Say what you will about Clooney’s Pub on Valencia and 25th, but it’s got one thing the other, hipper bars in the area don’t have: a coin pusher game.
Remember dropping your mom’s hard-earned tokens into these at Chuck-E-Cheese while she sat at the table looking tired? This one, decorated with “Just for fun” decals, has a few $5 and $20 bills sprinkled in there too, upping the stakes.
We pumped at least $1.50′s worth “fun” into this baby before some dude outside used the brilliant strategy of “kicking it really hard”, which is in fact pretty easy to do considering it’s right next to the front door making for easy escape. Not that it mattered. Even after this thing let off a shrill alarm sound upon being assaulted, nobody (including the bartender) payed any mind and the guy casually collected his “winnings”.
He kicked it like 3 more times and probably made at least $3.50 for his trouble. Then he proceeded to play the game legitimately with his ill-gotten quarters, continuing the circle of life.
Not bad, but I think he could still learn something from these kids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUAfIcUnxsY
there is one of these machines at the bodega on 16th and mission. right next to the corner where they hand out free needles and condoms.
There’s another one of these in the Liquor store across the street from The Dark Room on Mission at 19th. I am terrible at it, but maybe those gigantic shots they pour at Clooney’s will make me suck less at it?
haven’t you folks colonized enough of the Mission? Can’t you leave anything alone?
what are you going to do, occupy about it?
sorry, I forgot that we’re not supposed to patronize local businesses. I’ll go ahead and order my beer from amazon now
You’re attitude towards Clooney’s is very patronizing, indeed, if you get my drift.
Buying things from local businesses is great.
Colonizing them, belittling their regular patrons, and turning long-time establishments into your personal playground isn’t so cool.
This is one of the last, very few, places untouched by Hipster Menace. Why can’t you just be content with your conquest over 99% of the Mission, and let this place be?
maybe you can get the owners of Clooney’s to create a petition for your cause of keeping Clooney’s elite and making sure that people of the wrong subcultures are not allowed to spend their money there. While you’re at it, what other undesirable groups would you like banned from your favorite bar?
This is surely the first time Clooney’s has been called “elite.”
Clooney’s would be glad to have your money, but professional drunks don’t like smug, entitled, and condescending twerps. If you show up with a laptop, or ask them where the Ping Pong table is, or try to have a flashmob, or order a Belgian beer, you might not make many friends.
You’ve won. The Mission is yours. Can’t you at least be a gracious winner?
so far you are the only one being condescending towards Clooney’s and their patrons. fyi they have Belgian beer on tap, do you ever go there or do you just like to get your feathers ruffled for shits and giggles?
just goes to show you can’t even post about a delightful game of skill and chance without it devolving into another trite Mission gentrification shitstorm. Let’s rumble!
Sorry, but your piece seemed condescending towards Clooney’s and its patrons. We all know it’s not Gestalt.
Well, I definitely apologize if it came across as condescending. It wasn’t meant to be. I like Clooney’s and have no desire to ruin it for anyone. Just saw something funny there.
Everything is always going to be about gentrification on a blog that says its ALL about the mission and somehow barely posted about Carnaval.
“Ya Basta” – Where does it say that? And why do you think there’s some imperative to post about an already very well covered yearly event on every single blog that deals with a neighborhood in which it takes place?
Um, there’s already a fancy pop-up restaurant with a beautifully-typeset menu inside Clooney’s, so why don’t you take this up with them? (We weren’t there for the food, btw. Just sports, friends, and coin pushin’)
well, then, that settles it. Clooney’s is the new hip new hot spot! Yaaay!
Also I love how this ace says that a “genuine” customer would never order a Belgian beer. They sell Stella on tap. Loser.
The post is condescending to Clooneys? Then you imply that it’s core customer base are “professional drunks”. Like anyone / anywhere wants to be called a professional drunk. A bit condescending wouldn’t you say?
no. it’s a compliment.
two beers i love you
three cheers for two beers.
ooh! let’s all pedal over to clooney’s as soon as we get off the google bus! they do have bike parking, right? do they have artisinal beer and sushi? Ping Pong! who’s for live streaming? how far from Dolores Park is it? Can we “take in” from tacolicious? I’m gonna yelp it right now!
ha ha. bikes are cool. mustaches are quirky.
There is one of those machines in SFWash. I should know.
From now on I’m going to call two beers before going anywhere, so he can judge me and decide where I’m allowed to go.
Your reduction ad absurdum exemplifies my point. You’ve won. You’ve conquered, You and your mates on the G-bus have prevailed. The Mission is yours, sir.
This is one of the last places that the hipster cum douche machine hasn’t yet turned to shit, although, per Helen above, it may well be on its way.
Why do you feel the need to invade every last possible space with your interconnected irony? Like the Spanish Empire, you must acquire and destroy everything you set your eyes on. The fact that there is a place where old, unhip, working class farts start drinking at 6am and don’t want to be bothered with your ironic ping ponging means you have to invade it and MAKE IT YOURS.
What is your over-arching need to turn every square inch of this place into your personal playground?
Dude. You REALLY need to relax. A Belgian beer and some artisanal food might do the trick.
Have you heard of Clooney’s? They have both of the above. You should check it out– it might do you some good.
I’m not sure how you’ve managed to deduce all of the above about me, since afaik we’ve never met. Is it the fact that I’m commenting on MissionMission?
If so, have you ever heard an old saying about throwing stones in glass houses?
A lot of y’all doth protest too much.
group hug
So, I live in the apartment immediately upstairs from Clooney’s. I can attest to the fact that this bar has not been “colonized” because it I think it is a strain of bar that is resistant to any outside culture. Everyone entering immediately becomes Clooney’s; Clooney’s can never become the new Mission. Funny enough, I used to live above Gestalt and then moved here to enjoy the peace and quiet (in 2007, this felt like almost moving to the country, I was, like, ‘I’m practically in Bernal!) but now it’s different. There is part of me that would like the regular patronage of Clooney’s to change because maybe they would SHUT THE FUCK UP but I think if there were more “hipsters” (whatever that even means anymore), they might be equally loud as the current patronage, just in a different kind of way. Less aggravated random yelling and fighting, but more hyena-like laughing and maybe like lots of different boomboxes on bikes. Anyway, I have NEVER noticed the coin-pushing machine and I think it’s new.
I think Clooney’s Pub is really a fan place. Is there an age limit in entering that place? That coin pusher game is an additional attraction to Clooney’s Pub. Maybe one of these days I will try that place.
What a cool place! That seems fun. Thanks for the information.
Coin pusher is really a fun game. It is quite addictive. And I guess if you don’t have tactics to get more coins, then you will really lose all your coins playing it.