Dance clubs, live music, rooftop bars, speakeasies, LGBTQ+ venues, listening bars and late-night dives in Oakland.
Dance clubs, live music, rooftop bars, speakeasies, LGBTQ+ nightlife, listening bars and late-night dives across Oakland, with where to go and what is worth the late night.
The New Parish on San Pablo in Uptown Oakland is the city's hardest-working independent music room. Hip-hop, soul, indie and world acts with a dance floor.
Tip: Ticketed by show; check the calendar a week ahead for headline acts. Two-tier room with bar service upstairs.
Yoshi's on the Embarcadero in Jack London Square is Oakland's flagship jazz club and Japanese restaurant. A 310-seat live performance room with full kitchen.
Tip: Dinner reservations get the best seating; the late show usually starts at 9:30 pm.
Fox Theater on Telegraph in Uptown Oakland is the 2,800-seat former movie palace turned flagship Bay Area concert hall. Another Planet's headline room.
Tip: Tickets via Ticketmaster or Another Planet; the balcony has the best sound.
Eli's Mile High Club has booked Bay Area blues, rock and DJ nights on MLK Way since the 1970s. Dive bar with a stage that runs Friday and Saturday to 2 a.m.
Tip: Cover most weekend nights; cash is fastest at the bar.
Drake's Dealership in Uptown Oakland anchors the city's open-air drinking with fire pits, 32 taps and a wood-fired pizza counter. Adirondack seating for 200.
Tip: Fire pits help against the marine layer; the beer garden runs latest Friday and Saturday.
Viridian on Broadway in Uptown Oakland is the cocktail bar that replaced Daniel Patterson's Plum Bar. Pan-Asian small plates and a quiet cocktail program.
Tip: Friday and Saturday reservations recommended; the back bar runs the strongest classic cocktails.
Sobre Mesa is Top Chef Nelson German's Afro-Latin cocktail lounge in Uptown Oakland. Rum-led cocktails, Dominican small plates, weekend DJs after 10 pm.
Tip: Friday and Saturday close at 12:30 a.m. with up-tempo music after 10. Reservations recommended.
White Horse Inn on Telegraph in North Oakland has run as a gay bar since 1933, making it one of the oldest continuously operating LGBTQ bars in the United States. Drag, queeraoke and DJ nights weekly.
Tip: Queeraoke runs Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 pm; weekend DJ nights from 10. Cash and card both accepted.
Summer Bar and Lounge opened in Old Oakland in 2021 as the city's queer night room. Karaoke, drag, go-go dancers and a weekly performance lineup.
Tip: Tuesday through Saturday only; weekend close at 2 a.m. with DJs Friday and Saturday.
Cafe Van Kleef on Telegraph in Uptown Oakland is the eccentric cocktail dive that helped revive the corridor in the 2000s. Late-night Friday and Saturday.
Tip: Greyhound with fresh grapefruit is the famous call; cash is faster than card.
Heinold's First and Last Chance has poured since 1883 at Jack London Square. The leaning saloon serves up the city's most historic late-evening whiskey neat.
Tip: Cash only; the building still leans from the 1906 quake.