AA Meetings in San Francisco

Find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in San Francisco today through San Francisco and Marin Intergroup at aasfmarin.org, which staffs a 24-hour helpline at (415) 674-1821. East Bay groups use their own intergroup in Oakland, and Spanish-language meetings have a dedicated office. Our meeting finder at /meetings/ searches public AA feeds by day and format.

Call 911 if someone is overdosing, seizing, not breathing, or cannot be woken. For a mental health or suicide crisis, call or text 988.

How to Find AA Meetings Across San Francisco

San Francisco and Marin Intergroup is the central office for the city and the county to the north. Its helpline, (415) 674-1821, is answered by a sober A.A. member 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for both San Francisco and Marin callers. The Central Office and bookstore at 1821 Sacramento Street are open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday noon to 4 p.m. The intergroup says it serves more than 900 A.A. groups, and it publishes the meeting directory, sells literature and runs the phone service.

Across the bay, East Bay Intergroup in Oakland is a separate office. Its 24-hour helpline is (510) 839-8900, and its directory lives at eastbayaa.org. If your meeting is in Oakland, Berkeley or the surrounding East Bay cities, use that office rather than the San Francisco one. A.A.'s national directory lists additional offices for San Mateo County and the Peninsula.

Spanish-language meetings are handled by the Oficina Central Hispana de San Francisco, which answers (628) 224-1717 and keeps its own directory at oficinacentralhispanasf.com.

A.A. says the national website is not a meeting finder and points people to a local office and the free Meeting Guide app. Our meeting finder is one more way in, searching public A.A. and N.A. feeds by day, time, fellowship, and format. Confirm the listing with the group before you go.

San Francisco Meeting Hubs & Neighborhoods

The city is only about seven miles across, which makes most neighborhoods reachable by transit, but the hills and the bay still shape where meetings sit.

• Downtown, Union Square and the Financial District. Downtown is the center of the rail network, where BART and Muni Metro meet, making this the easiest district to reach from outside the city.
• SoMa, the Mission and Potrero Hill. The Mission and SoMa have dense meeting coverage along the BART and Muni corridors, with many evening and newcomer groups.
• The Castro and Duboce Triangle. This central neighborhood sits on the Muni Metro lines and has a long-standing recovery community, including LGBTQ+ meetings.
• The Richmond and Sunset districts. The western neighborhoods are served by Muni Metro and bus lines, putting meetings there within reach without a car.
• The Marina, Russian Hill and North Beach. The northern waterfront neighborhoods are a bus or short ride from downtown, with meetings in church halls and community rooms.
• Across the bay. Oakland, Berkeley and the East Bay are covered by East Bay Intergroup, and BART links them to the city in minutes. Treat the East Bay as its own list.

Common Meeting Formats & What to Expect

Meetings are labelled open or closed. A.A. describes an open meeting as one that anyone interested in the program may attend, including observers, while a closed meeting is for A.A. members or people who have a drinking problem and want to stop. A newcomer to the fellowship is usually most comfortable at an open or beginner meeting.

The directory tags each listing by type, so you can choose in advance:

• Newcomer: aimed at people new to recovery.
• Discussion: the group talks through a topic.
• Step Study / 12 & 12: working A.A.'s Steps and Traditions.
• Big Book: reading and discussing A.A.'s basic text.
• Speaker: members share their story, then the room opens up.
• Men's, women's, LGBTQ+, Spanish, and wheelchair-accessible meetings each appear as their own type.

Two things never change. A.A. states there are no dues or fees for membership, so attendance is free and the passing basket is voluntary. And no one has to speak; A.A.'s newcomer page says you can just sit and listen. Anonymity is a founding principle, not a form you complete, so what you hear in the room stays in the room. The first-meeting guide describes a typical meeting hour.

Getting Around & Meeting Online

BART connects San Francisco with the East Bay, the Peninsula and the airport, with 50 stations across about 131 route miles. Four of its downtown stations — Embarcadero, Montgomery Street, Powell Street and Civic Center — are shared with Muni Metro, so a meeting near those stops can be reached from much of the Bay Area without a car. Muni's own Metro lines and buses fill in the neighborhoods across the city.

Meetings also happen digitally. A.A. recognises in-person, online and phone meetings, and local listings include virtual options. Our finder surfaces online and hybrid meetings from public feeds, and the online A.A. meetings guide explains how video and phone meetings work, including joining with your camera off.

Peer Support vs. Medical Care

An A.A. meeting is peer support and not clinical treatment. NIDA notes that mutual-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous are peer-led rather than run by healthcare professionals, which is what makes them different from formal treatment — though they are free, ongoing, and often used alongside it.

Some needs are medical. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life threatening when people who drink heavily over time stop suddenly instead of cutting back or stopping with medical support. A small proportion of people with alcohol use disorder need a few days of medical detox for symptoms that can be dangerous. If you have been drinking heavily, speak with a clinician before you stop.

For help beyond a meeting:

• Emergency: call 911 for an overdose, a seizure, trouble breathing, or someone who cannot be woken.
• Crisis: call or text 988 for a mental health or suicide crisis.
• Treatment: search FindTreatment.gov or call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) — free, confidential, 24/7, English and Spanish.
• Referral help: call or text (800) 653-9376 for help finding a level of care. SmarterRecovery is a referral helpline, not San Francisco and Marin Intergroup; calling is free to you because treatment providers pay for the referral service.

Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help finding treatment. If you need a meeting today, start with the meeting finder or the intergroup directory and confirm it. In an emergency or a suicide crisis, call 911 or 988 first.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• San Francisco and Marin Intergroup | Central Office (aasfmarin.org)
• San Francisco and Marin Intergroup: Contact Us (24-hour helpline, address, Spanish office, groups served)
• East Bay Intergroup, Inc. (Oakland; 24-hour helpline)
• Oficina Central Hispana de San Francisco (Spanish-language AA)
• BART: System Facts (stations, route miles, shared downtown San Francisco stations with Muni Metro)
• A.A.: Need help with a drinking problem? (what to expect at a first meeting)
• A.A.: What to Expect at an A.A. Meeting (open and closed meetings, meeting types)
• A.A.: A.A. and Anonymity
• A.A.: Find A.A. Near You (regional and online meeting information)
• A.A.: Meeting Guide app
• NIDA: Treatment (mutual-help groups are peer-led, not clinical treatment)
• NIAAA Core Resource on Alcohol: Alcohol Use Disorder, From Risk to Diagnosis to Recovery
• SAMHSA National Helpline
• SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• SmarterRecovery meeting finder (public meeting search; listings are not verified by this site)
• SmarterRecovery about page (referral disclosure)

Common Questions