Things to do in Berkeley this Saturday

June 1, 2006 11:50 AM

What to do while visiting Berkeley CA this Saturday night?

I'm posting this for an offline MetaPal:

I'm going to be in Berkeley CA this weekend for work and am looking for
something to do Saturday night. Cool bars, music, night life, that kind of thing.

posted by mcstayinskool to Travel & Transportation around Berkeley, CA (14 answers total)

Berkeley is a varied and diverse place. Some direction would help.
posted by bitdamaged at 11:58 AM on June 1, 2006

ha! it's summer, there's very little happening here. you could go to gilman, go to san francisco, or maybe a movie?
posted by kendrak at 12:02 PM on June 1, 2006

Here's the squidlist listings for the SF Bay Area for Saturday.
posted by jasper411 at 12:26 PM on June 1, 2006

The good news for your friend is that they can take a short BART ride to san francisco. Usually, this would be limited by BART closings but because the Bay bridge is closed for construction - BART runs all night.
posted by vacapinta at 12:35 PM on June 1, 2006

There's always Jupiter. Sat.June.3 LOOSEWIG QUARTET 8:oo Swinging straight-ahead jazz featuring Ben Fajen on saxophone, leading this combo of bay area veteran players. If you want more serious night life, BART to SF.
posted by |n$eCur3 at 12:42 PM on June 1, 2006

There's a world music festival going on on Telegraph. Here's a link to the line up.
posted by small_ruminant at 12:59 PM on June 1, 2006

East Bay Express Calendar For Saturday.

But yeah, in summer, downtown Berkeley doesn't have a heck of a lot going on beyond Jupiter. In fact, I'd say normally there isn't a lot going on in the way of a bar scene in berkeley. All sorts of places to eat, yeah, but nightlife is dead-ish. If your pal is into the kind of "clubby pool" thing, he can go to Thalassa's. Beckett's can also be fun. (Both these bars are on Shattack -- Thalassa's is on Shattuck & Durant, Beckett's is on the same side of the street as you walk down towards Jupiter and Center st.) There's a couple of music venues that haven't been mentioned -- Starry Plow and Stork Club, the former of which is *almost* in Berkeley, the latter of which would require a car ride to Oakland.

If BART is open all night as vacapinta mentions, it's worth going out to San Francisco, in which case, your buddy can get off at Civic and walk to all the big SOMA clubs, or go to Mission and do some bar-hopping (I'd recommend Phone Booth, Makeout Room, Attic -- depending on the night -- El Rio, uh, Hush Hush Lounge -- Zeitgeist!). It'd also be possible to cab it to the Haight or North Beach, two other pretty walkable nightlife areas (North Beach clubs are pretty much considered the realm of the bridge and tunnel crowd, so if your friend isn't interested in that, might as well skip it. I don't think I've ever gone to a club in North Beach aside from the obligatory visit to the Lusty Lady. which, i suppose, really isn't a club. uh, anyhow).
posted by fishfucker at 1:04 PM on June 1, 2006

huh, actually looks like Chow Nasty is playing this Saturday at the Stork Club. They actually do a pretty good funky garage rock show, if that's your thing. One of the better live acts I've seen in awhile.
posted by fishfucker at 1:07 PM on June 1, 2006

San Francisco is always great (and 24-hour BART service is a rare treat*), but if you're looking for something a little less pricey and obvious--and much closer to Berkeley--the Grand-Lake neighborhood in Oakland is a lot of fun and a beautiful place to walk around at night. (The Lucky Lounge is my top pick among the bars.)


*From vacapinta's link: Contrary to popular belief, the London Underground, the Paris metro system and Washington, DC Metro do not run 24 hours per day. In fact, BART has longer hours of operation than those subway systems.

LIES! LIES! LIES!
posted by kittyprecious at 2:23 PM on June 1, 2006

The Snake Trio is pretty good! Upcoming.org has some other bay area events listed but not much for Berkeley this weekend.
posted by aubilenon at 3:00 PM on June 1, 2006

Direction here would help. The Gilman suggestion's good (I used to volunteer there on occasion), but if you don't like just watching any ol' punk band then it's not for you. Jupiter's cool if you're looking for the jazzier stuff. Kingman's Lucky Lounge (props to kittyprecious for knowing what's what) is a damn fine cocktail lounge. If you're really stingy, go across the street to Smitty's, get drunk on the cheap, and then hang out with class in Kingman's. Getting there from Berkeley's a bit of a hike if you're taking BART, but if you can score a driver or afford a cab it's not too bad. If you want to stay in Berkeley for bars, I can't really help you besides Blake's and Raleigh's. Both on Telegraph, both just regular old bars, although Raleigh's has a good beer selection if that's your thing. Hope something here helps.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 5:13 PM on June 1, 2006

I live in Berkeley and find that, like most of the other posters here, the nightlife isn't that much to get enthusiastic about. Let me add my voice to the chorus of people recommending BARTing to San Francisco or Oakland.
posted by one.louder.ash! at 5:36 PM on June 1, 2006

oh! for bars in berkeley how could one forget spat's! it's on shattuck one block north of university (beckett's, jupiter, et. al. are south of university). they have couches and lounge chairs, drinkable cocktails and they don't really card.
posted by kendrak at 9:49 PM on June 1, 2006

I'm mcstayinskool's Cyrano.

Since I'm actually staying in Concord and only get off at 5:30 pm (and work early in the morning) - I think the world music festival's the best bet. And I'll check out the campus.

Thanks for the tips everybody.
posted by mammary16 at 1:35 PM on June 2, 2006