By Natalia Gurevich | Examiner staff writer
Sep 19, 2025
Interior of Specs’ bar at 12 William Saroyan Place in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
I’ve walked down Columbus Avenue in North Beach countless times, usually on my way to grab a slice of Golden Boy pizza or for an afternoon relaxing in Washington Square Park.
But what I never noticed, tucked off to the side, is a quintessential San Francisco watering hole that has resided in a little alley near Broadway for almost six decades: Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe.
The bar has something for everyone — a quiet place for a straightforward drink, a $7 tray of cheese and saltines, a life-size sarcophagus carved by a former employee — but I wanted to learn how to make a cocktail that the bar’s legendary former owner, Richard “Specs” Simmons, might have enjoyed.
Fortunately for me, Simmons’ granddaughter is the bar’s current owner. Marlisa Simmons-Cook was able to walk me through its history, her grandfather’s legacy and her version of a Manhattan.
Arriving at the bar on a recent afternoon, I didn’t know where to look first. The walls are decked out with artifacts, photos, artwork, old signs and memorabilia collected over the years by Specs himself or given to him by bar regulars. Simmons-Cook, who grew up in the bar, said that one of her favorite pieces is a portrait of her grandmother that one rude customer tried to steal years ago, prompting her family to bolt everything to the walls.
It’s all in the family at Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe
Greg