A few weeks ago Aaron convinced me, with little effort, to purchase a Thrillist deal for The Brixton. In exchange for $38 we’d each get five beers, five cocktails and an appetizer. The drinks were pre-determined with an emphasis on world beers and cocktails but the appetizers would be of our choosing. An $84 value for only $38!

Ordinarily I wouldn’t travel to San Francisco’s Marina for drinks and appetizers but this deal, and the group of friends who joined in, made it worth the long 22-Fillmore bus ride.

Oh but there was a catch. To get your appetizer you had to drink all ten passport drinks. Never fear, we were up to the challenge. Shea, Kat, Aaron and I worked over two nights, with a little help from Oliver, to complete four Olympic Passports. 

Beers

• Stone IPA (USA)
• Moinette Brune Belgium Ale (BEL)
• Fullers London Porter (UK)
• Castelain Blond Biere (FRA)
• Belhaven Scottish Ale (UK-ish)

Cocktails

• Moscow Mule (RUS)
• Siesta (MEX)
• The Drexel (UK)
• Lima Ocho (PER)
• Irish Coffee (UK-ish)

All of the beers were pretty fantastic though I was partial for the American Stone IPA (golden, hoppy and light citrus nose) and the French Castelain Blond Biere (crisp, sweet and floral nose). Of the cocktails I think our preferences were the Moscow Mule, Siesta and The Drexel, though I can’t tell you what’s in The Drexel.

The food we tried at The Brixton was pretty tasty. We didn’t move beyond appetizers but considering it’s a bar first and restaurant second, and since at least four of the appetizers were included in our passport, it seemed like a wise choice.

Appetizers:

• Warm French Onion Dip
• Spinach & Artichoke Dip
• Prawn Ceviche
• Sweet Potato Fries with Roasted Pepper Ketchup
• Fiery Mac & Cheese

Of these I’d say the most delicious was the French Onion Dip with their homemade chips, possibly tied with the Prawn Ceviche. The sweet potato fries we as delicious and anyone could ever expect with the added bonus of being served in the cutest fry basket you could imagine. The least delicious, surprisingly, was the Fiery Mac & Cheese. It was a little too greasy and the serving was significantly smaller than expected.

All in all it was a really fun time with good friends at a 55% discount. So what’s not to love right? Well, to be honest, the waitress we had the second trip to The Brixton wasn’t the best. It seemed she was under the impression that since we’d prepaid for our food and drinks, we wouldn’t be tipping. Because of that we often found ourselves waiting longer than ordinary for service or being outright ignored.

At one point I even had to argue the point that she forgot to bring us a beer she marked off on our passport. In that discussion I also pointed out that we planned to tip as anyone normally would tip for drinks and food. She insisted that she was not treating us this way because of that, which in a way illuminates that that’s exactly what she thought. After that, things got better and we finished our passports, despite our impending hangovers.

I had such a good time at The Brixton that I took my parents there during their visit to SF.