The next stop was the Black Horse London Pub. Billed as the smallest bar in San Francisco, I can't imagine another bar beating it out. The sign outside indicates that the place is also a deli, but I didn't get any indication that they actually served food once inside. The space is about 8 feet wide by 20 feet deep, with 4 feet between the bar and the wall. It probably seats about 10, and with standing room, maybe 20 total people can fit in there at once. It's decorated like an English pub, complete with football scarfs and imported beer trays. They only served beer, but had a nice selection that were described in a very waiterly manner by the barkeep: "tonight we have an English cask ale on drought, bottles of Bombardier Brown Ale, a nice Chimey Blue, the German lager Stiegal and a wonderful hard cider".
The four of us squeezed in as far as we could go, ordered a few beers and began the game of letting people in and out. It was a pretty funny scene what with all the squeezing by going on, but everybody seemed to be having a great time and the bartender was exceptionally attentive and genuinely friendly. A few more people squeezed in after us, but the place was pretty much packed tight after that. All in all, it's a great bar (if not a civic treasure) that I'll work hard to get back to. Mary and her brother showed up as we were finishing our pints, so we decided to move on since there was no way anyone else was going to fit into the bar.
The Black Horse London Pub, 1514 Union Street
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