticed, the height of the seats in comparison to the bar was way off. I did not like the feeling that I could just lean in to sip on my cocktail. Drinks should not be consumed from a horizontal front, they should be approached in an upward and then immediately downward motion.

Who's Who: This would be the absolute perfect place to go if you worked on Maiden Lane. Just think, done with work by 5:30pm...drinking by 5:32pm. And from what it looked like, that is exactly what those Maidenians did. The bar offered a great after work social scene, one that allowed for chatting up people you may or may not know. It also offered an excellent chance to indulge in a little more intimate one-on-one setting. So immediately after you meet someone you can take them upstairs to get away from the hustle and bustle of the folks still in search of their match. Kinda sounds like a cheesy dating reality show, right?

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