Smitty's Bar (England)

OVERVIEW

Smitty’s (214 Caledonia Street, Sausalito, CA), is the oldest bar in Sausalito to retain its original construction, this building has operated on Caledonia Street continuously since 1925. Frank ‘Smitty’ W. Smith leased the building in 1938, turned it into a bar, and nothing has changed much since: pool tables, shuffleboard, TVs, open until 2 AM. It remains Sausalito's most authentic neighborhood bar.   

HISTORY

Sausalito was founded by an Englishman. William Richardson — born in London in 1795, first mate on the British whaling ship Orion — jumped ship 1822, married the daughter of the Commandant of the Presidio 1824, then in 1838 after receiving the Rancho Sausalito land grant, he moved here full time and built his hacienda right on the grounds where Caledonia Street and Smitty’s resides today. Rchardson laid out the early streets and influenced the officers and crews of British whaling ships to stay here as well, forming much of Sausalito’s earliest waterfront community. Upper-class British expatriates later occupied the Victorian mansions on the hills above Caledonia Street. Smitty’s saloon, founded by Frank Smith of English heritage in 1938, continues that 180 year British legacy right here on the grounds it’s English founder 

FEATURED WHISKEY - The English Original Single Malt Whisky

St. George’s Distillery, Roudham, Norfolk, England  ·  43% ABV

England’s first dedicated single malt distillery in over 100 years, opened in 2006 on a Norfolk barley farm. Named World’s Best Single Malt at the World Whisky Awards 2024. Gold, San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Unpeated, bourbon-cask matured: vanilla, soft orchard fruit, malt, and a clean dry finish. The most English pour imaginable — on the street its English founder once walked and called home.