About
A joint venture of three friends who met tending bar at world famous local's pub, Tunnel Top, the reborn KoKo Cocktails is everything you've been looking for in a bar, provided you're a discerning connoisseur of primo watering holes. Dark—so very dark—and TV-free, KoKo is simply the best place in all of San Francisco to conclude a trying day. The drinks are strong, the music is cool and always curated by actual humans, and the owners—Lori Martens, Chris Keith, and Justin Mulford —are remarkably good hosts. The trio had a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve here in the Tenderloin, and the vision has been realized. Drop by. Once you've pushed on past the weird, 50s era Korean sign and the funky Dutch door, you'll find a haven that feels like you're a million miles away from your daily grind, you'll be served a drink you like, and you'll grin the universal grin. You just might have the time of your life.
MEET THE STAFF:
Lori Martens
Lori Ann Martens
Stats:
Nickname: Nicknames are Stupid!
Birthdate: a lady never tells
Birth City: Sonora, CA
Favorite Cocktail: .Buster Brown (or a Shorty)
Favorite Booze: Eagle Rare
Previous Jobs: The Metro, Romolo, Rosewood, Hiking in Southwest, Tunnel Top
About you and alcohol:
At the Tunnel Top, at last call, the doorman, Bashkim, stacked all of the glasses with little bits of leftover drinks in them at the end of the bar to be washed. As the patrons began to leave for the night, I looked down the bar and saw a young man filling his Nalgene bottle with all those little leftover drinks from various glasses. I guess he needed one for the road. YUCK!
Christopher Keith
Christopher Keith
Stats:
Nickname: Cool Keith (aka: ck)
Birthdate: August 23, 1969
Birth City: San Diego, CA
Favorite Cocktail: .38 Special (a Fernet & a PBR)
Favorite Booze: Old Potrero 18th Century
Previous Jobs: The Abbey Room, Tunnel Top, Tallula, The Buccaneer, The Cigar Bar
About you and alcohol:
Working the Door at Tunnel Top years ago, there was a homeless man who regularly danced near the front door. He never spoke, he just danced, but with the swagger of James Brown. One night while dancing close to me he paused and looked up with an air of discomfort on his face. Seconds later, he began shaking his left leg vigorously, working something down his pant leg and just as I was going to ask if he was okay, a nice little poo droppe out onto the sidewalk. Unfazed, he just went back to dancing!
Justin Mulford
Justin Mulford
Stats:
Nickname: El Capitain
Birthdate: June 19, 1973
Birth City: Logansport, IN
Favorite Cocktail: .Smoke Weed
Favorite Booze: Van Winkle 12yr Bourbon
Previous Jobs: Jillian’s, Foreign Cinema, Tunnel Top, Tallula, Presidio Social Club
About you and alcohol:
Too much Alcohol = Sleepwalking and peeing on things I shouldn’t, waking up and denying it all . . .
Alison Leddy
Alison Leddy
Stats:
Nickname: Al, but only if I can call you Betty
Birthdate: June 16, 1982
Birth City: Columbus, OH
Favorite Cocktail: .Sazerac
Favorite Booze: Bulleit
Previous Jobs: Sandwich Artist, Eight Years as a Nanny Extraordinare
About you and alcohol:
I think it’s fair to say that alcohol has brought out the best in me. It has made me proud, like the time that I finally out drank my siblings and took home the trophy for the annual Leddy drinkathon. It has made me graceful, like the time I passed out on a table at Zeitgeist in a karate kid shower costume. And finally, it has awarded me a profound sense of responsibility, like the time that I showed up at Chris’ party two hours late, spilled champagne on his couch and tried to sleep in it . . .
Tyler Bass
Tyler Bass
Stats:
Nickname: Tbass, Tbasco
Birthdate: September 18, 1984
Birth City: San Diego, CA
Favorite Cocktail: Any IPA
Favorite Booze: Canadian Mist
Previous Jobs: Oggi’s Pizza, and well . . . KoKo’s.
About you and alcohol:
While celebrating my friend Chris’ 21st birthday with friends and a girl Chris had just met, our friend, Zack, bought a round of Jameson birthday shots only to devilishly replace one of them with 151. He slid the glass in front of C and we all drank. Immediately something was not right and Chris’ smile turned to a frown. With no time to make it to the bathroom, C proceeded to throw up all over himself and the girl he had invited. Said girl, gathered her belongings and walked out, never to be seen by Chris again.
Erik Hume
Erik von Allen Hume
Stats:
Nickname: ERk, as in Erk the Jerk
Birthdate: January, 27, 1983
Birth City: Santa Rosa, CA
Favorite Cocktail: .Rattlesnake! (shit bites)
Favorite Booze: Corralejo Rep.
Previous Jobs: SF Giants, Dalva, Suger Bowl, Many, many NorCal bakeries.
About you and alcohol:
Drinking 151 and mashing shoulders into fences for about two hours, . . . until the cops took me and my friends home in the back of their squad car.
James T. Moran
James T. Moran
Stats:
Nickname: Jimi
Birthdate: November 01, 1984
Birth City: Long Beach, CA
Favorite Cocktail: .Sazerac (w/Rittenhouse)
Favorite Booze: Old Potrero Hotalings Rye
Previous Jobs: Tres Agaves, Slide, Colibri, Whiskey Thieves, Mission Hill Saloon
About you and alcohol:
On a recent trip to Mexico, I packed my entire bag with old clothes and garments that I’d grown out of. Throughout my journey, I gave them all away and used the extra space to bring back as much Tequila as possible; only to realize shortly before my return flight, that I had given my last pair of boxers away too. So, I arrived back in America in Cammando Mode. Thank you, Eric Ruben, for the guidance.
Richard Woodruff
Richard Woodruff
Stats:
Nickname: Chardmo
Birthdate: January 12, 1976
Birth City: Jacksonville, FL
Favorite Cocktail: .Pina Colada
Favorite Booze: Fernet
Previous Jobs: Wells Fargo, Unemployment, Disk Jocky, Triple Crown
About you and alcohol:
The first sip of booze I took was when, my childhood BFF, Trey and I raided the liquer cabinet of some airplane bottles. We went up to the loft above my garage (aka the “fort”) to do our research. I cracked open a Jack Daniels and took a good pull off of it, instantly spit it out onto the exposed tar paper wall and a few days later, upon returning to the “fort,” I noticed the tar paper had started to bleach. It was from my first shot of Whiskey. It stayed there as a reminder for YEARS to come!
1060 Geary St. between Polk and Van Ness (415) 885-4788