Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe

The eccentricity of San Francisco—in all its left wing, bawdy glory—is on full display at Specs’, also known as the Adler Museum Cafe. The bar doubles as a pack rat’s dream; walls are covered with photos, paintings and taxidermy with wooden tables and chairs crowded in anywhere they’ll fit. Sitting across the street from City Lights Bookstore and Vesuvio, Specs’ completes a North Beach beat-trifecta, despite being a relatively new kid on the block. Opened in 1968, Specs’ was, and is, a regular hangout for the neighborhood’s writers and musicians, who may well break out into an impromptu poetry slam or jazz piano performance. The bar feels like a well-kept secret that, once discovered, gains you entry into a San Francisco members-only club, bolstered by its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it alleyway location.