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.
Examiner reporter Natalia Gurevich making a Manhattan cocktail at Specs’ bar at 12 William Saroyan Place in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
Craig Lee/The Examiner
Another is a framed article, with a photo of her grandfather and a group of his friends. It details an account of how, in 1969, just a year after the bar opened, he attempted to sail down the coast to Los Angeles and almost immediately capsized in the San Francisco Bay, right by the Golden Gate Bridge.
“All they had was a bottle of gin and, of course, a lantern,” Simmons-Cook said. “So they were, like, floating in the sea, holding up the lantern, and drinking to stay warm.”
They were eventually saved by a boat called the Santana, which, she said, had at one point been owned by actor Humphrey Bogart.
That’s just one of her grandfather’s crazier stories. Souvenirs from his travels dot the walls, such as indigenous carvings and art he collected in the Pacific Northwest. He encouraged his customers to adventure as well.
Although not on display, the bar keeps a collection of postcards that regulars and visitors have sent to Specs’ from their travels. At a quick glance, I saw messages from as far back as the mid-’90s and from places around the world.
On display next to Simmons-Cook’s grandmother’s portrait is a message that a regular had written in a bottle and thrown into the ocean, with instructions to the finder to send the note back to the bar with details about where it was found. The bottle had found its way all the way to Malaysia from the San Francisco Bay, according to the letter written and sent by the person who found it.
“There’s all kinds of crazy stuff here,” Simmons-Cook said. “I’m still learning the history of everything.”
Newspaper story of Richard “Specs” Simmons (second from left) with four others survived a capsized boat in the ocean just outside of the Golden Gate Bridge on September 22, 1969, displayed at Specs’ bar at 12 William Saroyan Place in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
Craig Lee/The Examiner
There isn’t an official catalog of everything that’s on the walls, Simmons-Cook said, but her mother keeps track of most things in her head. The two took over ownership of the bar a few years after her grandfather passed away in 2016. After weathering the challenges of taking the helm during the COVID-19 pandemic, Simmons-Cook said she’s getting the hang of things.
“The goal has been to keep it mostly untouched and preserved … the feeling of it, because that’s what is so special to the regulars and the visitors who’ve been here over the years,” she said.
Specs’ is much more of a museum — it’s in the name, after all — than a bar, or even a curiosity shop. Simmons-Cook said that the place has been popular with tourists and San Francisco locals alike over the decades, from merchant marines to artists and writers.
“It is a very authentically San Francisco establishment, reminiscent of how San Francisco used to feel, kind of pre-tech-era,” she said. “It feels like you’re going back in time.”
I felt that beckoning escape from the present the moment I arrived and, hoping to hold on to that feeling, I asked Simmons-Cook to share how to make a drink that she felt best represents her grandfather’s bar.
Alan Black has been bartending at Specs’ off and on since the ‘90s, and although he’s not the longest-tenured, he gave his approval of Simmons-Cook’s classic choice: a Manhattan, but with Jameson whiskey instead of bourbon.
“Is that a faux pas, if I make it with the Jameson?” Simmons-Cook asked Black.
“Nothing is a faux pas,” he responded.
I’d just made a Manhattan the previous week at Sam’s Grill, so I was feeling pretty confident, but I’d never tried making one with Jameson instead of bourbon.
Following Simmons-Cook’s instructions, I started with a martini glass, filled with ice water to keep it chilled.
Co-owner Maralisa Simmons-Cook with a Manhattan cocktail at Specs’ bar at 12 William Saroyan Place in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
Craig Lee/The Examiner
Then, I filled up a glass tumbler with ice and added the Jameson, using a four-second count instead of using a measuring tool. This was followed by a healthy splash of sweet vermouth and a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters before I placed a strainer over the tumbler and, using a bar spoon, jostled the ice mixture for several seconds.
This is a technique that I’ve now encountered a few times — it’s a way to mix the ingredients with more vigor than stirring, but with less chance of the bruising that shaking can cause. Simmons-Cook called it “muddling” the ice.
I then dumped the ice water out of the glass and, after straining the mixture in, topped the cocktail with a Luxardo cherry.
After taking a sip, I understood why Simmons-Cook made her Manhattans with Jameson. The traditional bourbon cocktail often seems too sweet to me. But with the Jameson, it took on a slight edge with a little spice that made it feel more balanced.
We toasted successfully making our cocktails and, with her grandfather’s legacy all around us, I asked her to share more about him.
“He had a really sharp sense of humor, and was like a total ladies’ man, or flirty, till the very end,” she said. “But he also could be shy and introverted.”
He was best known in The City for creating “this welcoming space,” she said. Sitting among his memories, I couldn’t help but agree.
Dining and Cooking