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The dive bar has to be the best possible way to get to know a city. All the frills and distractions are pulled away, revealing what's truly underneath. Most people seem to have a story about accidentally wandering into a dive at some point their lives, and this story often begins with fear and doubt. After getting past the inevitable knickknacks on the walls, the Christmas lights strung up in April, or perhaps even the doorless toilet stalls, dive bar stories—for those who stick it out—nearly always have happy endings. Oakland has more than its share of unique and pungent dives to choose from. From the infamous jukebox at George Kayne's to the unbelievable bargains found at Smitty's Cocktails, it's really difficult to go wrong when choosing the perfect Oakland dive bar.
Conga Lounge
5422 College Ave., Oakland, California; Tel. 510.463.2681
The Conga Lounge embodies the essence of retro cool. A local bar that breaks away from the average hum-drum of our digitized world with kitschy lounge music, 50's decor, old movies and great island cocktails, the Conga Lounge will make you feel as if Don Ho could come walking through the door at any minute. This bar is a local favorite of hep cats and cool chicks that are longing for an extended stay in the islands, but whose budget allows for a bar tab instead of a plane fare. |
George Kaye's
4044 Broadway, Oakland, California; Tel. 510.547.9374
What makes dive bars so unique and fun to get sauced in is not only the seamy cast of regulars, but the music, and George Kaye's is no exception. Hands down one of the best dive bars in Oakland, George Kaye's sports a jukebox that would make any audiophile weak in the knees; if you're down to hear Duke Ellington, Jawbreaker, Dean Martin, the Buzzcocks, Lynard Skynard and Patsy Cline back to back, then grab cocktail or five and a stool at George Kaye's. |
Hotsy Totsy Club
601 San Pablo Ave., Albany, California; Tel. 510.524.1661
We'll take local dive bars over a sleek club any day of the week, mostly because the low-key, unpretensious atmosphere and heavy pours mask our true alcoholic nature. Plus it's during incoherent ramblings that you can discern life's little thought about, hidden secrets. The Hotsy Totsy Club embodies this local dive bar feel to a tee: it's a favorite spot for regulars every night and for twentysomethings hitting that weekend bender. |
The Ivy Room
858 San Pablo Ave., Albany, California; Tel. 510.524.9220
The Ivy Room embodies a classic dive bar feel and plays host to some of the best of the Bay Area's live music acts. The emphasis is on rock & roll, alt-country and power-pop, with some East Bay punk and rockabilly thrown in for flavor. Bend your elbow and your ear, hang with some friends and soak up this great dive bar. |
The Mallard
752 San Pablo Ave., Albany, California; Tel. 510.524.8450
A highly touted local bar that has more games than a Milton-Bradley convention, The Mallard has a surefire hipster attitude and enough flair for three joints. Downstairs, this two-tiered palace of fine libations is your basic, local dive bar, with blue collared regulars rubbing elbows with college kids and a back patio sporting a kitschy-cool Polynesian look. Upstairs there are more pool tables and dark booths perfectly suited for a private conversation. The bartenders are friendly and aim to please, making The Mallard a great spot to start and end an evening. |
Radio Bar
435 13th St., Oakland, California; Tel. 510.451.2889
For a hip local bar with a dive bar flavor, it's hard to beat the up-and-coming Radio Bar, an establishment that's breathing new life into the Oakland bar scene. Equipped with a DJ booth that has a commanding view of the floor, Radio boasts some of the East Bay's best spinners winding out an eclectic array of chill tunes. There's a nice mix of cocktails to choose from and Radio busts out with happy hour on weeknights. Plus, the chic decor creates an atmosphere that rivals any lounge across the Bay, with Chinese lanterns that dance off the red walls. |
Stork Club
2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, California; Tel. 510.444.6174
Gosh, where to go to hear up to three hard rocking punk bands a night, get heavy drinks that won't bust the wallet and Christmas year round? Try The Stork Club, a phenomenal place to catch all of Oakland's live punk music. It's everything you could ever want; a casual and raucous crowd, cheap drinks (check out the happy hour—Like PBR for $2? Yeah, we thought you did.) and bartenders that keep pouring, and pouring. Hands down the best dive bar for the live music punk scene. |
Smitty's Cocktails
3339 Grand Ave., Oakland, California; Tel. 510.834.1591
Smitty's is a quintessential neighborhood bar that refuses to get sucked into the modern era, but that's the reason to frequent it. Seriously cheap cocktails (try around four bucks for top shelf booze) are the norm, the quarter pool table beckons for a game, and the jukebox (quarter driven as well) spits out the classics. Smitty's Cocktails is one of Oakland's oldest neighborhood bars and still recalls the old days when bars were nothing more than just bars. |
Egbert Souse's
3758 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, California; Tel. 510.658.4740
A classic corner neighborhood bar, Egbert Souse's pays homage to the late comedian W.C. Fields, my little chickadee, and the prices seem almost stuck in that bygone era. You can get a heavy pour on mixed drinks for about three bucks and beer is even cheaper; what more could you possibly ask for in a bar? The shabby interior and antiquated jukebox haven't been updated in forever, but the decor is not what draws patrons here; if you're lost on the draw, see above. |
Pat's
1517 Franklin St., Oakland, California; Tel. 510.452.3338
Pat's has got to be the groovinest local bar in Oakland and anyone popping in on a Friday night can certainly attest to that. The drinks are stiff and plenty, the dance floor is always packed with patrons jumping to 70's funk and soul or hip-hop, and the overall atmosphere is friendly, sometimes very friendly. |
Baggy's By The Lake
288 E. 18th St., Oakland, California; Tel. 510.763.5721
A venerable dive bar in the Lake Merritt district, Baggy's makes you feel immediately welcome in its friendly confines. Everything is seriously inexpensive here and the bartenders, who also co-own the place, are like the hosts at a feel good neighborhood keg party. Baggy's is Lake Merritt's hang out place for everyone, we go there and, believe us, if we're welcome, so are you. |
The Hut
5515 College Ave., Oakland, California; Tel. 510.653.2565
You just can't help but like a place that crossed over from serving up Sunday morning sermons to serving booze. The Hut, now a classic neighborhood bar, saw the change coming back in 1933 and hasn't looked back, yet still adheres to the church philosophy of welcoming everyone. The cocktails and beer are extremely cheap, the crowd is very nice, and the pool table still takes quarters. Amen. |
Acme Bar
2115 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, California; Tel. 510.644.2226
Acme bar is quickly ascending our rankings of great local bars to while away a couple of hours without whiling away all of the money in our wallets. Nightly drink specials keep the prices in check and DJs spin all of your favorites. That is if your favorites include everything from classic and new punk to bluegrass and rockabilly like ours do. And plus, you just can't beat that name. |
Lost Weekend Lounge
2320 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda, California; Tel. 510.523.4700
Do as the name implys and lose yourself at the Lost Weekend Lounge, an A-lister local dive bar in Alameda. Heck, if you get there early or late you're probably going to catch happy hour, it goes from noon til 7pm 7 days a week, with cheap cocktails and beer. The place is almost always packed and, whether packed or not, always a good time. Lost Weekend's atmosphere has that retro cool dive bar feel and on nights when there's a DJ, they can musically transport you back to the eighties when they spin those now classic hits. This is definitely one bar you have to check out because we're sure you're much cooler now than you were in the eighties. |
—Oakland nightclub reviews by Ryan Osterbeck
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