The best bars for cheating on the 49ers with other teams’ fans

If anyone knows where to catch the game, it’s David Lombardi, one-half of The Standard’s new sports team. (Tim Kawakami is our other, most excellent, sports columnist.)

Lombardi, previously of The Athletic and ESPN, is a guy who loves football so much that on the days he’s not covering the Niners, he’ll pop over to some of the watering holes where fans of other teams gather — sometimes riding his bike around to as many as three bars to get the day’s “football vibe.” 

There’s a lot of energy to soak up. “The best place to watch a team at a bar is sometimes not in their actual city,” he says, “but in a city where all the fans are forced to gather in one place.”

Since it’s a bye week for the 49ers this weekend, here are a handful of the spots Lombardi recommends for mixing it up with other teams’ fans.

Lombardi loves this dive bar in the Marina, which has been open since 1962, because it’s festive and quirky and the place to be if you’re a fan of the New Orleans Saints. “They’re always playing music and they have a big painting on the wall of Drew Brees dressed up as an actual saint.” Accommodatingly, during the football season, doors open at 9 am.

This Cleveland Browns bar in the Tendernob provides a “good, blue-collar vibe,” says Lombardi, who was just in Cleveland for the first time last year. (As usual, he left the press box to walk up to the top of the stadium to hang out at the level of the true die-hards.) The bar, which has been in SF for over a decade, has a Facebook group called the “Rabid Browns” who gather every Sunday here “to praise the Orange Helmet.” Though be forewarned, “Cleveland has been a team down on its luck,” says Lombardi. “There is frustration at the bar if the Browns aren’t doing well.”

A couple years ago, Giordano Bros. — a sandwich-y spot with direct connections to Pittsburgh — closed. In its place, Rudy’s opened and inherited the prior establishment’s Steeler fans. Despite not having connections to the East Coast city, the sports bar made sure the menu retained a rendition of the iconic Pittsburgh sandwich, originally served at Primanti Bros., made of vinegar slaw, french fries, Provolone, and deli meat (Lombardi’s choice being coppa). To wash it down, there’s Iron City and Yuengling beers.

Another historic bar, the Northstar, has been in North Beach since 1882. Today it functions as a Buffalo Bills bar during the season — one that even has TVs outside. “The Bills are pretty good, so last few years, I’ve swung by there,” says Lombardi. “The owner isn’t from Buffalo, however. He’s been in SF for like four decades. I’m not sure how he embraced the Buffalo fans, but he did and it’s really cool.”

“When the Chiefs play a big game, this relatively new place has a cool vibe because it has two levels,” says Lombardi. Last year’s Super Bowl was particularly nuts, when Buzzworks reserved the space exclusively for Chiefs lovers. “While all of SF was pulling for the 49ers, this bar was going crazy,” he says. On a practical note, the self-proclaimed “home of the Chief kingdom,” has 40 beers on tap, two pool tables, and 30 screens.

This Irish pub, which has been around since 2006, may be the city’s main hub for the World Cup and European soccer, but during American football season, it’s evolved into a Seahawks bar — the only one in SF. (It is also a Chargers bar because, well, why not?) Yes, there is a private Danny Coyle’s Seattle Seahawks Facebook group of over 500 people, the types who refer to themselves as the “12th man.” Due to the numerous fan bases that seek out Coyle’s for all sorts of games, don’t be surprised if there are lines to get in.

With seats from the old Yankee and Shea stadiums, Aces is all New York, even though it’s located in Lower Nob Hill. “They even have a mugshot of a young Frank Sinatra,” says Lombardi, who loves a little history. Yes, they’ll be showing Giants and Jets games, but the World Series just ended, so for now, they’ll still be smarting from the Yankees loss to the Dodgers. Reserve a keg table for drinking away your NYC sorrows.