The Pig & Whistle

Your neck hurts, right below the protrusion of the back of your skull. Its been with you all day, as you gaze up at the indicator light, asking your deity of choice to allow your poles to switch over without forcing you to use your EPU. The lights of the division are so close, and there is paperwork to fill out, and one of your old classmates to shoot bullshit with, and a defect card to double check before you go home.
Somehow you’re sitting at a bar.
Do you taste the pucker of well whiskey? It hurts, and it burns, and runs roughshod upon your palate. You hurt. After hours of contorting your body into the shape of a trolley coach operator your knees hurt, and your sciatic nerve, and your eyes. You remove your workshirt, and your safety vest, and your overcoat, and for a second, you could again be a graduate student under dim light in your t-​shirt of a band you once saw. You could be what you once were, until the beautiful women next to you noticed your workshirt, and the graphic design on your overcoat, and the bags under your eyes and the crows feet and realizes that you aren’t that which you once were, but are instead something else.
Your beer grows tepid.
It feels almost cinematic, listening to the din of conversation as you try to focus on one thing after looking left, right, left every eight seconds over the course of 480 minutes. So you focus on the whisky, the tap handles, the bartender you know well and the barback you know better, or the used bottle opener on the standing cooler under the christmas lights. Does that feel better? Can you quiet your gaze?
You’ll survive, but never fully recover, like the men working in the house of butterflies, lead sunk deep into their bones.
They know you here, and it isn’t Hemmingway’s «Clean Well Lighted Place» but it is a place that you can sit for a spell… and that’s enough. And you sit for a spell, as your thoughts turn into the white noise of a rushing cascade from the poison, and you see yourself clearly, and you say to yourself (in the style of David Byrne) «My God, what have I done?!»
Same as it ever was.
Actual review: nice bartenders, cheap drinks, pleasant ambiance, a good neighborhood place
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I love Pig and the Whistle. I go back whenever I get the chance in the city. The Shepherd’s pie is to die for, bartenders are really friendly, people are pretty nice and friendly as well. Seems like a solid neighborhood regular stop.
Highly recommend if you’re looking for a great pint and food. It’s a full bar as well :)

Great food, very cheap too! Love the garden burger! Staff are very friendly too! Will definitely be going back!

This is a nice pub. The staff is friendly and the service is very good. The quality of the food is good. Based on my previous visits. I really like their Apple Cider and Shandy. I also enjoyed their Cornish Pasty. It was big, flaky, and stuffed with mashed potatoes and meat. It also came with a side salad. Their Sausage Rolls and Calamari Rings were Okay. Their Onions Rings were good. It was big and appeared to be beer battered. I also tried their Bangers and Mash, it was good. It was tasty and filling. The ambiance of the place was very good, not too crowded or loud. I would definitely come to this place again.
Also, when you order food and drinks you need to order at the bar and pay first.

Oh wow, those chicken wings! Amazing.
Nice and chilled place. Nice staff, couple of tvs. Local bar. Dogs allowed. Nice and laid back.

Why use instant potato mix? So confused as to the logic here. Make your kitchen staff actually do some prep and make real mash potatoes. Service is 5 stars food was 2. Great price tho

This place is terrible. Bartender can’t even make an old fashion. What kind of bar is this?

Not too shabby for a quick drink with co-​workers. ;)
My office is nearby and P&W seems to be the respite from office life for a few hours. :)

Friendly bar, nice patrons and bartenders alike. Good selection of brews on draft. We had the chicken wings. These aren’t your standard wings. They come dry with the sauce on the side. Very nice crunch on them. Accompanied by a side salad. I would recommend these. Different but good different. Check them out!

Food was ok
Service was ok
Crowd seemed like a local one and didn’t get too loud or rowdy when we were there on Saturday night.

Not too bad for a burger ‘n’ fries lunch.
By chance, was in the neighborhood for a few hours and needed a place to eat and have a quick conference call. Rather than sit in a noisy coffee shop or risk talking and driving, figured this quaint pub would be a proper Plan B.
I wouldn’t encourage turning Pig and Whistle into your next coworking space, but it got the job done quite literally for a few hours.
First off, burger and fries are superb. Exactly what one would expect from a bar. Love the thick cut potatoes. Patty was a perfect med rare. Add a pint if you’re feeling frisky. Sprite for me since I was driving.
Since it was still early there weren’t too many patrons to mind that I was on a laptop with earbuds. I found a quiet corner in the back and chatted it up as non-​obtrusively as possible.
Really nice bartender. Appreciate him leaving me be. Paid and left without any fuss.
I want to come back for a burger, beer and trivia.

Good brews, good food, and Trivia Night. Needless to say, I’ve been back a few times.
I used to live around the corner while in law school at USF and frequented this place on a few occasions. I came back this past Sunday because the girl was craving some bangers and mash (she’s Scottish who was born in the UK). I had the wings and fried calamari. The wings were breaded, which is not my preference. The fried calamari was also overly breaded, but the flavors were nice. In the past, I’ve had the bangers and mash, Sheppard’s pie, and jalepeno poppers, all of of which were good.
The 4-​star review is mostly for the service and bar, but the food deserves a solid 3 – 3.5.

