There’s little consensus when it comes to debating the oldest drinking establishments in San Francisco. Different lists will give you different answers. But by all accounts, Shotwell’s, a cherished Mission institution, is at least the fifth-oldest bar in the city.

The saloon has stood at the corner of Shotwell and 20th streets for the past 135 years, an after-work oasis for generations of San Franciscans. During busy hours, the party pours out onto the tree-lined sidewalk and parklet. The fluidity between the outdoor and indoor spaces, combined with a century’s worth of gravitas, gives the impression that Shotwell’s is more than just a neighborhood bar — it is the neighborhood itself. 

Caring for a San Francisco institution that’s decades older than the Golden Gate Bridge is not a duty that owners Tom Madonna and David Hall take lightly. 

Article continues below this ad

“There is a responsibility. And I think that, without being too boastful, I feel like I am absolutely the perfect person for it,” Madonna said. He’s got the hands-on experience to back up the claim. Madonna and Hall are also the bar’s primary bartenders. 

Shotwell’s Saloon is currently celebrating 135 years at the corner of 20th and Shotwell streets in San Francisco’s Mission District, shown on May 24, 2026.

Shotwell’s Saloon co-owners and couple Tom Madonna, left, and David Hall sling drinks at their legendary bar in San Francisco’s Mission District on May 15, 2026.

Co-owners David Hall and Tom Madonna curated the redesign of Shotwell’s Saloon in San Francisco, shown on May 24, 2026.

The bar that would eventually become Shotwell’s was founded in 1891 by German immigrants as a combination grocery store and saloon.

Article continues below this ad

“The format was common in the working-class neighborhoods of the American West: food and dry goods up front, beer in the back. One business. Two purposes. One address,” Madonna wrote in an email. 

The saloon survived the 1906 earthquake, despite a fire caused by the quake coming within less than a quarter mile of the bar. The establishment passed as just a grocery store during Prohibition — who can say if the taps were ever actually turned off— before transitioning to a full-time bar with the passage of the 21st Amendment. C. Mich “Old Man” Cribbin took over the space and ran it for over 50 years, helping establish it as a neighborhood........

© SFGate