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The Alley $$
- 3325 Grand Ave., Oakland (map)
- 510-444-8505
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Rod Dibble plays piano nightly at this Lake Merritt bar, often with vocal accompaniment from local amateur cabaret crooners. Designed like an old saloon with relatively private diner-style booths (where you can order a burger, steak, or fries to go with your drinks), the Alley is characterized by its vintage clotheslines, pink and baby-blue restroom stalls (much cleaner than your average East Bay haunt), and the thousands of marquees and business cards stapled to its walls. In contrast to the swankier Kingman’s Lucky Lounge across the street, the Alley stays true to its namesake, and the cluttered decor makes it seem homey.
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Beta Lounge $$
- 2129 Durant Ave., Berkeley (map)
- 510-845-3200
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This sleek, loungey little wine/sake bar boasts an interesting menu of nigori cocktails, a dozen or so largely satisfying noshes, and an ambient conviviality that belies its proto-IKEA design scheme.
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Bistro 1491 $$
- 1491 Solano Ave, Albany (map)
- 510-526-9601
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Bureau 510 $$
- 5800 Hollis St., Emeryville (map)
- 510-595-1000
- (based on 1 user review)
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Chop Bar $$
- 247 4th St., Oakland (map)
- 510-834-2467
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(based on 3 user reviews)
With its savory Vietnamese pork sandwiches and occasional pig roasts, the Chop Bar is a favorite neighborhood eatery in the warehouse district. The owners are adamant about locally sourcing their food, and they also offer drafts from several Bay Area breweries, including the beloved Linden Street.
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Disco Volante $$
- 347 14th St., Oakland (map)
- 510-663-0271
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(based on 4 user reviews)
The latest addition to Oakland's blossoming nightlife scene has set up shop in a turquoise-tiled Art Deco building at 14th and Webster streets. Disco Volante, set to open in late October, is a bar, music venue, and restaurant run by a trio of Oakland arts and entertainment vets, with chef Douglas Bernstein of Bacar, Eccolo, and Farallon fame serving up local and seasonal California cuisine. Musical offerings will range from bluegrass to Afrobeat, with shows at least three nights a week.
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Freehouse $$
- 2700 Bancroft Way, Berkeley (map)
- 510-647-2300
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Grand Lake Kitchen $$
- 576 Grand Ave., Oakland (map)
- 510-922-9582
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Make Westing $$
- 1741 Telegraph Ave., Oakland (map)
- 510-251-1400
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Uptown's latest and greatest bar: inviting but not desperate; quietly trendy without trying too hard; relaxed but not lazy — a rec room with the metaphorical volume turned up to eleven (the actual volume, by the way, is nicely not too loud). The cocktail list, which was masterminded by Caroline Pagel of Sea Salt, manages to be both decently priced ($6 during happy hour, which runs 4-6 p.m. weekdays, or $8 regularly), and, by and large, unfussy and delicious (try the garden gimlet.) Big bonus: bocce ball!
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Plum Bar $$
- 2216 Broadway, Oakland (map)
- 510-444-7586
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With big-name chefs and a serious foodie following, Plum the restaurant is a fine dining establishment, and with average drink prices scraping $11 and containing ingredients such as tea foam, Plum Bar, its lower-fi appendage, is most definitely a fine drinking establishment — but it's a fineness that speaks less to pretension than to premium attention to detail, the kind you have to pay a little extra for: marigold flowers in your drink; beef-tendon chicarrones just seconds out of the fryer; a bar staff that'll slide an ice-cold glass of water to you from across the bar when they hear you clearing your throat, without you having to ask — or even noticing.
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Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe $$
- 1805 Telegraph Ave., Oakland (map)
- 510-251-9400
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(based on 1 user review)
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Summer Kitchen and Bake Shop $$
- 2944 College Ave., Berkeley (map)
- 510-981-0538
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It dosn't get more "foodie" than Summer Kitchen Bake Shop. Stop by on your way that potluck dinner party where you want to make an impression.
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Victory Burger $$
- 1099 Alcatraz Ave., Oakland (map)
- 510-653-8322
- (based on 1 user review)
