The Pub Where It All Began
Magnolia opened 20 years ago at the storied corner of Haight and Masonic Streets in the Haight Ashbury district. Built in 1903, our building has seen a lot over the years, from its decades as Schumates Pharmacy to its role in the birth of the Haight Ashbury hippie movement in 1964 as the Drugstore Cafe, one of the original hippie hangouts in the neighborhood. In the late 60s, it became the famous Magnolia Thunderpussy's, named for its proprietress, a larger than life San Francisco legend still talked about today.
Beer from the Basement
In 1997, founder/brewmaster Dave McLean had a vision to turn this unlikely space into a brewery and pub. Among many skeptics, Dave found a few believers who were willing to help turn the vision into reality. The intrepid team dug in (literally), excavating to lower the floor so a 7-barrel brewery could be ever so tightly squeezed into place. Today, nearly 2500 batches later, this award-winning brewery continues to make dozens of different Magnolia ales throughout the year, many available only at our two locations.
We put the "pub" in pub
Inspired by the gastropub movement of London that began in the 90's, Magnolia has always taken its food every bit as seriously as it does its beer. It's the way beer, food and hospitality come together that really makes a good pub an essential part of the fabric of a community, and we approach it all with equal passion, serving seasonal, carefully sourced food alongside our beer.