This place rules. Extensive list of vermouth, sherry, and wines with excellent recommendations. Vibey music, open kitchen, lgbtq friendly and accessible. Selena forever.

Ben Blue

Fun little Spanish Neighbourhood bar. Easy to eat tapas. Nice selection of bottles for every palate. I had just a snack of pan tomate and Spanish almonds. There was lots of tinned fish available. Fun vibe and friendly staff recommended with a friend or a date or if you’re looking for something casual. I know they do live events in music sometimes.

Graciela Ch

El Chato is a gem in the Mission! A fun, familiar Spanish wine bar that instantly transports you to Madrid with its warm energy and authentic vibes. From the moment you walk in, it feels like a neighborhood bar you’d stumble upon in Spain — casual, inviting, and full of heart. The wine selection is on point, and the staff knows their stuff. Big shoutout to the atmosphere — it’s lively and the Spanish music and decor seal the deal. A perfect spot for a fun night out with friends ¡Salud!

Manny

This is truly a unique wine bar in the Mission. Their specialty is Sherry, a type of fortified wine from the Jerez region of Spain—what Champagne is to Champagne, France, Sherry is to Jerez. I had the La Guita Manzanilla and the Fossi. I preferred the latter, as the former was a bit too bold for me. Their tapas are also excellent. I had the pan con tomate and the gazpacho, both delicious. This is a great spot for a first date, catching up with friends, or going solo for some people-watching—and maybe even meeting someone new.

Kerianne Burke

We are so lucky to have El Chato in the neighborhood! Rafa and team have executed an authentic Spanish bar with great food, vermouths, and incredible vibes. All the snacks are amazing but biggest highlights for me are the boquerones (best I've ever had anywhere and get them every time I'm here) and the oxtail on special when it's available.

Gina Riggs

I've enjoyed both visits to El Chato very much! The ambiance is so fun, the wine selection is incredible and the music is great. I enjoyed the cocktail with Mommenpop Ruby Grapefruit! So much so, I took a bottle home with me. I also took a Spanish red wine (NATURALEZA SALVAJE CLARETE, AZUL Y GARANZA) with me that I loved. The Tortilla was just what I'd hoped it would be, delicious! This is the perfect place for light bites and excellent wine with a great vibe to catch up with friends or stop at before going out. I definitely will be back and highly recommend! !

Jeff Koo

This hip, unpretentious Spanish wine bar is a welcome addition to the neighborhood as it serves up affordable natural wines and pintxos (small bar snacks) in an open and breezy setting. It can get a little loud at times so go early or grab a window seat if you want a more chill setting—that said, I have a feeling this place is going to be super popular once the word gets out because the decor and crowd is effortlessly cool. It’s purposely casual, so grab a seat and order at the counter. Everything was super tasty and the gazpacho, tortilla, and Blau Cru from Penedès were our favorites. While there are a few basic veggie and vegan options, it’d be nice to see a vegan pintxo and maybe an ensalada mixta with greens and tuna on the side. The host Rafa is super charming and I’m understand his business partner, Erin, was the former wine director from Bellota, so the wine is well curated.

Maria Bruno

Chill vibes, cool interior, excellent wine selection (they have Atxa Blanco & Rojo on tap), and delicious tapas. Can’t believe I haven’t been here before, but will now add it to my regular rotation. Great spot!

Bruno Cendón

Real Spanish wine bar experience. The best you can get in the whole bay area. Also the selection of wines is unbelievable, amazing! One of my favorite places

Fernando Godoy

Super funky surprise in this charming neighborhood by Mission. This little magic gastro corner is the closest you can get to Spain’s best easy but tasty “cocina”. Incredible rabo de toro, bocadillo de presa and boquerones en vinagre and quite a cool wine selection. Rafael, a very talented entrepreneur and artist in charge of the kitchen, along with Erin, on the wines, make will make your night . I foresee a bright future to El Chato Good luck, team!

Ann Powers

This place rules. Extensive list of vermouth, sherry, and wines with excellent recommendations. Vibey music, open kitchen, lgbtq friendly and accessible. Selena forever.

Carlos Copka

People need to understand the concept of El Chato… Taverna/Wine/Pintxos Bar much like you’d find anywhere in Madrid … A place you go to snack on some cheese, Serrano Ham, tortilla de patatas, get some beer or wine and have an awesome time. This guys are doing a great thing for the neighborhood and the city. Their wine list is quite big and diverse, not to mention reasonably priced for a city like San Francisco. So go with some friends , bring a positive attitude and have a great time at El Chato

This place is Madrid in San Francisco. Great vibes, amazing wines. Get the tortilla, get always extra bed. Gracias a todos!

