May Round Up

Bars visited: 11
Reviews Published: 10
Neighborhoods hit: Oakland, Bloomfield, Southside

A:

• Best Bar:  Dee's You can never go back, but it is nice to visit every once in a while.
• Worst Bar: Chief's. Avoid at all costs. 
• Biggest Surprise: Partner's I always wondered what it was like in there, and now I know, and knowing is half the battle.  (What is the other half? Is it brutally killing your enemies?  They never talk about the other half.) 
• Biggest Disappointment: Not going to Costa Rica with J and C.
• What did A learn:  The difference between getting "eye-fucked" and getting the "stink-eye". 

J:

• Best Bar: Butterjoint. I am obsessed with the Tequila Penicillin cocktail.
• Worst Bar: Oh Chief's, it pains me to say it, but your divey charm is gone.
• Biggest Surprise: I had no idea that I would have such a good time at Sonny's!
• Biggest Disappointment: Can I just say Chief's again?
• What did J learn: That I'd rather be in Costa Rica. There are bars there, I could just review them instead!

Vino's Pub

Vino's is a wine bar without the wine. Grapes and wineglasses feature in the decor, but the specials all revolve around cheap beer and liquor. It's a little incongruous, but it's far from the worst thing we've seen on these trips.

There's not a lot else to say. It's a pretty middle of the road bar. They have daily specials. They have the requisite karaoke night. They have a decent beer selection and everything was clean enough. 

Are you in the 4700 block of Liberty Avenue? Do you want a drink? Well, OK then, this is a fine place for you.

Address:	4744 Liberty Ave, 15224	Games:	Darts, Board Games
Façade:	Wine themed	Scene:	Bloomfield Local
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Come Hungry	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	Bar Hours	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Cheapish	# taps:	12
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Happy Hour Stuff - nothing exciting
Live music:	No	Riley Factor:	$7.50
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	3	Size:	Average

Sonny's Tavern

Sonny's has turned into quite the little hipster bar in the years since J lived in Bloomfield. It still looks exactly like it did a decade ago. An old-man Bloomfield bar with wood paneling and drop ceilings, but most of the old men seem to be gone. Cigarettes are still being smoked and PBR is still being swilled, but the pants are tighter and the shirts are, well, the same as the old men shirts.

They do have a good beer selection outside of PBR. They also have a selection of board games, most notably Boggle and Stratego. They do pickle back shots with vodka, which seems strange, but who even knows right from wrong anymore? Especially when it pertains to pickle back shots.


It's essentially a less dirty and more spacious Gooski's. The prices are good and it's not as smoky as a lot of other smoking bars.  Additionally, there was a Great Dane named Kevin there. What more do you want?

Address:	630 S Millvale Ave, 15224	Games:	Darts, Board Games
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Hipster, Dive
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	Some	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Cheap-Average	# taps:	10
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Late Night
Live music:	Saturdays	Riley Factor:	$7
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	2	Size:	Average

Logan's Pub

I guess if you absolutely had to go out somewhere in North Oakland, and you felt like Butterjoint might be a bit pricey for the evening, then Logan's Pub would be the place to go. It is slightly dingy, but really isn’t that bad. However, maybe anything looks good after Chief's. 

There are pool tables, and the bar has a nice wide-open feel, with a couple of high-tops scattered throughout the space.  There is a large back room that seems to be set up for live music, but it was dark and deserted on the night we were there. The bartender was very engaging and entertaining, and obviously knew everyone there.  When regulars came in, she had their drinks ready without a question. We were probably the only new people there and she was equally nice to us.

The Pens were playing that night, and the bar was intently focused on the game. There was a sense of community; full of clapping and back-patting in a small but diverse crowd. The drinks came fast, the mood was light, and we had a good time.  I guess there is really only one more thing to say given the season: Let's Go Pens!!! 

Address:	301 N Craig St, 15213	Games:	Pool, Darts
Façade:	A Little Scary	Scene:	Dive
Parking:	Pretty Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	Some	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Cheap	# taps:	10
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Happy Hour
Live music:	Sometimes	Riley Factor:	$7
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	No
TVs:	6	Size:	Normal

Mitchell's Tavern

Mitchell's is another one of J's college bars. It’s getting to seem like “J’s college bars” should be its own sub-category. J swears she also went to class while in college, sometimes. 

When you sit at the bar at Mitchell’s one side is elevated so you have to sit in regular chairs instead of bar stools, which is weird. They've torn out all of the high-backed booths that used to line the wall. It opens up the space, but makes it seem unfinished as you can see on the floor where the booths used to be.

