Joe’s Juice Joint

Joe’s Juice Joint outlived the original intentions of owner Clint Nolan (who also owns Alabama Song, which is upstairs, plus La Cholita , Sneaky Tony’s and Pleased to Meet You).

When he closed his acclaimed Freo restaurant Harvest, Nolan acquired the former Northbridge nightclub and opened Joe’s as a stopgap while he considered his options. It stuck around.

Dimly lit, with flashing pinball machines and the high likelihood of a Guns N’ Roses riff or two is the cut of Joes’ cloth. It’s popular with the hospitality crowd, and quickly took off with the late-night punters of Northbridge.

Taking a bowerbird approach, Nolan is inspired by his travel in the US. The bar takes the route of the best of San Francisco’s dive bars: late-night, simple, with a solid back bar, craft beer, no cover charge and music to cut loose to.

Nolan has worked as a chef, and while many small bars straddle the space between bar and restaurant, there’s no culinary pretensions here. If $2 bowls of Cheezels aren’t your thing, then eat before you get drawn into Joes’ late-night embrace.