PUBS, BREWERIES & BARS
Cato's Ale House
3891 Piedmont Avenue (510) 655-3349
Woodsy-decor bar, quite nice. Occasional live jazz.
Small but nice food menu - salads,
baked potatoes, etc. Mellow. 30s and up crowd.
The Graduate
6202 Claremont Avenue
A bar. 12-2 daily. Basic lager, lots of liquor,
older crowd.
Video game, jukebox with old R&B & funk.
No smoking inside, but allowed out back;
sometimes the smoke leaks in if the back door is not closed. Small. A bit musty.
April 2007: Can't recommend Barclay's anymore - if you can't sit outside and enjoy a California afternoon, what's the point?
Barclay's
5940 College Avenue (510) 654-1650
There is a smoking area outdoors and
you have to walk through it to get inside,
which detracts from its overall charm.
Caters to the 30s and family crowd.
During the World Cup, the local French took it over.
Beers on tap, darts, full menu (burgers,
omelettes, burritos). Hosts a brewmasters' club.
11-11 daily, kitchen till 10 pm
Ben & Nicks
5612 College Avenue (510) 923-0327
Many beers on tap, full menu (soup, salad, burgers), darts
Takes credit cards
Kitchen open 11:30-10 Sat-Wed, 11:30-11 Th-Fri
Nice woodsy decor, some booths.
Note: there has been a strong complaint (Nov. 2001) about smoke drifting IN from outside. The (former) customer says:
"my friends and I try to avoid Ben & Nicks due to smoke
drifting in the windows and doors from the numerous people smoking outside.
I have come home from Ben & Nicks smelling strongly of smoke, just from
sitting near the window."
This listing is now in doubt & will be checked.
George & Walts
5445 College Avenue (510) 653-7441
"College Avenue's oldest family owned tavern since 1931"
M-Th 1:30pm - 2am, Fri 11am-2am, S/S 9:30am-2am
There is a cigarette machine inside but no ashtrays.
Smokers may hang around the doorway.
Pool tables, jukebox with 70s music, pool, TV,
big chairs, fireplace. No credit cards.
Mostly lager, some darker beers
on tap. Cheetos. Roasted peanuts. Super clean bathroom.
Ladies night Wed. 6-2, $1 off everything.
Pacific Coast Brewing
906 Washington Street (510) 836-2739
Ales & good food. TV. Nice woodsy decor.
Lunch time business crowd;
a bit more diverse at night: mostly 20s and 30s.
Smoking in the outdoor beer garden, in the back.
Live bands indoors.
PARKWAY THEATER
1834 Park Boulevard at East 18th Street (510) 814-2400
This listing might seem out of place,
but the Parkway Theatre is no ordinary movie house.
Specializing in second run, classic and oddball films,
the Parkway sells beer and pizza which you can take upstairs to
their huge balcony with its massive couches - all your friends can fit. After 4pm, you must be 21 to enter, but it's not the
degenerate dive you may be picturing. Worn red upholstery, popcorn, beer...
like home, only much much bigger.
MUSIC
Pacific Coast Brewing, see PUBS above.
Yoshis
510 Embarcadero West (510) 238-9200
Located in Jack London Square, downtown Oakland.
Like many of the more 'exclusive' music venues around here,
that is, where you have to pay a non-miniscule cover charge,
Yoshis is smokefree. However, it deserves special mention because
it is a beautiful jazz venue *and* Japanese restaurant with a
long-established reputation of fine entertainment.
They have an excellent calendar of visiting artists, see their website.
Yoshis has been a jewel in the Bay Area jazz scene for a long time.
The restaurant serves lunch and dinner and you can dine a la tatami,
that is, sitting on the floor at a low table, if you like. You can also
have sushi sent out to the performance area.
The cocktail lounge is open before and after the shows.
You can book tickets via the web, via BASS tickets, or directly,
and they offer student and senior discounts.
Stork Club
Telegraph Avenue
April 2007: Steer clear if you don't like smoke. The music is sometimes good - a real divey bar/lounge experience, if it were smokefree I'd recommend it. Interesting 'unknown' bands come there. But
the back room is smoky and it penetrates. The door guy was cool about returning my money though.
top