I love love love the atmosphere in here, it's so fun and the people working there are really friendly. I had vermouth and some snacks

I love this cute spot! I’m always trying something new there. Highly recommend asking for wine recommendations as they always have something unusual and yummy! Tons of tinned fish options as well as other tapas. They are very knowledgeable about gluten allergies and have gluten free bread and crackers.

Spanish natural wines and tapas that never disappoint El Chato is a neighborhood favorite with a relaxed vibe, an impressive natural wine list, and tapas that hit the spot every time. Expect canned fish done beautifully, marinated olives, tortilla de patata, and dishes that pair perfectly with a crisp Spanish white. It feels like discovering a secret hideout, except everyone you know already loves it. Great for: date nights, wine nights, sharing plates, “let’s catch up” evenings.

THIS PLACE IS AWESOME! Really great atmosphere (especially their playlist is pretty dope…) with really good Spanish tapas and great but affordable wine (also from a European perspective!) If people ask me about my top three spots in SF this is one of them 🫶🏽

Best bar in SF, hands down. Great Spanish food, vermut on tap, unmatched vibes. Rafa is an amazing host and will teach the art of porrón drinking.

This is definitely my favourite bar in San Francisco. Yummy spritzes, wide ranging + diverse wine selection (though the spritzes / aperitifs are my first choice). Also, great food selection for a bar - get a cheese board and explore the tapas for sure.

MissionYoga

Spanish natural wines and tapas that never disappoint El Chato is a neighborhood favorite with a relaxed vibe, an impressive natural wine list, and tapas that hit the spot every time. Expect canned fish done beautifully, marinated olives, tortilla de patata, and dishes that pair perfectly with a crisp Spanish white. It feels like discovering a secret hideout, except everyone you know already loves it. Great for: date nights, wine nights, sharing plates, “let’s catch up” evenings.

Ma Connay

THIS PLACE IS AWESOME! Really great atmosphere (especially their playlist is pretty dope…) with really good Spanish tapas and great but affordable wine (also from a European perspective!) If people ask me about my top three spots in SF this is one of them 🫶🏽

Fabian Martinez

Best bar in SF, hands down. Great Spanish food, vermut on tap, unmatched vibes. Rafa is an amazing host and will teach the art of porrón drinking.

Sameera Pant

This is definitely my favourite bar in San Francisco. Yummy spritzes, wide ranging + diverse wine selection (though the spritzes / aperitifs are my first choice). Also, great food selection for a bar - get a cheese board and explore the tapas for sure.

Ben Taborek

Love seeing places like this in the neighborhood! Seeing their busy patio and great music 7 days a week really adds to the fun vibes in the mission. Good wine and eclectic art/music. Highly recommend

Rachel Flynn

I love this cute spot! I’m always trying something new there. Highly recommend asking for wine recommendations as they always have something unusual and yummy! Tons of tinned fish options as well as other tapas. They are very knowledgeable about gluten allergies and have gluten free bread and crackers.

Vibe is really great and the sun pours in during happy hour making for a beautiful time. Our bill was surprisingly high given what we had & my only other complaint was that the cheese tray leaves something to be desired. It’s three nearly identical semi-soft cheeses with random crackers everywhere haha I think it would be vastly improved with a variety of cheese, more than 6 grapes, and maybe some apples? Mustard? Nuts?

A Poe

Vibe is really great and the sun pours in during happy hour making for a beautiful time. Our bill was surprisingly high given what we had & my only other complaint was that the cheese tray leaves something to be desired. It’s three nearly identical semi-soft cheeses with random crackers everywhere haha I think it would be vastly improved with a variety of cheese, more than 6 grapes, and maybe some apples? Mustard? Nuts?

Cute spot, the vibes are great, and the vermouth selection is really nice, but do not hope to talk in here with your friends because the music volume is typically to the level of a club… even though is a bar 🤷‍♂️

Umberto Aiello

Cute spot, the vibes are great, and the vermouth selection is really nice, but do not hope to talk in here with your friends because the music volume is typically to the level of a club… even though is a bar 🤷‍♂️

Stephanie Whalen

I still really want to try this place out, but when I went with my partner and a friend, it was unfortunately SO loud we couldn’t stay. Between the music, talking voice level, and lack of acoustic treatments, the volume level was absolutely intolerable. On a Monday night! I hope they can dial in the acoustics because it otherwise seemed like a great vibe, and I love some good tortilla.