The bartender was 100% certain that he knew A. Usually we trust other people’s memory because A's is so poor, but this guy really thought that he was someone else. When we were leaving he said, "Nice to meet you" to J and, "See you tomorrow" to A. A played along in the hopes of getting cheaper drinks as a “regular.” 

While we were there, someone also approached us and asked if we wanted to buy batteries. Though he had a really good deal going on, we declined.

This all sounds a lot sketchier than it was. It's not as cheap as J remembers, but it is just as dirty. Whatever you do, don't go to the bathroom here. It is a perfectly good bar to get a drink in, but maybe just one or two, depending on your bladder size.

Address:	4632 Centre Ave 15213	Games:	Darts
Façade:	A Little Scary	Scene:	Dive
Parking:	Pretty Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normalish
Smoking:	Some	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	bar hours	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	3
Bathrooms:	Don't even look	Specials:	Happy Hour
Live music:	No	Riley Factor:	$9.90 ($6 quoted because A was his good friend)
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	3	Size:	Normal

Butterjoint

Living near Regent Square, J and A were both sad when Legume left its tiny space on Braddock Avenue, and moved all the way over to North Oakland. We realize it had to be done; the space was just too small, and the food was way too good. They relocated to a much larger space on Craig Street, and added a bar next door called Butterjoint. 

Butterjoint is posh. It is pricey. It is beautifully built-out, cozy and comfortable. The lighting is dim, and the service is prompt, attentive, and genuinely friendly. They make delicious specialty cocktails; the kind where it takes a couple of minutes, and a number of ingredients to make a single drink. A had a Brooklyn, a variation of a Manhattan, and a Whiskey Sour; both of which were delicious. J had a Tequila Penicillin. It was life changing. The bar food in Butterjoint focuses on fancy appetizers and burgers. You can also order from the full Legume menu, if you’re feeling flush with cash. A had the burger, which while not the best in the city, was very good. J loves small plates, and had the Caesar salad and sauerkraut balls. On previous trips, J has also had the raclette, the bluefish pâté and the kimchi. We said she loves small plates. Everything has always been delicious.

Butterjoint has occasional afternoon classes on different types of spirits. J recently took a class on tequila there; she learned a lot and had a great time. They are pushing the informed, discerning clientele angle, which given the price point and environment of the bar, is exactly what they should be doing.

If you are feeling decadent and you have a bit of extra cash to burn, or want to have a nice romantic night out with your partner, make a reservation at Legume. Then get there early and loosen up with a few specialty cocktails at Butterjoint. You will not be disappointed. 

Address:	214 N Craig St, 15213 http://thebutterjoint.com/	Games:	None
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Cocktails
Parking:	Pretty Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Fancy snacks	Cleanliness:	Nice
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	None-Indie tunes
Hours:	Mon-Sat 4:30pm-12am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Richie Rich	# taps:	12
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Happy Hour
Live music:	No	Riley Factor:	$10.70
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	1	Size:	Hole in the wall

Chief's

Chief's is one of the North Oakland dives that J spent a lot of her college years in. It had a surprisingly great jukebox. At the time, it was cheap and dirty and full of old dudes who took their drinking pretty seriously. You could get a Jacob's Best and a shot of Wild Turkey for $2. There were pickled eggs floating like a sideshow lizard baby in a jar behind the bar. It was a comfortable place to spend some wayward college nights.

A lot has gone unchanged at Chief's. It is still dirty and cheap, but all the old dudes must have finally gone to that great dive bar in the sky. They've been replaced by young dudes who wear sunglasses inside. And, in the best malapropism of the year, A got a lot of "eye fucking" on his way out. He meant "stink eye." 

The cheap specials are now pitchers of Budweiser and the pickled eggs must have moved on with the old dudes. The jukebox has been replaced by an Internet Crap Machine that was BLASTING some generic R&B the whole time we were there. 

There was an empty bottle of vodka underneath a disgusting urinal.

People had warned us that Chief's had gotten worse, but we always thought, "How?" The bar was set so low that we couldn't imagine it had gotten that much worse. Truthfully, it's not that much worse, just slightly. When we left at 9pm on a Wednesday night there were security guys with nightsticks in hand outside the door. So, maybe more than slightly worse. Moderately worse.

Everything that had been cool about Chief's is gone, so don't let any weird nostalgia draw you in. It's not worth it.

Address:	307 N Craig St, 15213	Games:	Magic Touch
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Dive
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Nasty
Smoking:	1970's Pittsburgh	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	6am -2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	4
Bathrooms:	Hold it	Specials:	Cheap beer specials
Live music:	No	Riley Factor:	$8.00
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	2	Size:	Hole in the Wall