Great food, good service. It’s a nice place to get some good food, plus some cheap hearty eats! The bartender was nice and attentive, told us to sit wherever and told us to order our food at the bar.
I would say 4.5 stars, but will round up! I definitely loved this place, but it wouldn’t be my favorite, but I would definitely recommend it since it was an overall good experience.
It was a nice quiet and chill location. The food was not fancy, but very good hearty British food. We got:
–Sausage Rolls — These were pretty good, I could’ve gotten full off just these, but we shared. :) They tasted like flaky rolls stuffed with homemade sausage meat. ⁴⁄₅
— Shepherd’s Pie — Very yummy. Got it with the veggies, also delicious. Didn’t use any of the gravy. I liked how the mashed potatoes were also baked to the point of dry/​crispy on top. Good ol’ shepherd’s pie! 4.5÷5
–Mushroom and Steak Pie — The steaks and sauce were good. Way too much mashed potato ratio. Veggies were delicious. For me, I personally didn’t like this as much, but my friends liked it. (It’s okay, since I didn’t order it). The flaky pastry on top ended up turning into a soggy mess really quick. It was hard to cut into. Flavor wise, it was good. ³⁄₅
–Fish and Chips — The fish and chips were delicious! The crust/​fry on the fish was so flaky! Definitely above average fish and chips! ⁵⁄₅

This place is amazing. Food was excellent and authentic. Took my English relatives for fish and chips and they were throughly impressed. It was like being in an English pub. Best English food I have had in the states. And the best part of all. The whole menu is under 10.00. WOW

My favorite of favorite neighborhood bars. This place has a great happy hour, pretty delicious curry, and an awesome selection of beers and ciders on tap. Defintely worth a stop if you are in the area.

So, I didn’t exactly stop in for the Trivia Night (though I wish I lived closer so I could), but I did have a hankering for fish and chips and a lot of greasy food after working a long festival day where food happened to be scarce.
Bae & I are big fans of sharing with one another, so we split an order of the Fish & Chips and an order of the Buffalo wings.
The Buffalo Wings were not by any means traditional wings. They were in some crunchy/​crispy batter and sauces came on the side (bbq + buffalo). We tossed the suckers in the buffalo sauce and they stayed happily crispy as we worked our way through the order. The fish and chips were gigantic, two big pieces (fried to perfection). All that was needed was a sprinkle of sea salt and a hearty sprinkle of malt vinegar and I was in fried food heaven.
I also happened to grab a pint of beer and my man got a Diet Coke and the entire thing came out to like $ 22.50, which for SF seemed like the best deal on the planet considering the quality and quantity of food.

This is a proper British pub. You come here, because it’s a PROPER BRITISH PUB. And because they have one of the best jukes in town.
I ain’t hearing all this, «the bartender ignored me» or «the food was just average» or «it needs a good clean and it smells». Yep. Again, proper British pub. Speak up, look your bartender in the eye, order a beer and don’t wait for them to ask you first. As for the food, don’t knock it, because for British pub food, it’s way above standard, trust me on this. If you don’t like the smell, then you’ve been too drunk in other establishments to notice that’s what all bars smell like. Actually, this bar is cleaner than most because they serve food, dunno what ya’ll on about. Take it or leave. Love it or hate it. Pig & Whistle is exactly as advertised.
San Francisco needs more establishments like this. Somewhere I can grab a pint or two, listen to some tunes and talk to my friends, not yell, because I can actually hear them and the music at same time. Imagine that. This place makes me feel human.
Did it hurt that the last time I went it was Nimoy night and they were playing Star Trek on the big screen? Absolutely not.
Live long and prosper Pig & Whistle.

Such poor execution. You need to be drunk FIRST for the food to be good.
The fries with curry. Fries overlooked. Sauces from a can. Really.
The Shepards Pie arrived with a side of veggies that looked tortured. Salad was old and undressed.
Horrible

The Pig & Whistle is a ridiculously awesome pub that serves British food. The staff is über-​friendly, the beer selection is great, and the food is superb. Among the things my party tried, we actually enjoyed everything, but we really digged the Fried Calamari and Fish and Chips.
And a nice plus is that even though it’s in the city, you shouldn’t have a hard time finding parking in the area!

Why does Sunday brunch have to be a waiting nightmare?
* I’m looking at you Corner Store, uh, right around the corner from this pub! *
It doesn’t have to be! Starving (but not stoned) is not a good feeling to have. For casual, no wait, brunch food with big portions, Pig & Whistle is the answer. Don’t look for traditional pancakes and french toast during weekend brunch. Instead you get hearty grub like meat pies, bangers n mash, burger and fries or what we all ordered: THE Breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast and sausage and beans for less than $ 10.
Wednesday night is trivia night with $ 3.50 beers. With a traditional pub atmosphere that’s cozy and welcoming, no doubt I’ll be back.