Haunted Pub Crawl Near Me: Old Ship Saloon on a Gold Rush Hull

Search haunted pub crawl near me from a hotel in the Financial District and the most literal answer is a bar built on a shipwreck. The Old Ship Saloon stands at 298 Pacific Avenue, on the corner of Battery Street at the edge of Jackson Square, and its own sign reads Est. 1851. The ship Arkansas lies under this corner, the first bartender became a famous shanghaier, and the cooks blame a ghost when things break. The doors are open every day from 11 am to 2 am.

The story the bar tells starts at sea. According to the saloon's history page, the Gold Rush ship Arkansas arrived in San Francisco Bay in December 1849 and hit rocks near Alcatraz. The steamship Senator was paid $2,000 to tow her to the corner of the Pacific and Battery wharves, where she was scuttled and later landlocked as the shallow cove was filled in. A doorway was cut into her bow, a gangplank led inside, and she became the Old Ship Ale House.

What makes this a haunted stop rather than just an old one is the people. The saloon says James Jimmy Laflin crewed on the Arkansas and became the ale house's first bartender at 19, then grew into one of the most renowned crimps, the men who drugged or tricked sailors onto outbound ships. Its timeline adds that by 1883 the bar was Dick's, run by Dick Ahlers, who shanghaied sailors out of the saloon. San Francisco Planning's legacy business file calls the place a sailor's saloon and part-time brothel that became a Barbary Coast legend.

The current ghost story is modest and comes from the kitchen. In a July 2026 SF Examiner piece, co-owner Tod Alsman said he had not seen anything suspicious himself, but the kitchen staff are convinced. He installed a clock in the kitchen, found it broken, and one of the cooks told him it was the ghost. I choose to believe it, Alsman said. Ask the bartender about the clock, and listen for the version the night crew tells.

Now the food, which is better than a crawl needs. The Fish and Chips are $19, beer-battered local rockfish with seasoned fries and caper tartar sauce, a fitting order on a ship. The Burger is $18, a half-pound beef patty or Beyond patty with American cheese, caramelized onion, dill pickle and housemade Russian dressing, and bacon adds $4. A cup of clam chowder with oyster crackers is $8, or $12 for a bowl, which is the right size before a long walk.

Other plates on the bill of fare make a good shared table: Chicken Mole Nachos at $17, three fish tacos at $16, a California Reuben at $17, a Patty Melt at $18 and Grilled Skirt Steak at $24. Chicken wings come at $15 for eight or $22 for twelve. Finish with the $2 warm chocolate chip cookie. The Infatuation reported in 2025 that the kitchen serves until 1 am, an hour before the bar closes.

The drink to order is the Pisco Punch, the Gold Rush-era San Francisco classic, made here with Caravedo pisco brandy, pineapple gum and lemon. Every house cocktail is $13, including the Gold Rush with bourbon, lemon and honey syrup and the Philosopher's Manhattan with bourbon, Grand Marnier and Carpano Antica. Draft beers are $8, such as Scrimshaw Pilsner from North Coast Brewing. Budget crawlers can take the Cold Gold can and a shot for $9.

The best time to come is late afternoon, when the light on Pacific is low and the room is calm. Big matches change the mood: the SF Examiner photographed a crowd watching the United States play Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup here in July 2026, so expect the screens to be on during big games. There is no listed reservation system; parties planning a group stop can send an event inquiry to oldshipsaloonsf@gmail.com.

The building itself is a second chapter. The 1906 earthquake and fire badly damaged the structure, and Henry Klee and Co. rebuilt it in 1907. The saloon's timeline lists a string of names after that, including Brick's Bar and Grill under Bill Duffy in 1992, the return of the Old Ship name in 1999 after an extensive remodel, and brothers Eric and Marc Passetti running it from 2017. The city has granted it Legacy Business status.

The hull itself is where the stories split. The saloon says housing construction around it uncovered the wooden hull, archaeologists excavated the back third, and the front still sits under the bar. San Francisco Planning's legacy file instead says the ship was broken up for salvage in 1857 and that remains of the actual old ship were unearthed in 2016 during the neighboring build. Either way, you are drinking over the footprint of a Gold Rush vessel.

For the next stop, walk west into Jackson Square. Bix, at 56 Gold Street, is the Jackson Square bar the SF Examiner profiled in February 2026 for its classic cocktails and twists, a polished contrast to the sailor saloon. From there head up to Columbus Avenue for Comstock Saloon at 155 Columbus, founded in 1907 and open Tuesday to Saturday from 4 pm to midnight; its calendar lists it as closed for private events on October 30.

Finish in North Beach at Vesuvio Cafe, 255 Columbus Avenue, which the October 2026 SF Examiner noted claims at least one former regular as a current ghost. That route covers the old waterfront, the Barbary Coast and the Beat era in one evening on foot. Wear comfortable shoes, since Pacific Avenue climbs steadily from Battery back to Columbus, and the sidewalks are uneven around the alleys of Jackson Square.

One warning for searchers: the old oldshipsaloon.com address no longer belongs to the bar, so use oldshipsaloonsf.com, which forwards to the current site. Saloon claims about being the oldest bar in the city are disputed by Elixir, The Saloon and the Little Shamrock, which is half the fun of a crawl argument.

This stop suits crawlers who want history they can stand on, groups who need a real dinner before a long night, and anyone who likes a ghost story told modestly by the staff. Order the Pisco Punch first, the fish and chips second, ask about the kitchen clock, then walk uphill toward Columbus while the fog rolls in off the bay.